In my last blog post, celebrating 80 years since Noel White’s first day at Carrolup Native Settlement school, I described his initial experiences and showed the words of Revel Cooper, one of the Aboriginal children who would later become one of the famous Carrolup child artists. Noel had great difficulty in getting the children to respond initially. Here is a section from my eBook Connection: Aboriginal Child Artists Captivate Europe which describes the following days at the school. NB. I have included some additional words in brackets.
“The situation does not change over the next days and Noel and Lily still ‘find the children somewhat wild, very shy, and very frightened.’ Noel cannot get through to them at all. He considers the situation hopeless and considers resigning. About a week after the family’s arrival, Noel sees a boy (Parnell Dempster) drawing some trees on a piece of brown paper. He pats the boy’s shoulder, remarks the trees are very good, and asks him if he would like to do some in colours if Noel gets him some crayons. The youngster looks at Noel for the first time and just nods his head. Noel decides to purchase some crayons and drawing paper for the children.
Soon after taking up his appointment, Noel travels to Katanning to meet with Department of Education Inspector Charles ‘Sammy’ Crabbe, whose kind understanding of Aboriginal children and their problems are well-known throughout the state….
… Noel and Charles, who have become close friends in the past, discuss a strategy for facilitating communication between teacher and pupils, as well as the best way forward for educating the children. They not only recognise that the children are extremely shy and fearful, but also possess a limited vocabulary and limited life experiences—no home life since being removed from their family, and few social experiences. They are disconnected from family, wider society and even from each other.
Realising that he must win the children’s confidence and respect, and acting in part on Charles’s advice, Noel decides to dispense with a formal school timetable for a period of time and focus on arts and activities that are connected with the corroboree (an important aspect of Aboriginal culture and life). Song, dance, dramatisation of simple stories and animal impersonations are used to engage the children and help enhance their confidence. Music plays an important role in facilitating connection and communication with the children. Noel’s flute possesses magical charms. [Here is what one of the best known Carrolup child artists said in a later letter.]
‘After Mrs Elliott went, Mr White came. The first year he came here, he found all the school children running around in the bush, looking like savages. Then he started to learn us some music. He had a flute which he used to play for us in school. Then he saw we were keen on music and he started to learn us a few songs. The first song he learnt us was Three Pigs. It wasn’t long before he learnt us a big list of songs.’ Reynold Hart
Drawing, dramatisation and miming, and group speech work are also key elements of Noel’s education and personal development programme. He teaches his pupils personal hygiene and good manners. For a time, he uses pieces of fruit as an inducement for the children to maintain good hygiene.
‘Native Affair Dept. supplied a case of apples and oranges daily. Mr White stood at the door each morning and he says “Smelt the Pupils.” Dirty children did not receive any fruit and were sent back to domestic staff to be cleaned. This was most effective.
Similarly, the fruit acted as an inducement to punctuality. At first, it took at least half an hour to assemble the children. They would not answer a bell.’
Drawing is used as a preliminary basis for all language and vocabulary work, in all the school subjects. It helps facilitate communication with the children and helps Noel see whether a pupil is absorbing information. ‘Words were considered of uncertain value but sketches should show meaning.’ The children are told to decide on an object to draw, such as a particular animal, and then talk about the drawing. They are encouraged to draw their experiences and talk over and act out simple incidents.
The children later use the written word to describe some element of their drawing. They are encouraged to keep all their writing neat, clean and careful. They turn out to be great copyists of Noel’s printing. This approach is adopted for the various classes the children take—Nature, History, Geography, Hygiene, Behaviour, and Manners.