This is a book that I really did not want to write because I had hoped that the journey of community-school transformation and empowerment that was commenced in 1991 in Warakurna would have gone much further and it would have dwarfed the tentative steps that were made at that time. Unfortunately, it may be argued that the empowerment of Aboriginal people over their school Warakurna or anywhere in the Ngaanyatjarra Lands of Western Australia has probably gone backwards. I have therefore written this book as an historic reminder to readers of what can be achieved by people who have a mind to work cooperatively and in humility towards achieving community aspirations.

My book is a reminder that the 'brush shelter' schools that introduced Western schooling services to the Ngaanyatjarra Lands communities (known then as the Homelands) in the 1970s were based on the initiative of the Aboriginal people, the yarnangu. It suggests that the capacity for radical change and improvement in providing schooling under community authority in the region has not been lost.

Barriers that prevent it from re-emerging however need to be removed. An undocumented cooperative history between non-Aboriginal teachers and Aboriginal people is at the foundation of the history of schooling in the Ngaanyatjarra Lands in the 1970s but by the time I returned to the Lands in 1992, high fences surrounded the schools and teacher homes and the schools looked like Western ornaments within the community, not valued, and of little relevance to the community.

Contents: Abstract -- Introduction -- Past non-Aboriginal attitudes and practices in the provision of schooling to Aboriginal children -- Processes involved in the planning and development of Aboriginal communities -- A brief history of schooling in the Nagaanyatjarra lands -- Philosophy of research and method of investigation -- Research findings on the effect of the change process on the structures and operations of Warakurna school and community -- The effect of the Warakurna parents council on schooling throughout the Ngaanyatjarra lands -- Development of hypotheses -- Conclusions and recommendations -- Appendix one -- References.

Includes bibliographical references (page 283-301)