Great Australian Outback Teaching Stories

Bill 'Swampy' Marsh

Aug 2016 · Bolinda · Narrated by Bill 'Swampy' Marsh and Jacqui Katona

About this audiobook

Back then, not only did we have to teach the three Rs but also sewing, arts and craft, music, physical education - you name it. Plus there were the duties of gardener, cleaner, nurse, registrar, office administrator, free milk dispenser, librarian and, on occasions, school bus driver. Oh, and in one school I was even responsible for 'mother craft'. And being male and just 19, as I was at the time, you might imagine my surprise when a young girl asked me, 'Sir, what's the best milk for babies?' From beyond the black stump to the Australian Alps; in schools on stations, missions, mines and over the air, it takes a special kind of person to be an outback teacher. Master storyteller Bill ‘Swampy’ Marsh has travelled the width and breadth of Australia to bring together yet another memorable collection of stories. This time he has met with many of our extraordinary outback teachers and their students whose recollections so perfectly capture those special days of growing up in the bush.

About the author

Bill is an award-winning writer/performer of stories, songs and plays. He’s a teacher and mentor through TAFE SA plus runs workshops in schools and communities.

Jacqui Katona, a Djok woman, from the Kakadu area of the Northern Territory is an Aboriginal advocate. She has worked for the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, the Stolen Generations Northern Territory and assisted her family to prevent uranium mining at Jabiluka, adjacent to Kakadu National Park. With Yvonne Margarula, of the Mirrar, she shares the Goldman Environmental Prize for Island Nations 1999. She is currently completing her graduate law degree at the University of Melbourne.