The paper describes and analyses the issues that impacted on pre service Primary Education students' engagement with the subject "Aboriginal culture and history" at a rural university. The paper identifies how issues including pioneer identity and local "conversations" about race related strongly to this particular rural context. It names and demonstrates "ethical positioning" as an effective pedagogy in shifting often unrecognised racist values and attitudes, thus enabling students to move beyond ethnocentricity. The paper highlights the openness of the students to becoming transformative educators when issues of identity, racism and its ethical implications are reflected on overtly. (Contains 13 footnotes.)