| Summary: | Abstract
This paper explores, with a qualitative framework,
critical social theory and thematic analysis, the
narratives of many Aboriginal elders of Mornington Island
(Kunhanhaa) about their history and their potential to form
productive kin-based relationships with visiting teachers
in order to influence the curriculum and pedagogy delivered
at the local school. One exemplary teacher's journey
provides educational insights that teachers need to be
culturally responsive, friendly and compassionate and
should heed the advice of senior Indigenous members of a
community to be successful teachers. No other teachers are
interviewed, nor are the opinions of the Queensland
Department of Education sought. I spent from 1998 to mid
2003 researching this topic for my PhD after many of the
elders asked for my help to improve the educational
outcomes of the local school and die lives of the children
in the community. Thirty of the male elders and 12 female
elders asked me to help them regain their former positions
as teachers at the local school, as they had severe
misgivings about prevailing relationship with the teachers
and the contribution of the school to their community. This
participatory action-research paper positions the elders as
active agents, insistent that teachers act as edu-carers to
ensure the community's young people's survival in the face
of worsening anomie.
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