Welcome to Shalom, the most exciting venture in Indigenous education in Australia!

Shalom means more than ‘peace'. We believe that when one experiences spiritual and material happiness, stability, well-being and prosperous relationships, one experiences Shalom. Shalom is a Hebrew word that means wholeness and healing, restoration and salvation in every area. Shalom is given as a greeting and is also a dimension of God in which we can choose to live.

The Shalom community based education concept is a forward thinking and exciting venture in Indigenous education. It is unique and far-reaching in its goals for the attainment of true reconciliation of, and equality of all Australians.

Our mission is the achievement of a better quality life for Indigenous Australians, equality of living standards across all strata of community life, and equality of cultural appreciation and acceptance at all levels. Education is the key to achieving this mission.

Back in 1991 the deaths in custody report found that the most significant factor in the incarceration of Indigenous peoples was their unequal social position. The recommendations in the report were in two parts;

1. the relationship between Indigenous peoples and the criminal justice systems and
2. the underlying factors that bring Indigenous peoples in contact with police and courts. (Underlying issues include self-determination, health, housing, infrastructure, schooling, abuse, economic opportunity and land needs.)
   

Through its demonstrated commitment to life-long learning and education, Shalom Christian College will address many of these issues - directly and indirectly.

At Shalom, we realise that, above all else, education provides choices - the greater and more relevant one's exposure to education, the greater the options available. To us, schooling is a means by which specific types of knowledge and certain values are reproduced. By not participating in any schooling, Indigenous Australians are denied access to many of the skills and resources required for building the type of future we want - a future in which we have much greater control over our lives.

The issue however is not as straight forward as the provision of schooling for Indigenous Australians. The Social Justice report in 1991-1992 acknowledged that schooling has failed to provide a meaningful and useful experience for many indigenous people. The report called for better education, acknowledging the culture of Indigenous youths, the need for programs to assist them and also a facility for families to be a part of these programs. The Select Committee echoed those sentiments to the extent of justifying the establishment of Indigenous schools as noted below:

• to afford Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people a right to choose an education in accordance with their cultural values and lifestyles;
•  to perpetuate Aboriginal culture, norms and values and;
• to provide a more appropriate educational and social environment for Aboriginal children.
  

We at Shalom believe that these intentions are being met in our particular educational setting but this is only part of the story.

Central to any planned action is the concept of self-determination. A United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations (August 1991) adopted the following working definitions:

"Indigenous people have the right to self-determination. By virtue of this right, they freely determine their relationship with the states in which they live in a spirit of co-existence with other citizens and freely pursue their economic, social, cultural and spiritual development in a condition of freedom of dignity."

In the early 1990's in a paper to the Minister of Education, Employment and Training, I stated that, ‘There can not be self-management of self-sufficiency for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples without clear access to an educational process designed by our people to meet their specific academic, spiritual and cultural needs.'

Shalom Christian College aims at making self-determination a reality. The achievements of our College will serve as a model for our community. We must not however allow self-determination to be lost in rhetoric. As William Daniels claims in Reconciling Our Differences (Aurora Books, page 59), ‘There will be unremitting tension and frustration if that group (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people) is not allowed to shape its destiny within the bounds of the possible.'

What Shalom provides is a vehicle to lead the change process in which the individual and family group figure prominently.

Parents have a genuine influence on what happens to their children at school. As parents see and experience the results of their contribution, they will become even more involved in the process of decision making.

One of the great advantages that an Independent Indigenous school such as Shalom has is that it has the ability to ensure that all staff members are:

1. highly interested in working with Indigenous students and their families;
2. comfortable with taking direction from an Indigenous Board; 
3. suitably qualified and experienced in terms of cross-cultural education, particularly in the field of Indigenous education.
   

Where people have the drive and skills to gain essential information and apply it to the problems they face, the corollary is that they are also able to gain greater control over their own lives through effective decision making on their part. In this respect, the pursuit of academic excellence (because it opens the doors to knowledge and understanding) becomes one of the significant steps in tackling dependency and apathy.

On a more pragmatic level, academic success opens the door to the lucrative career paths to be found in many professions and access to the broad lifestyle goals of the ‘upwardly mobile' society.

However, where the essential skills, expertise and drive for running community business, organizations and civic bodies are missing, it becomes a source of frustration and disillusionment. Dreams are not realised and people ‘give up'.

The Board has committed the College to graduating students who will take with them leadership, management and business skills that can contribute to the general area of community development in a way that will enable our community to achieve the twin goals of self-determination and self-management so that we may better control our future.

May wisdom, understanding and peace be yours as you make your decision for your future.

Gummathaan.

Rev. Shayne Blackman

Chairman