In 2004 I conducted fieldwork in a Central Australian Aboriginal community. The decision to complete my degree in cultural anthropology by means of research in Australia was inspired by the enthusiasm with which Ad Borsboom had always lectured about the Pacific. Under Borsboom's supervision, I examined why the educational results of Indigenous Australian children at ‘remote’ community schools still fall behind those achieved by their non-Aboriginal peers of the same age. Several studies, carried out by Australian governments and scholars, have concluded that the achievement of equitable and appropriate educational outcomes still has a long way to go (MCEETYA 2001).

Researchers have produced several theories to explain impediments to Aboriginal school success. These theories range from distinctive learning styles (Christie 1986; Hughes 2004) to Aboriginal resistance (Folds 1987). Other scholars have held the supposed supremacy of Western values over values of Indigenous children responsible for Indigenous children's poor performance at school (Hewitson 1982).

This paper considers a different and frequently disregarded dimension of value conflicts in Aboriginal classrooms. Instead of examining the negative influence of Western values underlying the curriculum on Indigenous students, I focus on non-Indigenous teachers’ experiences of and responses to value conflicts. I contend that value conflicts affect non-Indigenous teaching staff to such an extent, that their ability to teach is effectively constrained. As a consequence, Indigenous children's school results are negatively influenced.

Values in the Classroom

The Aboriginal school for primary and secondary education where I conducted my fieldwork between October and December 2004 had fifty-two children enrolled at the time. These students were divided over four classes. Although the school's staff included four Aboriginal Education Assistants and one Aboriginal teacher, non-Indigenous teachers taught the majority of lessons. Before discussing the interaction between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal values in the school's classrooms, I will define the concept of values. In my thesis I employ Aspin's (2002: 16) definition of values. He states that: