Debate is raging over whether the Queensland government will take back the running of a school in the state's far north.
The Cape York Academy, led by Indigenous academic Noel Pearson, took over the school in the town of Aurukun in 2010, introducing a U-S-style teaching system known as "Direct Instruction", or DI.
The method involves repetitive learning, where tasks are broken down into smaller components for students to learn piece-by-piece, with a particular focus on literacy and numeracy.
Local Wik woman Phyllis Yunkaporta, who was deputy mayor at the time DI was introduced and travelled to the United States to observe its use, says while at first there was some resistance, the results soon spoke for themselves.
"When we first introduced Direct Instruction method into the schools, I could overhear some family members that worked in the school at the time, saying this isn't going to work, why do we need another program, so I didn't say anything. Several months later the same people came to me and said their grandchild in Grade 3 is reading fluently."
However, a number of violent incidents involving staff in May have led to the school's temporary closure, and a government review.
Despite heavy criticism of it, Ms Yunkaporta says DI is not to blame, calling it a vast improvement on previous methods taught under the Queensland government.
She says unruly young people were behind the unrest.
"It had nothing to do with the school whatsoever. It was only the disengaged youth who ran amok. In the past, when you look at the curriculum system that was there with education Queensland, it didn't help. You can notice, in Aurukun, there are adults now that are illiterate. So I say, who's to complain about these youngsters that are in school right now, or in the near future, about their reading and writing skills? They're going to be reading and writing fluently."
Head of the Queensland Teachers' Union, Kevin Bates, agrees that linking the incidents to the school is ridiculous.
But he emphasises that as yet it's unclear what effect DI has had on Aurukun's students.
"One of the things that needs to be clarified is exactly what the results are. We've heard claims at both ends of the spectrum... we've heard public claims that the Direct Instruction model and its associated teaching strategies have led to marked increases in outcomes for students, we've also heard public comment from experts claims that it's led to a marked change in a downward pattern of student outcomes. Now they can't both be true, and the thing that this review is going to target is the truth of issues like student outcomes, student attendance, and just what has actually been happening in the school."
Aurukun resident and member of the Prime Minister's Indigenous Advisory Council, Bruce Martin, acknowledges the integral role the school plays in wider society.
But, as he told the ABC, he believes Noel Pearson's DI system has its shortcomings - including the fact it ends at Grade Six.
"I think it's disingenuous to separate youth delinquency without having a conversation around the way in which the school engages the community more broadly, the way in which the school engages young people, and also the fact there isn't a high school. You can't say there are youths out there that aren't engaged and that this is purely a law-and-order matter without also, in the same breath, talking about the fact that there isn't a high school."
Kevin Bates says the members of Queensland's Teachers' Union also find this problematic.
"This has been a critical issue for our members and they've made it very clear to us that it's their view that the school should continue to at least Year Nine, and preferably to Year 10, probably. Now that's a decision the government is going to have to make, but our members have made it very clear to us that their concern is that students in Years Seven, Eight, Nine and Ten are currently not being catered for in the community as far as education is concerned, and they see that as an important development towards improving the overall education within the community and certainly improving community engagement with the school."
Phyllis Yunkaporta just wants her kids back at school.
"This really deprives my Wik children of their education, and that is the reason why I say we need the teachers in Aurukun today because we want them to go back into a classroom routine where our children are educated and not set the trend for another set of disengaged youth."
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