(2012). E-Learning Access, Opportunities, and Challenges for Aboriginal Adult Learners Located in Rural Communities. College Quarterly, v15 n2 Spr. This exploratory qualitative study focused on 1) the learning needs of Aboriginal adult learners residing in selected First Nations communities in rural Alberta and 2) the potential for increasing access to e-learning education. Through open dialogue with First Nations community leaders, Aboriginal adult learners, and Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal adult educators, four key themes emerged from the data: 1) Building Capacity: Onsite Education, 2) Success Factors: Needs and Perspectives, 3) Relationships and Learning: The Human Factor, and 4) Technology: Bridges and Barriers. Recommendations, in response to findings are included. (Contains 1 figure and 1 endnote.)… [PDF]
(2013). "Masihambisane," Lessons Learnt Using Participatory Indigenous Knowledge Research Approaches in a School-Based Collaborative Project of the Eastern Cape. South African Journal of Education, v33 n4 Article 845. "Masihambisane" is an Nguni word, loosely meaning "let us walk the path together." The symbolic act of walking together is conceptually at the heart of a funded research project conducted in rural schools of Cofimvaba in the Eastern Cape. The project focuses on promoting the direct participation of teachers in planning, researching, and developing learning and teaching materials (LTSMs), with a view to aligning these materials with indigenous and local knowledge. In this paper we make explicit our learning, and the manner in which we carried out the collaborated research activities, using the "Reflect" process…. [PDF]
(2013). Great Expectations: Teaching Mathematics in English to Indigenous Language Speaking Students. Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia, Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia (MERGA) (36th, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2013). Effective mathematics teaching for Indigenous language speaking students, currently the lowest achieving group in Australia, needs to be based on fair expectations of both students and teachers. Teacher interviews in a small Northern Territory school, conducted within an ethnographic study, showed that teachers' decisions regarding level of mathematics curriculum taught were informed by students' prior learning and by the language dynamic in their classrooms. The need and pressure to teach Standard Australian English also affected how mathematics was taught…. [PDF]
(2011). An Existentialist in Iqaluit: Existentialism and Reflexivity Informing Pedagogy in the Canadian North. Journal of Management Education, v35 n1 p119-137 Feb. Reflecting on the personal experience of teaching human resource management in the Canadian Arctic, the author explores the utility of an existentialist approach to pedagogy. The author outlines select aspects of existentialism that are pertinent to the teaching and discusses the implications of using reflexive existential thought as guidance in a specific educational context. The author's aim is to extend the dialogue concerning freedom and pedagogy using existentialism as a mechanism to navigate the implications of such. (Contains 1 note.)… [Direct]
(2011). Vulnerability and Agency in Being and Becoming a Musician. Music Education Research, v13 n4 p355-367. From the work of sociocultural theorists like Rogoff (1990), Vygotsky (1978) and Wenger (1998), it is widely understood that learning is an act of the individual resulting from experience in a sociocultural context. Within this context, following Dewey (1998), learners need to take an active role, engaging and constructing their own understanding. For learners to take this active role, they need to feel a sense of personal agency which Bruner (1996) describes as a \sense that one can initiate and carry out activities on one's own\ linked to aspiration, confidence, optimism, skill and know-how. Since learning involves venturing into the unknown or less known, risk-taking is intrinsic to the process. Taking risks places learners in a vulnerable position, which is why a safe and supportive learning environment is so essential for empowering learners. In this paper, the author explores the interaction between vulnerability and agency in experiences of being and becoming a musician. She… [Direct]
(2012). CCA 3101/4101 Environmental Humanities: The History of a Unit through an Ecopedagogical Lens. Online Submission, US-China Education Review B 12 p1013-1020. In 2011 the author taught, for the first time, the well-established unit CCA3101/4101 Environmental Humanities in the School of Communications and Arts at ECU (Edith Cowan University) in Western Australia. The unit has a 20-year history through associate professor Rod Giblett and parallels the development of the environmental humanities as a field in Australia, advanced since the 1990s by environmental scholars Deborah Bird Rose, Val Plumwood, Libby Robin, and Rod Giblett. The interdisciplinary field represents growing scholarly interest in the ecological aspects of humanities disciplines–including literature, visual arts, theology, philosophy, and cultural studies–and the development of humanities-based approaches for addressing environmental problems. In this paper, the author argues that the CCA3101/4101 unit is a key ecopedagogical resource, particularly with regard to ECU's recent development of sustainability as a core institutional value. The ecopedagogical principle of… [PDF]
(2013). Belonging and Learning to Belong in School: The Implications of the Hidden Curriculum for Indigenous Students. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, v34 n5 p660-672. This paper engages with current educational literature in Australia and internationally, in exploring the implications of the hidden curriculum for Indigenous students. It argues that in schools, most of the learning rules or guidelines reflect the "white" dominant culture values and practices, and that it is generally those who don't have the cultural match-ups that schooling requires for success, such as Indigenous and minority students, who face the most educational disadvantage. Howard and Perry argue that Indigenous students "… need to feel that schools belong to them as much as any child" and that to "… move towards the achievement of potential of Aboriginal students, it is important that Aboriginal culture and language are accepted in the classroom." This paper will also provide a discussion into school-based strategies that are considered effective for engaging Indigenous students with school…. [Direct]
(2011). Imaginary Subjects: School Science, Indigenous Students, and Knowledge-Power Relations. British Journal of Sociology of Education, v32 n2 p203-220 Mar. The perspectives of indigenous science learners in developed nations offer an important but frequently overlooked dimension to debates about the nature of science, the science curriculum, and calls from educators to make school science more culturally responsive or "relevant" to students from indigenous or minority groups. In this paper the findings of a study conducted with indigenous Maori children between the ages of 10 and 12 years are discussed. The purpose of the study was to examine the ways that indigenous children in an urban school environment in New Zealand position themselves in relation to school science. Drawing on the work of Basil Bernstein, we argue that although the interplay between emergent cultural identity narratives and the formation of "science selves" is not as yet fully understood, it carries the potential to open a rich seam of learning for indigenous children. (Contains 1 note.)… [Direct]
(2011). Crossing the Threshold Mindfully: Exploring Rites of Passage Models in Adventure Therapy. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning, v11 n2 p109-126. Rites of passage models, drawing from ethnographic descriptions of ritualized transition, are widespread in adventure therapy programmes. However, critical literature suggests that: (a) contemporary rites of passage models derive from a selective and sometimes misleading use of ethnographic materials, and (b) the appropriation of initiatory practices and motifs out of the cultural contexts from which they emerged may be both unethical and ineffective. This paper explores the origins and applications of rites of passage models in adventure therapy, and discusses some of the central critical questions around their use. It challenges the simplistic use of complex cultural processes and offers some guidelines for the ethical and practical integration of such models in service of therapeutic outcomes. (Contains 7 notes.)… [Direct]
(2010). Intercultural Education in Sweden through the Lenses of the National Minorities and of Religious Education. Intercultural Education, v21 n2 p121-135 Apr. The aim of this paper is to discuss two perspectives in relation to intercultural education and diversity in Sweden. One of the perspectives concerns the historical and current situation of the five Swedish national minorities with a special focus on education. The second perspective is related to religious diversity and education, as connected to an increasingly democratic, plural and inclusive society. Both perspectives are highly relevant when analysing intercultural education in a specific national context. The last section highlights two main discourses which have been predominant during the last century in relation to education and diversity in Sweden. (Contains 13 notes.)… [Direct]
(2010). The Other in Education: The Distance between School Education and Local Culture. Chinese Education and Society, v43 n5 p47-61 Sep-Oct. By means of an investigation into the school education of the Dai people in Dehong, Yunnan province, this article expounds on the interactive relationship between modern education and local culture and the problems of cultural adaptation among ethnic minority students. School education, as a symbol of state power, always endeavors to transform internal Others into modern citizens. It devises a closed venue and separates students from everyday life situations to place them in a system of abstract knowledge. In local culture, however, students form practical knowledge in the course of enculturation. Due to the sustained expansion of modernity, an unequal power relationship is formed between abstract knowledge and practical knowledge. Meanwhile, school education is subject to constant parental queries, causing difficulties in cultural adaptation for Dai students. The article points out in conclusion that ethnic education should avoid creating doubly marginalized persons. (Contains 1… [Direct]
(2012). Tensions in Incorporating Global Childhood with Early Childhood Programs: The Case of South Africa. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, v37 n3 p80-86 Sep. Global childhood as a concept privileges western ideals of how young children experience growing up, how adults educate them, and how priorities are set for them. Ways of knowing and doing early childhood are backed by Euro-American knowledge, international conventions and scientific evidence which gives a semblance of the truths for intervening in the lives of children and their families in the majority of the world. The real conditions of young children's lives, the complexity and diversity of early childhood in the majority world require engagement with the plural concept of multiple childhoods. The recognition of the latter is creating greater focus on the versions of childhood informed by local conditions in the majority world. This article foregrounds the complex ideas and practices which form an integral part of how people shape early childhoods in the majority world. South Africa is an ideal example of how the political, economic and cultural context shaped and continues to… [Direct]
(2012). Cultural Diversity and the Experiences of Alaska Native Nursing Students. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Northern Colorado. The purpose of this ethnonursing research study was to discover, describe, and systematically analyze the care expressions, practices, and patterns of Alaska Native nurses within the context of their nursing school experience. The goals of this study were to identify generic and professional care factors that promote the academic success of Alaska Native students and to explore how these factors might affect culturally congruent education within the classroom. Seven major themes were discovered: (a) Alaska Native nursing students' self-care is linked to addressing the need for family; (b) to Alaska Native nurses and the nurse educators teaching them, communication is a universal need with cultural diversity; (c) Alaska Native nursing students are stressed by living in two worlds; (d) Alaska Native nursing students experience culturally non-congruent and non-caring events in the classroom; (e) nurse educators who promote the success of Alaska Native nursing students value and respect… [Direct]
(2015). Ministry of Education 2015/16 Annual Service Plan Report. British Columbia Ministry of Education This Annual Service Plan Report discusses the results related to measures in the Ministry of Education's 2015/16-2017/18 Service Plan. Work within the Ministry is driven by the Minister's Mandate Letter, aligning with government's strategic mandate and the Ministry's goals, objectives, and strategies. Comparing performance against these principles and priorities helps to inform strategic decision-making at the Minister level. Each year, the Ministry is provided with key accountabilities that are outlined in the Minister's Mandate Letter from the Premier. The 2014 mandate letter informed the planning process for the 2015/16 Service Plan, and the Ministry of Education has made significant accomplishments with regard to its 2015/16 fiscal year priorities. This year's Annual Service Plan Report provides: (1) Minister's Message and Accountability Statement; (2) Purpose of the Ministry; (3) Strategic Direction and Context; (4) Report on Performance; and (5) Financial Report…. [PDF]
(2015). South African Schoolchildren's Voices on Democratic Belonging, Being, and Becoming. Educational Practice and Theory, v37 n1 p19-44. This article examines the meanings ascribed to democracy by 74 township children in primary and intermediate schools outside Cape Town. The Xhosa children's racial and historical accounts form the qualitative substance to postulate democracy as "ubuntu" (respect). Embedded in a 'struggle for recognition', democratic belonging, being, and becoming is understood in relation to the speech acts of children and informed by Honneth's theory of recognition (love, rights, and solidarity). This case study is a move toward a theory of child voice that views children as not merely produced by schools but as active constructors of the democratic identities they hold…. [Direct]