(2008). What Is Hospitality in the Academy? Epistemic Ignorance and the (Im)possible Gift. Review of Education, Pedagogy & Cultural Studies, v30 n1 p60-82 Jan. The academy is considered by many as the major Western institution of knowledge. This article, however, argues that the academy is characterized by prevalent \epistemic ignorance\–a concept informed by Spivak's discussion of \sanctioned ignorance.\ Epistemic ignorance refers to academic practices and discourses that enable the continued exclusion of other than dominant Western epistemic and intellectual traditions. The author argues that the academy is responsible for \doing its homework\ and addressing its ignorance so it can give an \unconditional welcome\ not only to indigenous people but also to their epistemes, without insisting on translation. She proposes that the responsibility of the academy toward indigenous epistemes can be assumed by espousing a specific logic embedded in many indigenous epistemes; that is, the logic of the gift. This logic is characterized particularly by acknowledging and acting upon one's responsibilities to recognize and reciprocate the gift–to… [Direct]
(2008). Intercultural and Transcultural Literacy in Contemporary Africa. Language and Intercultural Communication, v8 n2 p72-90 May. This paper argues that the challenge of intercultural communication has often been overlooked in discussions of indigenous language literacy in Africa. The omission continues despite the fact that literacy practices in Africa have often served as a means of intercultural communication, especially among highly educated Africans. Proposals for the adoption of indigenous language literacy are not likely to succeed unless a policy is developed that deals with the problematic of intercultural communication. For maximum effectiveness, indigenous language literacy practices in Africa will have to involve a balance between vernacular, transcultural and intercultural literacy. This paper offers definitions for both intercultural literacy and transcultural literacy. It agues that exclusive vernacular literacy coupled with translation between vernacular languages will encourage language shift towards more powerful languages. By contrast, a practice of intercultural literacy will blunt the drift… [Direct]
(1992). Learning from the First Australians. Online Submission, New Scientist v2 n10 p4. The wiser of the early European settlers and explorers used Aboriginal knowledge of the local flora and fauna to build up Western scientific knowledge of an unknown continent. And this process continues. This article briefly presents some of the many aboriginal technological inventions and refers to the uncanny ability of Aboriginal people to find their way in apparently featureless country. A recent educational survey found student teachers held negative views or stereotypes of Aboriginal people despite positive feelings about Australians as a whole. The good news is that Aboriginal studies are included as Year 12 examination subjects in some states. Future generations of student teachers may have a better image of Aboriginal people…. [PDF]
(2009). Teachers in a Bolivian Context of Conflict: Potential Actors for or against Change?. Globalisation, Societies and Education, v7 n4 p409-432 Nov. In response to exclusionary globalisation processes, Bolivia forms part of a wider Latin American return to regionalism and nationalism. With the indigenous president Morales, Bolivia distances itself from "imposed" neoliberal policies, aiming instead for "dignity and decolonisation". The Bolivian conflict is characterised by historical processes of poverty and inequality, discrimination and exclusion, a regional autonomy struggle linked to separatist discourses and identity politics, mistrust in the state and between societal groups and a tradition of (violent) popular pressure methods. Both urban and rural teachers play crucial roles in these processes of conflict. Drawing on insights from critical educational theories and the strategic relational approach, the paper analyses the possibilities and challenges Bolivian teachers face in changing this context of continuing tensions, discrimination and instability. It presents an analysis of teachers' complex… [Direct]
(2009). Learning to Read in Ratanakiri: A Case Study from Northeastern Cambodia. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, v12 n4 p429-447 Jul. In Ratanakiri province, northeastern Cambodia, the majority of the local people are native speakers of ethnic minority languages. Primarily subsistence farmers, they use their own language to communicate with others in their villages, and as they work in their rice fields. A baseline survey taken between 1996 and 1998 in five such villages showed that more than 95% of the people could not read and write any language. At the time a literacy program was initiated, there were no other Mother Tongue First literacy programs anywhere in Cambodia for speakers of indigenous ethnic minority languages. Between 1997 and 2002 educational materials were prepared in four of these languages and a village program was initiated. Community participation was the key to the success of the program. Students who complete the program in their own language may go on to more advanced classes to learn to read the national language, Khmer. This paper discusses how against a background in which all previous… [Direct]
(2009). Satellite Lessons: Vocational Education and Training for Isolated Communities. Rural Society, v19 n2 p127-135 Aug. At the Western Institute of Technical and Further Education (WITAFE) in New South Wales (NSW), vocational education and training (VET) courses are being delivered to students in isolated homesteads and remote Aboriginal communities by Interactive Distance eLearning (IDL). IDL provides satellite-supported two-way broadband voice, one-way video and Internet access for school-age and adult distance education. Adults commonly access VET courses offered by WITAFE using the equipment provided to their children who are students of a "School of the Air" or through community facilities in remote Aboriginal communities. By providing lessons via satellite to isolated students TAFENSW is helping to counter long-standing inequities in distance and rural education by decreasing the digital divide and assisting with rural renewal. Through a case study, this paper examines the influence of the provision of IDL and Internet access for adult students in isolated homesteads in NSW and also… [Direct]
(2009). Best Practices for Late Entry Learners into College Academic Upgrading Programs: Annotated Bibliography. Online Submission Purpose: The purpose of this document is to provide an annotated bibliography on best practices for late entry learners into college academic upgrading programs. It is intended for practitioners, administrators, and researchers and others with an interest in this field. Method: This annotated bibliography synthesizes sources related to late entry learners in college academic upgrading programs, including adult literacy, adult basic education and upgrading, adult education, best practices, aboriginal literacy, literacy among learners of English as a Second or other language, literacy for persons with disabilities, and workplace and essential skills. The literature reviewed has been limited Canada, and includes insights from the United States, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, as it was felt that these regions were similar in that they were primarily English-speaking, developed countries with large immigrant populations. It addresses literacy and essential skills in the… [PDF]
(2009). Researching for Social Justice: Contextual, Conceptual and Methodological Challenges. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, v30 n3 p303-316 Sep. Reforming schooling to enable engagement and success for those typically marginalised and failed by schools is a necessary task for educational researchers and activists concerned with injustice. However, it is a difficult pursuit, with a long history of failed attempts. This paper outlines the rationale of an Australian partnership research project, Redesigning Pedagogies in the North (RPiN), which took on such an effort in public secondary schooling contexts that, in current times, are beset with "crisis" conditions and constrained by policy rationales that make it difficult to pursue issues of justice. Within the project, university investigators and teachers collaborated in action research that drew on a range of conceptual resources for redesigning curriculum and pedagogies, including: funds of knowledge, vernacular or local literacies; place-based education; the "productive pedagogies" and the "unofficial curriculum" of popular culture and… [Direct]
(2008). Whose Place, Whose History? Outdoor Environmental Education Pedagogy as "Reading" the Landscape. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning, v8 n2 p79-98 Dec. Outdoor education practice around the world occurs in diverse circumstances, environments and cultures. The application of outdoor education to specific cultural and environmental issues in particular places and communities has received little attention in research. While research in fields such as cultural geography has addressed the relationships between cultures, communities and geographical places, this is largely overlooked in outdoor education research. In this paper I draw on literature from cultural history and environmental history to explore how these disciplines might inform outdoor education research and pedagogy that addresses current cultural and environmental issues of specific communities and geographical places. With the aid of the rhizome metaphor for (re)structuring knowledge, I use examples from my practice in Australia to demonstrate how reading the landscape and the use of stories, or historical accounts, can assist outdoor educators and participants to probe… [Direct]
(2011). Breaking the Mold of Preservice and Inservice Teacher Education: Innovative and Successful Practices for the Twenty-First Century. Rowman & Littlefield Education This unique collection of chapters takes the reader on a tour to explore innovative preservice and inservice teacher education practices from many regions of the United States, Canada and the world. Each of the chapters offers an authentic, documentary account of successful initiatives that break the traditional mold of teacher education. Section I presents unique preservice teacher preparation programs and initiatives. These chapters offer compelling ideas to readers who seek change in the higher education model of teacher training. Section II features inservice education for both the novice and veteran teacher. The chapters included in this section of the book offer stories of innovation as professional development initiatives. Each of the programs describes the setting or context in which the innovation takes place and focuses on the role of teachers and students. Chapters in Section III highlight the benefits of collaborative teacher education practices. Through the lens of… [Direct]
(2008). A Cogenerative Inquiry Using Postcolonial Theory to Envisage Culturally Inclusive Science Education. Cultural Studies of Science Education, v3 n4 p999-1019 Dec. This forum constitutes a cogenerative inquiry using postcolonial theory drawn from the review paper by Zembylas and Avraamidou. Three teacher educators from African, Asian and Caribbean countries reflect on problems confronting their professional practices and consider the prospects of creating culturally inclusive science education. We learn that in Mozambique, Nepal and the Caribbean scientism patrols the borders of science education serving to exclude local epistemological beliefs and discourses and negating culturally contextualized teaching and learning. Despite the diverse cultural hybridities of these countries, science education is disconnected from the daily lives of the majority of their populations, serving inequitably the academic Western-oriented aspirations of an elite group who are "living hybridity but talking scientism." The discussants explore their autobiographies to reveal core cultural values and beliefs grounded in their non-Western traditions and… [Direct]
(2004). Coming Full Circle: Indigenous Knowledge, Environment, and Our Future. American Indian Quarterly, v28 n3-4 p385-410 Sum-Fall. Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) as a construct of broader society is a relatively recent phenomenon, and the field that supports the acquisition of environmental knowledge from Aboriginal people has rapidly grown over the last two decades. In part, TEK has emerged from the growing recognition that Indigenous people all over the world developed sustainable environmental knowledge and practices that can be used to address problems that face global society. The international community has also recognized the important role Indigenous people and their knowledge can play in global society. In 1987 the Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development (or the Brundtland Report) recognized the important role of Indigenous people in sustainable development. Five years later, at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) was signed, one of two legally binding agreements. The CBD reiterated the important role of… [Direct]
(2010). Australian Vocational Education and Training: Research Messages, 2009. National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) In 2009 Australia's vocational education and training (VET) system, in common with so many other areas of public policy and the economy, was preoccupied by the effects of the global economic downturn and, like other sectors, sought to reposition itself to deal with the economic fallout, while anticipating its role in the recovery. Yet, as individuals look back over the year and review the National Centre for Vocational Education Research's (NCVER's) publications, many written before the financial crisis, they can see that the dominant issues are tenacious, whatever the economic climate. Fundamentally, they revolve around the role of VET in meeting skill needs, the quality of training and the costs of providing it, as well as the connection between skills, productivity and social wellbeing. Highlights from the work produced by NCVER staff or commissioned from external researchers are presented. This essay is structured around the five themes NCVER uses to organise its work, although… [PDF]
(2010). Maintaining the Illusion of Democracy: Policy-Making and Aboriginal Education in Canada, 1946-1948. Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy, n102 Mar. Following the 1949 recommendations of the Joint Committee of the Senate and House of Commons (SJC), the Canadian government shifted away from a policy of segregated to integrated schooling for Aboriginal children. This paper examines the minutes and proceedings of the SJC. Fewer than 10% of the briefs presented to the SJC called for integration indicating that government's policy shift was less reflective of the needs of the citizens who addressed the SJC than of government "insiders" who had first promoted integration in the early 1940s. Nevertheless, the SJC's open proceedings helped government to maintain the illusion of democratic processes. (Contains 1 table and 4 footnotes.)… [PDF]
(2008). Ontario Ministry of Education Policy and Aboriginal Learners' Epistemologies: A Fundamental Disconnect. Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy, n79 p1-33 Aug. The Ontario Ministry of Education has made a recent commitment to address the achievement gap between Aboriginal and non-aboriginal students with the release of various policy documents. Yet, there appears to be a disconnect between the policy principles and the standardized means of reconciling these differences in achievement, teacher education, and parental involvement. The dualities between the expressed intent presented in the policy documents and the reality of Aboriginal epistemologies imply overtones that are symptomatic of the colonial treatment of Aboriginal peoples in this province and country. There is, then, a need to rethink critical aspects of the policy, for the profound implications it has on educational policy and student achievement in this province and beyond. (Contains 1 footnote.)… [PDF]