Beyond Common Sense in Bilingual Education

Abstract

It is assumed that by now the widely known UNESCO statement about the value of vernacular literacy has achieved the status of “common sense” knowledge among those interested in the schooling of minority language groups. The term “common sense” here implies that although there is much that is sound in a common sense view, there is also the danger of oversimplification. Although strongly in favour of bilingual education, both educationally and in terms of the ethics of racial contact, I see a number of areas where an oversimplified approach to it can bring either some harm with the good or at least lessen the effectiveness of the use of the vernacular language in education. The “initial literacy in the vernacular” approach is not a panacea for all minority group educational problems. The article by Joy Kinslow-Harris (1968), probably the best single statement made on the value of vernacular education for Australian Aboriginals, was a profound call for a basic change in attitude towards the education of Aboriginals, and outlined sound starting procedures. While this paper strongly supports Kinslow-Harris’s statement, it wishes also to extend understanding of some important theoretical issues.