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Paper short abstract:

A conflict of learning values exists between Yolngu in Homelands and current education delivered in Northeast Arnhem Land. This paper addresses this issue, focusing on community wishes, knowledge transmission, raising children on ancestral lands, and the perspectives of children.

Paper long abstract:

Australian Indigenous values on learning frequently conflict with past and present modes of education delivered by the Australian Government. The nation's lowest education rankings and outcomes are found in the Northern Territory (NT), where the NT Education Department faces more obstacles than other states and territories in their duty to deliver education to young Australians. In particular, the NT Education Department struggles to cater to young Indigenous Australians, who represent the fastest growing population sector, and are also the most culturally diverse, distinctive, and disadvantaged group in the country.

Young people living in Northeast Arnhem Land experience multiple obstructions to accessing what the wider Australian population would consider a basic service. The inability - or reluctance - of government departments to accommodate their services to the extreme remoteness of communities, multilingualism and cultural obligations, only widens the gap young people face in gaining equal opportunity regarding their education.

This paper will discuss Yolngu values of learning by drawing on the data and perspectives of approximately 100 Yolngu contributors from Homelands across Northeast Arnhem Land, including Elders, teachers, parents, and students. The data was ascertained through community consultations on behalf of Laynhapuy Homelands Aboriginal Corporation, as well as during child-centred ethnographic PhD fieldwork conducted in 2018. This paper will highlight the ways in which the current educational environment conflicts with the needs and wishes of Yolngu communities and what can be done to remedy some of these issues.