Introduction

Usually, people think of education as a formal process, based upon a prescribed program that occurs within an institution called a school. Education, however, also occurs through what educators call public pedagogy. It is the programming that comes when interacting with media, such as television, books, and websites. Even paintings and posters may be thought of as tools of public pedagogy.

During my lifetime it was not until I was in my late thirties that television and many other forms of public pedagogy portrayed Aboriginal people collectively in a positive light. Before that, it was only stars such as Evonne Goolagong Cawley or former senator Neville Bonner who were, as individuals, presented approvingly. Television was either silent on First Nations Peoples through omission or depicted us inappropriately.