Having it 'both ways': The continuing complexities of community-controlled Indigenous education

The recent National Review of Education for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (1995) called for research and analysis of the immediate and long-term complexities of building community-controlled education for Indigenous Australians. As noted in that Review, too little is known about this potential avenue for Indigenous education. This paper explores some of the issues in Indigenous self-determination in education through a focus on independent community-controlled Indigenous schools. After establishing the historical and policy context for the emergence of community control in education, the paper provides an overview of data related to location, enrolment, staffing and curricula in 20 independent Aboriginal schools and explores the philosophical movement that underpins many independent schools: 'both ways' education. The paper addresses specific and general policy issues related to community-controlled education in the light of recent research suggesting limited support among Indigenous people for independent schools