Aboriginal Community Education Officers' Border Work: Culturally Safe Practices for Supporting Migrating Indigenous Students From Country into Urban and Semi-Rural Schools

Since 2001 there has been an increase in migration patterns by Indigenous families from remote communities to urban and semi-rural locations. Indigenous student emigration from remote Indigenous schools to urban and semi-rural schools is an emerging crisis as there are routinely inadequate service providers for Indigenous émigrés. Migration away from a particular location from which a person's ancestors, kin and Dreamings come (henceforward named as Country) to semi-rural and urban locations raises many complex issues. This article outlines Aboriginal Community Education Officers' (ACEOs) role as support workers for Indigenous students who utilise an Indigenous ethics of care framework as a support mechanism to aid the transition of Indigenous students into new schools. The article draws on research undertaken between 2000-2008 (MacGill, 2008) in conjunction with current literature in the field (Pearce, 2012) to highlight ACEOs' border work and ethics of care practices necessary for successful Indigenous student transitions as émigrés.