Cape York Students Doing Well With American ‘Direct Instruction’ Program

It’s heartening, no it’s fantastic to read about Indigenous school kids at Aurukun, Coen, Mossman Gorge and Hope Vale schools on Cape York – all part of the Cape York Aboriginal Australian Academy – learning and keen to learn, with American educator Zig Engelmann’s Direct Instruction (DI) program. Noel Pearson, Chair of the School Board, discovered the program and was optimistic about its potential for the Cape York community.

What Is Direct Instruction?

“Direct Instruction is an approach to teaching. It is skills-oriented, and the teaching practices it implies are teacher-directed. It emphasizes the use of small-group, face-to-face instruction by teachers and aides using carefully articulated lessons in which cognitive skills are broken down into small units, sequenced deliberately, and taught explicitly.” (see Carnine, 2000, pp. 5-6; Traub, 1999).

What The Aurukun Campus Principal Says:

“We’ve stumbled on the solution to what has been perplexing the rest of Australia.” Patrick Mallett

Direct Instruction Has 3 Components

1. CLASS – dedicated to teaching mainstream curriculum through full immersion Direct Instruction
2. CLUB – enriching extra curricular artistic, musical and sport programs
3. CULTURE – comprehensive Indigenous culture and language programs

COMMUNITY is also important and a student case management approach towards attendance, school readiness, and health, is used.

For More Info:

You Tube video about Zig Engelmann’s Direct Instruction program.

Queensland State School Report 2011

Pragmatic Education – about the US Project Follow Through 1967 – 1995

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Other disadvantaged school groups might try this system?

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