The author was fortunate to be awarded a New South Wales Teaching Service Fellowship for 1990 to undertake an investigation of the professional development of teachers, including executive, in schools with significant Aboriginal enrolments. This fellowship was undertaken in South Australia over a four-week period in March and April this year.

Perhaps the highlight of this investigation was the emphasis placed on appropriate and adequate induction programs within the human resource management portfolio of the South Australian Department of Education.

During a four-week period in March and April, 1990, I had the opportunity to visit several Aboriginal and mainstream public schools in South Australia as part of a Fellowship sponsored by the New South Wales Department of School Education.

The selection of South Australia as a location to visit was recommended to the author by various colleagues in Aboriginal education who considered that “many fine things were happening” in South Australia in the area of Aboriginal education. My impressions confirmed what I had been told by others.

As Lecturer and Curriculum Writer: Mathematics for the Anangu Teacher Education Program, I write to share some of the successes of a Maths workshop which I facilitated for the program’s Stage 3 students, 26 February to 2 March 1990.

I have included a brochure for further information regarding the Anangu Teacher Education Program (ANTEP).

Science is one area within Aboriginal Education which appears to receive comparatively little attention.

The author experienced this in practice when he was lecturing in science education to trainee teachers on the topic of teaching science to Aboriginal students in secondary schools. As a newcomer to the Northern Territory the author does not have direct personal experience in this area and so he decided to search the literature. No previous bibliography of this topic was found. Initially searching revealed very little, but slowly the collection of interesting articles has increased, and whilst it is realised that the selection included in this bibliography is far from complete, it is offered to the reader as a starting point.

A considerable amount of research attests to the difficulties experienced by Aboriginal students in the school system of New South Wales. Coker (1981) states that Aboriginal students more than any other identificable group in Australia score consistently lower in basic skills tests involving reading, writing and mathematics. McConnochie (1973) suggests that the failure of Aboriginal students at school is primarily the fault of the school system and not the student. Institutions tend to debase the student’s self-concept and the group with whom they identify. This process contributed to the students’ low self-esteem and further contributed to low vocational aspirations and academic achievement.