School of the Air

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The Northern Territory in Australia, also known as The Outback, spreads through thousands of vast miles. This intriguing land boasts sparse populations of approximately 1-5 people every square km throughout the outback. Much of the population are spread throughout small towns, ranches and Aboriginal land reserves. Because the population is incredibly spread out the education of ranch children, farmers and students living on land reserves differs from the traditional educational setting. Alice Springs School of the Air (ASSOA) is based in Alice Springs and provides a means of education by communications technology to rural children living as close as eighty kilometers and far as thirteen thousand km away from Alice Springs.

The school serves 120 students from age four to fourteen (preschool to seventh grade). The children live in remote areas, including ranches, roadhouses, aboriginal communities, national parks and military bases. Visiting the School of the Air gave my profession as a fifth grade teacher insights to communications technology, rural education and English as a Second Language in The Outback.

School of the Air first began in 1951 with a large, portable radio transmitter in the home or mobile home. The children who desired an education attended classes by means of pedal radio. Since the last radio broadcast in 2005, the school has used Interactive Distant Learning (IDL) to correspond daily lessons, assignments and assessments through satellite. Students spend about one hour per day interacting online with their teacher and four hours working with a "Govie" or live-in home tutor. Each grade level has its own teacher with some composite classes for intermediate grades including grades 4/5 and 6/7. Individual student needs for special education, religious and advanced placement classes are met as needed by the trained teachers.

The ASSOA curriculum follows the same as current public school curriculum in the Northern Territory. Through means of communications technology, students living far away may learn and interact with each other in their online learning community. ASSOA first strived to build a sense of community to a group of children living in remote areas. These challenging ideals from the first year are still in place today. In addition to daily communication online from Alice Springs, teachers have three to four events and visits with their students throughout the year. Once a year, teachers travel for a home visit of each of their students. Also, ASSOA students meet in Alice Springs for a sports week, swim week and informal get together. Other times students will attend a live class at the ASSOA site, or go to a high school science lab, take a trip to Canberra or have a sleepover. Students have the opportunity for important social development and teambuilding with their peers and teachers. Bringing the students from rural areas to a central place for community interaction and providing the original goal of the ASSOA is an important part of childhood development and life skills throughout primary and intermediate education.

Additional adaptations for rural students of ASSOA include supplies and equipment. The Australian government affords all technology equipment including satellite and computers as necessary. This means about $10,000- $15,000 of equipment installed at each site. The equipment is loaned to the family and returned to the school after completion of the seventh grade. Also, each student is mailed a set of workbooks for each term. The abundant materials students use are bought by the family, but postage is donated by the Connellan Airways Trust. The school puts together the packages of notebooks for each subject and sends the large package to the student. When the student completes the assignment the materials are sent back to the teacher in Alice Springs. Finally, the teachers provide grades and feedback for each student and send the materials back to the student. Additionally, art supplies such as markers, crayons, scissors, glue, construction paper and more are replenished at the beginning of each school year. Without the government funding the ASSOA would have to find additional funding to provide for the rural students of the Northern Territory.

Since my emphasis in elementary education is for the culturally and linguistically diverse population, I had a lot of questions about the Aboriginal students and the services they receive. Unfortunately, the ASSOA left me with more questions than they answered. Very little information was presented about the education in the Outback for indigenous students who desire a formal education outside the traditional education of their tribe. The staff members described the community of Aboriginals living in Kurella Creek who speak English and their native language who received ASSOA curriculum on site, rather than online. Also, I learned that the Aboriginal communities who desired formal education did not qualify to receive services from ASSOA "due to the English as a Second Language nature." Through simple speculation and guess work, I think a heavy animosity, even segregation, exists between Aboriginal education and native English speakers. If ASSOA provides technology for all rural students why aren't these materials available for Aboriginal students as well? What teacher training is available to improve the the education of Aboriginal students? What steps are being taken to include Aboriginal students in the rural and urban community as respectful, contributing members? What teaching strategies are in place so Aboriginal students may continue to learn about their culture and language in addition to core content areas?

Learning about ASSOA by visiting their base site in Alice Springs and listening to the presentation and video was rewarding and roused my curiosity. I was enamored with the materials and possibilities available for rural education. Today's technology provides a means to education and community for this group of students in "The World's Largest Classroom." However, the separation of Aboriginal students has left me concerned for the development of their society in today's modern demands for education. What is happening in the Northern Territory's society is not an aspect that I completely understand, but naturally I desire to see a community of inclusion and respect for one's culture and language through education. When government agencies decide to turn away from integration of two different people, the hope for society to become more accepting diminishes. The politics of Aboriginals in the Outback is another interesting aspect that largely impacts education in the outback.

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