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The Forum > Article Comments > Whitefella education won’t work > Comments

Whitefella education won’t work : Comments

By Jan Ferguson, published 21/4/2008

To achieve better educational outcomes for Indigenous Australians we need to give tangible evidence that we value their cultures as much as we value our own.

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I first came across Helen Hughes' name when, as an academic advisor to the Howard Government she expounded on the so-called 'failing states' of the Pacific. Her ideas blended nicely with those of the former government.

Her Pacific solutions were somewhat similar to her solutions for Aboriginal Australians, glibly describing the communal culture of Papua New Guinea villagers as socialism.

Hughes is no small time academic. She is listened to by power brokers in Canberra. She shows empathy for the downtrodden and disempowered whilst proffering hard solutions that appear to solve the problem from our perspective but with little empathy for the cultures that are under discussion - a recipe for failure anyway.

By all means read her stuff, but at the end of a 40 foot barge poll.
Posted by gecko, Monday, 21 April 2008 11:17:50 AM
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Until indigenous communities learn that you can't emulate a western lifestyle while living in the Simpson Desert or live a traditional lifestyle while camping in Redfern, governments of all persuasions are stuck pouring money into an ungrateful cross-culture.

The author writes that 'teachers need a more sophisticated understanding of specific cultural settings before they go out to remote communities'. Well help me out here; which culture should we as 'whitefellas' take stock of? Is the one of hunter-gatherer, living in harmony with the land? Or is it the alcohol dependent, vagabond, cross-bred culture that we see in the 'traditional' dome tents with the 'traditional' clapped-out Alfa Romeo parked on the grass at the Aboriginal tent embassy in Canberra?

The former seems to be little more than a romantic notion shared by both indegenous and non-indigenous, sorry, 'whitefella' Australians, while the latter is a reflection of a culture under stress.

I'm sure this will be dismissed as an ignorant 'whitefella' rant but the 'blackfella' needs to know that non-indigenous Australians do shed tears for Aboriginal children growing up not understanding their traditional culture; but so many of us are also heartily sick of pandering to the whims of the Aboriginal industry.

This article fits in with the Rudd government's appraoch of nodding forlornly and appearing sincere at press conferences but not taking action that will actually address the problems.
Posted by Nigel from Jerrabomberra, Monday, 21 April 2008 1:39:30 PM
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annnnnd....of course... in saying:

"we value their cultures as much as we value our own."

she immediately sets up a RACIST barrier between indigenous Australians and 'other' Australians.

HOW...about.. we cease referring to 'THEIR' culture and 'OUR' culture, which are just a bees privates distant from 'THEM/US'.... and instead, focus on building ONE Australia... ONE race..and ONE culture....by

-Incorporating the good from Indigenous culture/wisdom
-Keeping the good from so called 'white' Australian culture
-Educating the people in terms of 'WE'.. 'US' in an all inclusive manner.
-Intermarriage between currently different sub cultural groups.

As the color anbd language differences and cultural idiosyncracies become more blurred, we will emerge as a new nation of identifiable character, but not a nation of MANY different characters.
Posted by BOAZ_David, Monday, 21 April 2008 2:23:13 PM
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And then we'll turn out "coffee coloured people by the score" - as the old hippy song goes.

The cosy idea of just blending all world cultures into one blurry one - because we can't handle cultural/ethnic diversity - is not a new one, David.

Perhaps a fine sentiment, if a trifle naive, but it would be better to learn to celebrate different cultures, not pretend that we can just merge them and all will be well.

As for assimilating cultures, nearly the whole world has already become part of the TV / supermarket culture. The blending experiment works in one sense, but does not necessarily deliver happiness.

There no need for us to be immersed in guilt, but Aboriginal issues can't just be swept aside. Amongst nations that have minority indigenous cultures, Australia's record is, I suspect, the worst.

We just need to grow up, have the maturity to honestly own up to past wrongs, do the hard yards on how to rectify past mistakes insofar as that is now possible and learn how to best move forward. A simple thing like agreeing on a national treaty would go a long way to bringing closure to the negative history that clogs our current debate.
Posted by gecko, Monday, 21 April 2008 2:47:07 PM
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So what's your point Nigel from Jerrabomberra? That whitefella education will work? 'Whitefella' being a term that Indigenous Australians use themelves showing that they do not identify with the wider Australia and the author includes to show she deals with the Indigenous Australian communities in person and understands the gap between Indigenous Australians and the wider Australia. Something that Helen Hughes can't say and doesn't understand. And nor can or do you for that matter!
Posted by Richard_, Monday, 21 April 2008 4:50:23 PM
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In Australia we see many peole with one foot in the Australian culture and another foot in a traditional culture. Perhaps, with the idigenous Australia so much damage has been done to their original culture their no place for the "other" foot to stand. The descendants know only little more tha the rest of us about how it is to be aboriginal in 1650 than the ret of us.

I think it was Toynbeee, who pointed that that marginalised societies {e.g., the Jews under the Greeks & Romans] will look towards archaism [the way things were] and futurism [justice will prevail if fight]. Australia has assimilated scores of cultures and peoles have retained traditions, except for one. Why?

The Macedonians conquered just about everyone, the Romans defeated the Greeks and Britannia, Rome feel to the Goths, the Viking invaded Nomandy [Nothmandy], then there was the Norman conquest at the Battle of Hastings, England, Spain and Portugal squashed other countries to establsin colonies, for trading monopolies. England invaded Australia. Likewise China has ruled itself abou 200 years over the past 600 years [mongols, Western entrepots]. Spain defeated the Aztecs. They say, "if you scratch a Russian you will find a Tatar".

Invasion and defeat -it is what happens.

What is wrong with being a party to the most advanced and democratic civilization the History of History?
Posted by Oliver, Monday, 21 April 2008 5:56:09 PM
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