Kormilda, the Way to Tomorrow?: A Study in Aboriginal Education by Elizabeth Sommerland

Book Description

Secondhand. Good condition. Wear to book corners and edges. Foxing marks on covers and foredge. Binding glue has begun to perish, now reinforced with binding tape.

Aborigines in Australia demand a kind of education that does not estrange Aboriginal children from their culture and kin. This book discusses a situation in which such alienation was brought about.

Kormilda College, a residential school for tribal Aborigines in the Northern Territory, is the focus of the study. In the college, Dr Sommerlad observed young Aborigines trying to reconcile their values and behaviour with white teachers and administrators.

Some students could not choose between black and white societies and became marginal members of both. Some felt their black identity degraded by the experience and were left in a state of confusion and self-doubt.

If these children's education is in harmony with the values and ideals of the community in which they live, educational reforms will have to be undertaken. From her experience at Kormilda and drawing on the experience of United States workers with American Indians and Eskimoes, Dr Sommerlad suggests directions such reform might take and pitfalls it will need to avoid.

This book must be read by all who wish to see Aborigines take their place in Australian society without losing their unique cultural identity. (Trove)

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers, please note that this book may contain descriptions and/or images of people who have passed away.