Kufla, Jeanet; Matitaputy, Jenny K.; Ufie, Agustinus (2020). Vean Tradition as a Local Wisdom of Customary People and Its Relevance to Maritime History Learning. Journal of Education and Learning (EduLearn), v14 n4 p590-598 Nov. Vean is a tool used to catch fish in traditional way in Ohoi Disuk, Kei Island, in Southeast Maluku. This study aims to examine vean tradition as a local wisdom of customary people that has been inherited from generation to generation. This research uses qualitative method applying descriptive analytical approach. The number of respondents is 10 people. The results show that the construction of vean resembles the human body, which implies that humans must move their limbs to work in order to meet the life needs. In addition, vean (sero) can also build relationship between the sea and humans as keepers and connoisseurs of nature. Vean has three main motivations, namely economic aspect to create quality of life, social aspect to develop a sense of justice without expecting anything in return, and ecological aspect for the conservation of ecosystems and marine life. On the other hand, vean has very meaningful values to maintain kinship and brotherhood in building social relations,… [PDF]

Adusei, Aaron; Ocansey, Sylvia (2022). Cap-and-Gown Collaboration in Community Development: Implications for Counselling. International Journal of Multidisciplinary Perspectives in Higher Education, v7 n1 p148-164. This research explored the power of dominant partnerships in promoting community development. Two local communities sited in a coastal West African town, recorded notable transformation as a result of their members' long-standing interaction with a famous close by higher education institution. With a sample of three hundred and seventy-two community members, the initial survey explored the physical influence of the university, on the lives of the studied communities. Purposive and convenient sampling techniques were used in the initial case to reach the respondents but the ensuing qualitative inquiry engaged four additional purposively selected participants to generate more data through structured interviews on education, transportation and health, as key emerging physical indicators, from the quantitative aspect. The SPSS, descriptive statistics and percentages facilitated the quantitative data analysis, but thematic analysis was used to make meaning from the gathered qualitative… [PDF]

Barton, Anthony A. (2022). The Lived Experiences of Indigenous Youth during the Transition to Emergency Remote Learning: A Qualitative Study. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, The University of North Carolina at Wilmington. This qualitative study was conducted to learn about the lived experiences of Indigenous youth during the transition to emergency remote learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Eight students at two schools in the Western part of Robeson County, North Carolina, told their stories. Tribal Critical Race Theory was used in this study as a lens to analyze the stories told by these Indigenous students and five themes emerged from the data collected from their stories: students had significant issues with the internet, remote learning was challenging, the support of teachers was vital, students wanted to return to school, and school is better now that students are back in class face to face. Findings showed the lack of access to high-speed internet often impeded students' ability to connect with their teachers consistently. Students found remote learning was much more challenging than being in the classroom face to face and returning to school was important to them. Once students returned to… [Direct]

Eppley, Karen; Stagg Peterson, Shelley; Wood, Jeffrey (2022). Representations of Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Rural Ways of Being in Picture Books for Children. Journal of Language and Literacy Education, v18 n1 Spr. This critical content analysis examines representations of rural life in a sample of 52 picture books by Indigenous and non-Indigenous authors and illustrators. While the United States and Canadian governments use quantitative measures to designate rurality, in this study rurality is conceptualized more broadly as an interaction between geographical, cultural, and social characteristics. Three sets of findings about the representation of rural people in Indigenous and non-Indigenous picture books are offered: the representation of human-to-human relationships, the relationships between people and the natural world, and the problems and challenges faced by rural people in the books. While there is increasing attention within children's literature scholarship about the importance of culturally relevant picture books and representations of diversity, less is understood about representations of rurality in children's literature and still less is known about textual representations that… [PDF]

Doucette, Noelle; Francis, Noline; Snow, Kathy (2020). Generational Bridges: Supporting Literacy Development with Elder Storytelling and Video Performance. LEARNing Landscapes, v13 n1 p219-235 Spr. This paper describes our implementation of digital storytelling within a First Nations community elementary school in eastern Canada. Our aim with this project was to support community engagement in the school, while promoting literacy development, by inviting Elders to share their stories, both traditional and modern lived experiences, with children in a grade 4/5 split class. Positioned as a participatory action research project, anchored in Indigenous methodologies, the project was developed through meetings with community members to build on the strengths of the community. Reflections from students illustrate that working with Elders gave deeper meaning to the stories they heard and performed, and fostered greater engagement in literacy development…. [PDF]

Fomunyam, Kehdinga George (2020). Theorising Machine Learning as an Alternative Pathway for Higher Education in Africa. International Journal of Education and Practice, v8 n2 p268-277. Machine learning technology is currently a new frontier for higher education globally, and the African higher education system needs to change in tandem with this technological trend in order to combat challenges faced by the system. These challenges include lack of institutional research to discover new knowledge, unfavorable methods of instruction, especially the language conflict, access to education for marginalized and isolated communities, high dropout rates, depleted infrastructure and unavailability of resources, overpopulated classrooms, and a biased grading system. This paper discusses alternative machine learning solutions to these challenges faced by the African higher education system, in order to ensure that students develop the skills needed to thrive in this digital era. Findings reveal three key technological solutions that can provide alternative solutions to these challenges, and they include customized/personalized learning, predictive analytics and digital… [PDF]

Leenen-Young, Marcia; Naepi, Sereana (2021). Gathering Pandanus Leaves: Colonization, Internationalization and the Pacific. Journal of International Students, v11 spec iss 1 p15-31. It has long been established that education is both a colonial and imperial tool that enables colonizing nations to establish themselves in foreign territories. This paper explores New Zealand's historical and contemporary role in the Pacific and how the country has leveraged higher education to both strengthen and continue its ongoing colonial and imperial projects. Utilizing current understandings of critical internationalization this paper will examine the lengths that New Zealand has gone to in order to protect its international standing as a gateway to the Pacific…. [PDF]

Carter, Jennifer; Hollinsworth, David (2017). Teaching Indigenous Geography in a Neo-Colonial World. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, v41 n2 p182-197. Australian universities are increasingly embedding Indigenous content and perspectives within curriculum to promote Indigenous cultural competency. We present teaching challenges in an Indigenous geography course designed to present an engaged, intercultural learning experience. We critically reflect on student evaluations, informal discussions and observations to complement scholarly debates. Course design and delivery was seen as stimulating and illuminating in terms of course content. While diversity of student cohorts, backgrounds and learning styles remain challenging, the romanticism of some students can override critical engagement with the geographical context of the course material and their positionality. There remains a tendency in both student constructions and the geographical literature to create an Indigenous/non-Indigenous binary that not only essentializes both, but can be culturally unsafe for Indigenous students. Both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students may… [Direct]

Kato, Masahide T. (2018). Community Resonance: Indigenous Epistemology and the Learning Community Program at the University of Hawai'i, West O'ahu. Learning Communities: Research & Practice, v6 n1 Article 7. The paper examines the transformative potential unveiled by the integration of indigenous epistemology into an experimental learning community program in Hawai'i. Through contextual analysis of the author's direct participation in classroom interactions, cultural and service learning activities, the final project, and the culminating event, the paper unravels the twofold process. On the one hand, indigenous epistemology in action integrated classroom, placed-based service learning, and cultural activities into a holistic learning experience. On the other hand, it also connected diverse communities in an interdependent relationship through the resonance of its foundational concepts: shared responsibility (kuleana) to the "homeland that feeds" ('aina) and its ecosystems. Interdependence of diverse communities and learning activities formed through such resonance provides an opportunity for transformation…. [PDF]

Christopher Collins (2023). Trapdoor Transfer: A Qualitative Study of Differences in Transfer between URM/BIPOC and White Students of the California Community College System. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, California State University, Sacramento. The purpose of this research is to acknowledge what California Community Colleges are/are not doing in regards to poor transfer outcomes to bolster bachelor's degree attainment, especially for underrepresented minorities (URM) and Black indigenous people of color (BIPOC) students. The California Community College system entices students with low cost tuition and open access. As a result, 54% of California's postsecondary population are enrolled in one of California's 116 community colleges (Public Policy Institute [PPIC], 2019). The system has many barriers that hinder transfer outcomes equating to only 28% of students transferring to 4-year colleges/universities in 6 years (PPIC, 2019). Compounding these statistics, by 2025 41% of all jobs will require a bachelor's degree in California. Simultaneously, only 35% of the state's population will meet this requirement creating an excess of 2 million people short of educational credentials to obtain a job (PPIC, 2019). This study draws… [Direct]

Melissa Parkhurst (2024). Thematic Analysis of Music-Making in US Residential Schools: Navigating Colonial Archives and Honouring Indigenous Perspectives. History of Education, v53 n1 p174-188. Extracurricular activities such as sports and music offer a means to glimpse the complexity of students' experiences in federally-run boarding schools for Native children in the United States. Studies of music in residential schools typically include a mix of quantitative and qualitative sources, including "unexpected archives" such as land records, census counts, tribal archives, cultural objects and community stories. The analytical strategy of thematic analysis – an established academic tradition that is consistent with Indigenous methodologies – offers a rich and effective way to evaluate sources. The wide analytical scope can align with Indigenous research tenets including self-determination, supporting the collective good and fostering respectful relationships. Decolonisation can function as a guidepost, supporting methods of analysis that centre the students and bolster the wellness of Indigenous communities. An Indigenous episteme does not oblige a division reason… [Direct]

Behnam Soltani; Karsten E. Zegwaard (2024). Capability Reconceptualized: Towards a Landscape of Practice Approach in Graduate Employability. International Journal of Work-Integrated Learning, v25 n4 p603-617. To understand graduate employability, this paper uses a landscape of practice (LofP) lens, and methods including narrative frames, observations, and interviews to interpret capability development and identity construction of learners in a work-based learning masters program. It argues that learners enhance employability, capabilities, and knowledge through mutual engagement in practices of their communities of practice (CofP). Furthermore, it showcases that this process is enacted through learners' membership and negotiating boundaries of their community as they move from one community to another within their LofP. It then re-examines the definition of capability and argues that capability should be understood as a social construct through which individuals participate in the practices of their CofP and express knowledgeability of community norms and practices. It concludes that individuals build capabilities through a process involving problem solving, negotiation and learning,… [PDF]

(2024). Getting Started with the Oceti Sakowin Essential Understandings. Region 11 Comprehensive Center Authentic learning experiences, including curriculum, are essential for healthy development. For South Dakota students, these experiences include opportunities to foster their connections with local communities, cultures, nature, and lands. This infographic provides teachers with guidance on how to build their understandings and skills, and with resources necessary to use the Oceti Sakowin Essential Understandings and Standards (OSEUS) to teach content in their classrooms. [This infographic was developed with the South Dakota Department of Tribal Relations, Office of Indian Education.]… [PDF]

Joel Isaak Liq'a Yes (2024). Teaching Dena'ina Language through Dena'ina Culturally Based Reading Practices. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Alaska Fairbanks. The Dena'ina language is a well-documented Northern Dene Alaska Native language in south-central Alaska. The Dena'ina language is on the brink of going to sleep. The Dena'ina community strongly desires for the Dena'ina language to once again thrive in the community. Language-use within the community is a contributing factor to the health of the community. As Dena'ina tribes work towards bringing back the Dena'ina language, the community grapples with the role of reading and writing, both potentially harmful and aiding community language work. A Classroom-Based Action Research qualitative study was conducted to determine if reading instruction in the Dena'ina language can be culturally based and if the culturally based teaching method produces student growth. A Dene language instructor talking circle evaluated the cultural basis and considerations of the proposed teaching approach based on a sample demonstration. The Dena'ina cultural approach was defined as tying together an… [Direct]

Minichiello, Angela; Wilson-Lopez, Amy (2017). Disciplinary Literacy in Engineering. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, v61 n1 p7-14 Jul-Aug. People who practice engineering can make a difference through designing products, procedures, and systems that improve people's quality of life. Literacy, including the interpretation, evaluation, critique, and production of texts and representations, is important throughout the engineering design process. In this commentary, the authors outline texts and interpretive frameworks that are common to each stage of the engineering design process as it is defined by the Next Generation Science Standards. The authors describe how disciplinary literacy can also account for students' home languages and local bodies of knowledge, in addition to these engineering design standards. Finally, they conclude with a vision of disciplinary literacy as a tool to promote equity by rigorously supporting diverse students through the process of critiquing designs in society and creating ethical and equitable designs…. [Direct]

Dale, H√´mi; Stewart, Georgina; Trinick, Tony (2017). Te Marautanga o Aotearoa: History of a National M√§ori Curriculum. Curriculum Matters, v13 p8-20. This article offers brief commentary on the development of "Te Marautanga o Aotearoa", which is the official statement of M√§ori-medium school curriculum policy. From our perspective as three M√§ori educators who have been involved in its development for over 20 years, we combine our experiences to tell the story of this unique indigenous M√§ori curriculum… [Direct]

Hayhoe, Ruth (2019). The Gift of Indian Higher Learning Traditions to the Global Research University. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, v39 n2 p177-189. The paper begins with a brief vignette of Angkor Wat in Cambodia as a great center of learning, and then highlights the traditions of Indian monastic institutions which had deeply influenced its development. It then turns the main features of the Mahayana tradition of Buddhism, showing how they created a space for women's scholarship to flourish. The next section focuses on the development of shuyuan or academies in China that arose out of the patterns of Buddhist monasteries, demonstrating another aspect of their progressive influence. Throughout the paper comparisons are made with the European university tradition, and the conclusion considers the gifts these learning traditions could bring to the global research university…. [Direct]

Reynolds, Martyn (2019). Inquiring about Values: Enhancing Consultation through Critical Research Ethics. set: Research Information for Teachers, n3 p28-35. If schools wish to be more inclusive by reflecting the communities they serve, paying deliberate attention to embedded values can be helpful. This article describes thinking and actions set in a school with a history of attending to values. It suggests that when consulting on values, the ethics of critical research can enhance the process of inquiry. This happens if the values that are present in how we inquire are brought to the surface to complement the values-based information we learn. This is not an easy matter. It is a journey that involves a balance between leadership and consultation, and that prioritises listening as widely as possible in ways that can lead to change…. [Direct]

Gerlach, Alison J.; Gignac, Joan (2019). Exploring Continuities between Family Engagement and Well-Being in Aboriginal Head Start Programs in Canada. Infants and Young Children, v32 n1 p60-74 Jan-Mar. Children and families receive maximum benefits from early childhood programs when families are actively engaged. "Parental involvement" is an established feature of Aboriginal Head Start in Urban and Northern Communities (AHSUNC) in Canada, and there is interest in increasing the knowledge on how AHSUNC sites engage with parents and families. This qualitative study generated knowledge and insights into the nature of family engagement in AHSUNC programs. From May to November 2016, semistructured interviews were undertaken with 26 participants in AHSUNC programs across British Columbia. Participants included parents (n = 10); Elders (n = 6), and AHSUNC program coordinators and family workers (n = 10). Findings illustrate a nuanced, relational, and strengths-based approach to family engagement that included AHSUNC program staff being responsive to the influence of broader social and structural factors on families' everyday lives and program engagement. Findings highlight how… [Direct]

Kibbee, Douglas A. Ed. (1998). Language Legislation and Linguistic Rights: Selected Proceedings of the Language Legislation and Linguistic Rights Conference (Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, March 21-23, 1996). IMPACT: Studies in Language and Society, Volume 2. This edited volume of conference papers contains the following titles: "Presentation: Realism and Idealism in Language Conflict and Their Resolution" (Douglas A. Kibbee); "Legal and Linguistic Perspectives on Language Legislation" (Douglas A. Kibbee); "The Linguistic Rights of Non-English Speaking Suspects, Witnesses, Victims, and Defendants" (Kate Storey); "Great Mischiefs–An Historical Look at Language Legislation" (Ruth Morris); "The Criminalization of Spanish in the United States" (Patricia MacGregor-Mendoza); "Towards Consensus? Standard English in the National Curriculum" (Joan Swann); "Beyond Anglo-Saxon Confederation: The Clash of World Hegemonies in the Language Ideologies of Arthur Balfour and Woodrow Wilson" (Chris Andre); "Anatomy of the English-Only Movement: Social and Ideological Sources of Language Restrictionism in the United States" (James Crawford); "The Courts, the Legislature…

Kallio, Alexis Anja; Karlsen, Sidsel; Westerlund, Heidi (2022). Interrogating Intercultural Competence through a "Pedagogy of Interruption": A Metasynthesis of Intercultural Outreach Projects in Music Teacher Education. Research Studies in Music Education, v44 n2 p380-398 Jul. Highlighting the need for teacher education programs to respond to rapidly diversifying societies, this article reports a qualitative metasynthesis of intercultural outreach projects in music teacher education, conceptualizing these projects as a "pedagogy of interruption." Results show that such outreach projects interrupt the individualistic frame of music teacher education, the known difference, the logic of teaching, and the understanding of what intercultural teacher competence is, rather moving toward letting the context teach. The complex relational work involved in intercultural outreach projects can be seen to establish spaces for framing learning within professional self-reflexivity, embracing uncertainty and trusting relational becomings through an investment in the political and moral aspects of teacher education and intercultural theorization. The article argues that intercultural outreach projects and theorization can be taken as a healthy test for… [Direct]

Brigham, Tim; Cort√©s, Valeria; Loffler, Kelly (2023). "Natoonikew Aansaamb": Searching Together for Learning and Resurgence. Papers on Postsecondary Learning and Teaching, v6 p17-27. The Professional Project Administrator Program (PPA) is an employment-focused online program offered in partnership with Indigenous communities in Western Canada. Based on the findings from the research conducted after the program completion, we discuss two key components that contributed to a meaningful learning experience and to the success of the program: wrap-around support and cultural learning. Through m√©tissage, an arts-based approach to knowledge sharing, we present Natoonikew Aansaamb (searching together), where we have woven together different voices and stories that offer a glimpse of the learning experience. Greater inquiry and engagement with diverse Indigenous perspectives is the way for educators to design, implement, and assess learning for all students with intention and in a good way. [Articles in this journal were presented at the University of Calgary Conference on Postsecondary Learning and Teaching.]… [PDF]

A. Howell; Glenda McGregor; M. Mills; S. Riddle (2024). Community Solutions for Schooling Engagement: Two Australian Case Studies. Pedagogy, Culture and Society, v32 n3 p657-674. This paper draws together data from two projects on schooling dis/engagement in Australia. One project focused on mainstream schools and the strategies employed to retain and engage young people in learning, whereas the other explored the growing sector of alternative/flexible education for similar solutions. We found interesting parallels. For example, rich, relevant curricula delivered through innovative pedagogies alongside positive staff/student relationships were key elements in schooling engagement across both sectors. Those findings have been published elsewhere. This paper focuses on the contributions to schooling engagement that may be derived from mutually beneficial school/community relationships. Here, we examine one mainstream high school and one flexi secondary school, both situated in remote geolocations, that established bespoke school/community partnerships in response to local needs. The data from each site provide blueprints for other schools that wish to tap into… [Direct]

Bartleet, Brydie-Leigh; Carfoot, Gavin; Sunderland, Naomi (2016). Enhancing Intercultural Engagement through Service Learning and Music Making with Indigenous Communities in Australia. Research Studies in Music Education, v38 n2 p173-191 Dec. This article explores the potential for music making activities such as jamming, song writing, and performance to act as a medium for intercultural connection and relationship building during service learning programs with Indigenous communities in Australia. To set the context, the paper begins with an overview of current international perspectives on service learning and then moves towards a theoretical and practical discussion of how these processes, politics, and learning outcomes arise when intercultural engagement is used in service learning programs. The paper then extends this discussion to consider the ways in which shared music making can bring a sense of intercultural "proximity" that has the potential to evoke deep learning experiences for all involved in the service learning activity. These learning experiences arise from three different "facings" in the process of making music together: facing others together; facing each other; facing ourselves. In… [Direct]

Casim; Setiartin, R. Titin (2021). Revitalization of Oral Traditions in Tasikmalaya District as a Learning Media to Plant Character Education Values and Multicultural Insights of Students. Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, v17 n3 p1379-1391. Oral traditions in Tasikmalaya Regency are classified into types of fairy tales, legends, and myths. The three types of oral traditions are spread in 39 sub-districts in Tasikmalaya Regency. Not all of the oral traditions in Tasikmalaya Regency are well documented, this is due to the lack of oral tradition researchers in Tasikmalaya Regency. This study aims to describe: 1) revitalization of oral transmission in Tasikmalaya Regency; 2) education value in oral tradition in Tasikmalaya Regency; 3) character values that need to be embedded in children/students; 4) character education based on psychological/moral development of children/students; and 5) students' multicultural insights. The research method used in this research is the micro ethnographic method with qualitative research. Data collection techniques used are observation, interview, and documentation. Based on the results of research and analysis on the revitalization of oral traditions, it was found that 1) oral traditions… [PDF]

Budiningsih, C. Asri; Laila, Alfi; Syamsi, Kastam (2021). Textbooks Based on Local Wisdom to Improve Reading and Writing Skills of Elementary School Students. International Journal of Evaluation and Research in Education, v10 n3 p886-892 Sep. Many elementary students still find it difficult to understand the literature content used and it automatically affects their reading and writing skills. However, the adjustment of literature with local wisdom-based content needs to be considered as a supporting tool. This study aimed to improve reading and writing skills using textbook based on local wisdom. The sample was grade 4 of elementary school students who selected using purposive random sampling. This research used a nonequivalent control group design through the experiment and control classes. Data were collected through writing and reading skills test of 32 students in each class and analyzed using N-gain to describe the treatment effect. The results showed that textbooks based on local wisdom were more effective than teaching materials that were not integrated by local wisdom at improving students' reading and writing skills. In the future, this study is a reference for teachers to apply local wisdom to other learning… [PDF]

Fleming, Sarah; Newvine, Keith (2021). Changing Terms, Not Trends: A Critical Investigation into Children's & Young Adult Literature Publishing & Its Effect in Curriculum & Pedagogy. Language and Literacy Spectrum, v31 n1 Article 2 Jun. The central argument proposed within this article is that while recent publishing trends in children's and adolescent literature have changed for the better (Cooperative Children's Book Center, 2020) and research about the importance of diverse reading experiences for students has become concentrated, centered, and validated (Adichie, 2009; Bishop, 1990; Ebarvia et al., 2020; Parker, 2020; Thomas, 2016; Tschida et al., 2014) many schools are still struggling with changing or hesitant to change the texts centered in classrooms with youth. In the end, this article provides practical steps that practicing teachers can take in order to feature the voices and narratives of historically marginalized individuals within literacy classrooms…. [PDF]

Greenwood, Janinka; Hasnat, Mahammad Abul (2021). Schools Celebrating Place and Community: A Study of Two Rural Schools in Bangladesh and New Zealand. Australian and International Journal of Rural Education, v31 n3 p81-95. This paper, by a Bangladeshi and a New Zealander, brings together narrative inquiry studies of the leadership initiatives in two quite different rural schools, in Bangladesh and New Zealand respectively. The schools are in communities that might be considered as significantly underprivileged, and generationally alienated from education, within their own countries. Those communities, however, have richness of different kinds. The schools have explored and found ways of connecting with that richness and their experiences can offer ideas to others in diverse locations, including the urban. Both cases are sites of an adventurous approach to meeting the needs of their students. Both illustrate how a rich learning environment can be created when the needs, aspirations and resources of the local environment and community are investigated, attended to and utilised. The paper reports the context and innovations in both schools. In doing so it highlights the dangers of homogenising national… [Direct]

le Roux, Kate; Swanson, Dalene (2021). Toward a Reflexive Mathematics Education within Local and Global Relations: Thinking from Critical Scholarship on Mathematics Education within the Sociopolitical, Global Citizenship Education and Decoloniality. Research in Mathematics Education, v23 n3 p323-337. Education commonly is positioned as central to developing citizens who can address so-called global challenges. Responses are identifiable in global citizenship education, which may recruit mathematics into interdisciplinary relationships, and within mathematics education itself. However, if notions of the global and local, the citizen, mathematics, and mathematics education, are brought together uncritically, responses may inadvertently reproduce the inequities they seek to disrupt. In this conceptual article, we interrogate how and with what implications these notions are given meaning in mathematics education. We also think toward notions of place, subjectivity, relations, mathematics, and mathematics education, in a way that recognises power and differences that matter, without one place being synonymous with the universal, and one peoples considered superior. We articulate these ideas in questions for provoking scholar-practitioners' critical, reflexive thinking. For our… [Direct]

Eady, Michelle J. (2016). The Community Strength Model: A Proposal to Invest in Existing Aboriginal Intellectual Capital. in education, v22 n1 p22-41 Spr. Indigenous communities have strengths and wisdom beyond Westernized culture's recognition and understanding. However, there continues to be significant difference in literacy and life skills between Indigenous and non-Indigenous adults. In this article, I reflect on a project that investigated how technology could best support adult literacy learners in an Australian Indigenous community. The project provided insights into how local people perceive the concept of literacy and the significant role it plays in critical thinking and quality decision making. The aim of my research was to create a set of principles to support adult literacy learners, which could be interpreted and applied on a global level. From this project, a new theoretical framework–the Community Strength Model–emerged. The cyclical model serves as a tool to assist researchers with conceptualizing the collective process of learning within an Indigenous culture, where being true to Indigenous knowledge and Indigenous… [PDF]