(2012). Ministry of Education 2011/12 Annual Service Plan Report. British Columbia Ministry of Education The Ministry of Education "2011/2012 Annual Service Plan Report" outlines achievements during the fiscal year ending March 31, 2012. This report reflects the Ministry's progress over the past year, including the launch of British Columbia's Education Plan, the expansion of StrongStart BC early learning programs, the full implementation of full day kindergarten, new funding to support students with special needs as well as their most vulnerable students and investments in Neighbourhood Learning Centres, school upgrades and new schools. This "Annual Service Plan Report" compares the actual results to the expected results identified in the Ministry's "Revised 2011/12-2013/14 Service Plan."… [PDF]
(2008). A Cultural-Historical Reading of \Culturally Sensitive Schooling\: Thinking beyond a Constructivist View of Science Learning. Cultural Studies of Science Education, v3 n3 p781-786 Sep. \Culturally-Sensitive Schooling\ as proposed by Brayboy and Castagno offers an important way of thinking about the relations between formal and informal science learning and between Western and Indigenous science. The constructiveness framework adopted by Brayboy and Castagno in their discussions is consistent with the theoretical approach traditionally used by many researchers and scholars interested in science learning. In this article I explore the basic concepts introduced in their paper, but use a different theoretical lens for explicating concept formation. Through a cultural-historical reading of \Culturally Sensitive Schooling,\ different insights can be gained about the relations between everyday informal learning and schooled learning in science. I argue that dialectical logic is more productive for re-theorising science teaching and learning in culturally diverse communities…. [Direct]
(2010). Beyond English Development: Bilingual Approaches to Teaching Immigrant Students and English Language Learners. Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, v109 n2 p384-413. Educational policies for English language learners (ELLs) tend to focus on English language acquisition. In this chapter, the authors argue that educators need to give more attention to the development of bilingualism and biliteracy to draw upon the tremendous intellectual, linguistic, and cultural resources that bilingual children bring to the schools. Bilingual education programs have the potential to develop language resources of multilingual immigrant students and ELLs that are otherwise neglected in monolingual English programs. In their call for a new educational policy agenda to meet the needs of immigrant students, C. Suarez-Orozco and Suarez-Orozco (2009) argued that all students of the 21st century should be able to function in multiple languages. They recommended that the new administration \urge more schools to implement dual-language programs that, when well designed and managed, produce excellent results to prepare competent bilingual speakers, immigrant and native… [Direct]
(2009). Becoming "Neuquino" in Mapuzugun: Teaching Mapuche Language and Culture in the Province of Neuquen, Argentina. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, v40 n2 p129-149 Jun. This article explores the sense of belonging promoted by the current program of Educacion Intercultural Bilingue (EIB) of the province of Neuquen for Mapuche children, examining the design and implementation of this program. The analysis reveals how this program reinforces a hegemonic definition of Mapuche identity, which relegates Mapuche culture to times past and to a rural setting. At the same time, the program subordinates the Mapuche identity to the provincial realm, and merges it with the Argentine and Catholic identities in supposed "harmony."… [Direct]
(2009). Using Chinese Knowledge in Internationalising Research Education: Jacques Ranciere, an Ignorant Supervisor and Doctoral Students from China. Globalisation, Societies and Education, v7 n2 p185-201 Jun. The problematic of the research reported in this paper, namely the place of Chinese knowledge in educational research in Australia provides an opportunity to use Rancire's work to rethink the place of ignorance in the supervisory pedagogies used in internationalising education. Because its scope and character is quite variable, consideration is given to four heterogeneous but interdependent approaches to deciding what counts as ignorance. This raises several important theoretical and pedagogical questions about the correspondence between economic power, what we know and what we do with our ignorance; the agency of international students in articulating their intellectual heritage through Western educational research, and the potential of intellectual resources available from China being used by students from there when undertaking research aboard. Eight working principles are provided to inform debates among care-full and conscientious supervisors' interested in engaging,… [Direct]
(2009). Evaluating the Impact of an Environmental Education Programme: An Empirical Study in Mexico. Environmental Education Research, v15 n3 p371-387 Jun. This study draws on information from 11 in-depth interviews, two focus groups and 72 written questionnaires to evaluate an extra-curricular environmental education programme on forestry designed for preparatory school students from a small rural community in Mexico. Specifically, the study assessed the impact of the programme on the ecological knowledge of 72 students. Qualitative feedback suggests that students learnt about forestry, acquired greater awareness of the importance of conservation for the local environment and enjoyed the participatory teaching methods used in the programme. Quantitative results show a positive and significant association between the number of times a student participated in the programme and the student's ecological knowledge. Students who participated in the programme once had a 16.3% higher knowledge on ecological concepts and knew, on average, 1.5 more local forest plants than students who never attended it (p less than 0.001). Findings suggest that… [Direct]
(2009). Commentary on \Working from Home in American Indian History\. American Indian Quarterly, v33 n4 p545-552 Fall. What does it mean to \work from home\? Despite the way the phrase rolls easily off the tongue, there is nothing simple or transparent about it. The essays in this issue stake out a different territory in which home is not only the location of work but also its subject and perhaps its methodology. While working from home may sound (and be) perfectly acceptable, this close parsing of the phrase also suggests that home-work is not necessarily the \natural\ order of things. These essays seek to explore the dynamic of acceptability and normalization in terms that are personal, political, intellectual, and disciplinary. At the same time, the essays also recognize that \home\ simultaneously names Indian worlds that exist on their own terms, worlds that are hardly called into being by academic inquiry. Native academics often find themselves in a double bind, confronting the doubled audiences and structures that originate from work that must speak both to \home\–often experienced as family,… [Direct]
(2009). Education and Cultural Hybridity: What Cultural Values Should Be Imparted to Students in Kenya?. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, v39 n3 p335-348 May. This paper discusses what cultural values should be imparted to Kenyan students in the post-colonial era. Traditionalists had argued that an education based on Western culture, i.e. colonial culture, was the root cause of the present social and political problems, and therefore it should be de-emphasised. Such an argument, however, is criticised by post-modern scholars who embrace the concept of cultural hybridity. The criticism is validated by a case study presented here, which showed the observed attitudes of Kenyan students. This paper therefore suggests that the concept of cultural hybridity should be accepted in school, as it may contribute to the formation of a stable democratic society…. [Direct]
(2009). How One Class Experienced Cultural Immersion. Tribal College Journal of American Indian Higher Education, v20 n3 p29 Spr. Twenty-one teacher candidates and faculty from Turtle Mountain Community College (TMCC, Belcourt, North Dakota) and Cikana Cankdeska Community College (CCCC, Fort Totten, North Dakota) traveled by train from North Dakota to Minneapolis, Minnesota, for an immersion experience as part of their Human Relations and Multicultural Education. The group met with local Native people and Somali people in Minneapolis to learn how these cultures cope with the struggles related to cultural identity. This article describes their experiences during their immersion…. [Direct]
(2010). Ministry of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development. 2010/11-2012/13 Service Plan. Ministry of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development British Columbia is facing challenging economic times. Indeed, the province is managing the effects of an economic recession that has been truly global in nature. In times like these, it becomes even more important to draw on the core strengths of the province and clearly recognize that the opportunities for everyone's future lie in the innovative spirit and talent of the citizens. The Ministry is implementing programs and policies to ensure that the province will meet the labour market demands by maximizing the productivity of its existing labour force, attracting people with the skills needed to the province, and ensuring that newcomers are able to realize their full potential when they arrive. It is not enough to simply react to the current, short term economic realities. Everyone must take steps now to ensure that the province has the skills and talent it needs to seize the opportunities of the future. To this end, the Ministry is developing the long-terms strategies that will… [PDF]
(2010). The Utility of General Self-Esteem and Domain-Specific Self-Concepts: Their Influence on Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Students' Educational Outcomes. Australian Journal of Education, v54 n3 p277-306 Nov. It is only relatively recently that empirical research has begun to emerge that has sought to further understand the factors that may contribute to the educational inequities between Indigenous Australian and non-Indigenous Australian students. Although it has been argued that research has typically employed small, unrepresentative case studies and weak statistical approaches, a new wave of Indigenous educational research is seeking to understand the impact of psychological constructs on educational outcomes for Indigenous (and non-Indigenous) students. Embedded within this research is a careful consideration as to whether measures used are not only equivalent in meaning for Indigenous and non-Indigenous students but also equivalent in their ability to predict important schooling outcomes. Using this approach, this investigation tests the relation of multiple dimensions of self-concept to Indigenous and non-Indigenous students' educational outcomes. The validity of the quantitative… [Direct]
(2008). A Survey of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Knowledge among Health Educators in the United States. American Journal of Health Education, v39 n2 p66-79 Mar-Apr. Background: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is popular among U.S. health care consumers, but no study has examined how much health educators know about CAM. Purpose: To examine the knowledge of basic CAM concepts and common CAM therapies among health educators in the U.S. Methods: An online survey was conducted among 1,299 health educators with valid e-mails on a professional listserv. The response rate was 39%. The 16-item CAM knowledge scale yielded a Cronbach's alpha of .71. Results: Participating health educators were most knowledgeable about chiropractic and massage therapy, familiar with the general definition of CAM, understood whether acupuncture is beneficial in treating a variety of health conditions, and whether there is sufficient scientific evidence regarding CAM safety and effectiveness. Participants were unclear about the difference between complementary medicine and alternative medicine. CAM knowledge appeared to be influenced by the participants' sex,… [PDF] [PDF]
(2009). Educating for a Revitalization of the Cultural Commons. Canadian Journal of Environmental Education, v14 n1 p196-200. This article discusses how the cultural commons that exist in every community, both rural and urban, carry forward the intergenerational knowledge and skills that enable people to live more mutually supportive lives that are less dependent upon consumerism and that have a smaller ecological footprint. Also discussed is why public schools and universities have relegated the intergenerational and largely non-monetized knowledge and skills to low status, as well as the different ways in which the traditions of community self-sufficiency are being transformed into new markets that lead to greater dependency upon a money economy. The cultural commons began with the first humans, and will become increasingly important as the industrial/consumer culture continues to collapse…. [PDF] [Direct]
(2010). Biculturalism and Multiculturalism: Competing Tensions in Visual Arts Education in Aotearoa-New Zealand. International Journal of Multicultural Education, v12 n2. New Zealand has become an increasingly multicultural society since the 1990s. But multicultural education is complicated in this nation by its position on biculturalism, a commitment founded in its postcolonial history. The finding of an investigation in secondary schools, which showed that national and visual arts curricula emphasize biculturalism over multiculturalism, was reflected in art teachers' pedagogies. In this paper I discuss how multicultural art education could be strengthened within the existing bicultural framework. Bridging the gap between policies and practices would require art teachers to review their practices and implement strategies which take into account the cultural diversity of students to enhance understandings of their own and other multicultural societies…. [PDF]
(2010). "Mind the Gap": Effective Literacy Instruction for Indigenous Low-Progress Readers. Australasian Journal of Special Education, v34 n1 p1-16 May. A large gap is evident between the reading and related skills performance of Aboriginal students compared with that of their non-indigenous peers and this gap increases over the primary years of schooling. In this study, 34 students attended a tutorial centre in Sydney for older low-progress readers in Years 5 and 6, for two school terms. All students were referred by their schools on the basis of their reading difficulty and low socioeconomic status. The parents of 14 of these students self-identified as being Aboriginal. All students received an intensive, systematic skills-based remedial reading and spelling program (mornings only) and were assessed on a battery of literacy measures both prior to and following the two term intervention. The pre- and post-test raw scores on all measures were analysed to determine the efficacy of the program. The group as a whole made large and highly significant gains on all measures of reading accuracy, comprehension, single word reading, non-word… [Direct]