My First Teaching Experiences

My first day of teaching was in the beginning of February 1970. We had been appointed to Warburton Ranges in remote inland Western Australia – this after having initial appointments to Merredin a large country town in WA, replaced by Warburton. I will never forget that when we arrived by road after a journey from Perth of 1,600 kilometres, being surrounded by Indigenous Australian’s who were as strange to me as the differences between your home countries and Australia might be to you. We had to find our way in a whole new and different cultural context. English was for members of that community a foreign language and for us, their dialect equally as difficult to understand.

To say we didn’t struggle through the first months as Warburton would be an understatement. Not only was thee language ‘foreign’ to us who were required to teach in English, but the cultural contexts of life were equally as different and difficult to comprehend.

Back to that first day. I was a Master on Probation. Our Principal (THEN called Headmaster) had been appointed after seven years of teaching a top level Grade Seven class in the very best primary school in Perth. It was a research school. He decided that promotion required him to undertake remote service and applied for the leadership role of any primary school in WA. Warburton Ranges was his reward – and he was as much at sea (lost for understanding) as me.

On that first day, he rang the handbell. (There were no electric bells in those days). All the children eventually lined up outside the main school doorand he started introductions. Suddenly the children, sensing some danger, turned and scattered to the four corners of the school yard.

Rushing into the yard from the community came a senior Aboriginal person trailed by his family. He was brandishing (shaking) spears and a woomera (spear thrower). His family members coming behind had an array (collection) of weapons in their hands.

It turned out that he was wanting to spear a senior girl, because she had told his daughter that he (her Father) had snakes in his legs. This was a major affront (insult) to him and he was seeking to punish her for this statement. (The ‘snakes’ were very prominent varicose veins)

The girl who had made the statement was the daughter of another senior man, who was school handyman and gardener. When he because aware of the threat to his daughter, he raced to the garden shed and came out with HIS spears and weapons, setting off in pursuit of the first man and his family.

This all worked out in the end and after a lot of verbalising (language and threats back and forth) the incident quelled (quietened and disappeared).

The children who were students had also disappeared and did not return to their first day until the second day of the school year.

My recall is based in part on memory but there are specific details in my diary – a journal maintained for most of my professional life.