(2013). Incorporating Indigenous Knowledge within Student Supports: Elder-in-Residence Position. BU Journal of Graduate Studies in Education, v5 n2 p27-32. Student supports are most effective when they are tailored to meet the needs of the student body. Aboriginal students comprise a particularly vulnerable Canadian student body, given the gap that remains between non-Aboriginal students and Aboriginal students in regards to completion rates. Aboriginal student retention remains problematic despite mandates to be culturally inclusive in the classroom, and the inclusion of language credit options, Aboriginally focused curricula, and culturally appropriate resources. As educators, part of our complex role includes finding creative ways to engage and support our students. One way to assist educators in engaging Aboriginal students within the school community is to have an Elder in residence who could work with both staff and students…. [PDF]
(2016). Exploring Embodied Methodologies for Transformative Practice in Early Childhood and Youth. Weighed down by Development: Reflections on Early Childhood Care and Education in East Africa. Journal of Pedagogy, v7 n1 p39-58 Jun. This paper is based on qualitative research undertaken in West Nile Uganda and Coastal Kenya as part of a broader "development" project. A wide range of stakeholders, including government officials, parents, and early childhood practitioners were involved in sharing their perspectives of what life is like for young children (birth to age 8) in their homes, communities, and institutions. Data gathered were then brought back to community members to solicit action plans. The author brings to the data her reflections and lived experience as a "mzungu" (white person) brought to the region under the "guise" of development work and the ethical issues that ensued. It was clear that minority world discourses and conceptions of what constitutes a "good life" for children had permeated the value systems and goals of many adults in this majority world context. However, when challenged to think deeply about the systemic issues affecting their children,… [Direct]
(2017). Educational Outcomes for Aboriginal School Students in Tasmania: Is the Achievement Gap Closing?. Australian and International Journal of Rural Education, v27 n3 p90-110. A quality education is a basic societal right. Yet for many Aboriginal students that right is not yet a reality. This paper focuses on the situation of Aboriginal/palawa school students in Tasmania and employs a quantitative methodology to examine the comparative educational achievements of Aboriginal school students. State level Grade 3, 5, 7 and 9 numeracy and reading test results from the National Assessment Program of Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) 2008-2016 support the analysis. Results indicate that Aboriginal students remain more likely to be at or below minimum literacy and numeracy standards than their non-Aboriginal counterparts. It is also found that Aboriginal students' academic achievement declines as they move through the schooling system. Further, Aboriginal students are less likely to partake in NAPLAN due to higher absenteeism on test days. These results are discussed in the context of education policy and the broader national and international literature on factors… [Direct]
(2014). COSEE-AK Ocean Science Fairs: A Science Fair Model That Grounds Student Projects in Both Western Science and Traditional Native Knowledge. Journal of Geoscience Education, v62 n2 p166-176 May. We have developed the traditional science fair format into an ocean science fair model that promoted the integration of Western science and Alaska Native traditional knowledge in student projects focused on the ocean, aquatic environments, and climate change. The typical science fair judging criteria for the validity and presentation of the science were expanded to include criteria for cultural and/or community relevance, and local and cultural experts were involved in judging. The Center for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence-Alaska (COSEE-AK) provided support for teachers to organize local and regional fairs and for student and chaperone travel to an ocean science "fair within a fair" at the Alaska statewide science and engineering fair. This approach engaged Alaska Native and rural students in science practice relevant to their cultures and communities and is being sustained by trained teachers and school districts. The results of interviews of 31 of 44 students participating… [PDF]
(2017). The Major in Cultural Context: Choosing Liberal Arts in the Marshall Islands. English Language Teaching, v10 n11 p214-228. Choosing a major is part of liberal arts (LA) education in American-accredited colleges across the world. In global second-language (L2) contexts, the choice of major is shaped by local cultural factors. This study of 192 undergraduates at an English-medium-of-instruction (EMI) college in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) used a survey, content and Appraisal analyses to explore what the LA major means to RMI youth. Results showed they were positive about LA, but little engaged with it outside the classroom. This probably reflected the institution's traditional concept of LA and outdated western teaching approaches, and a failure to incorporate elements of an authentic local culture of teaching and learning. Appraisal data indicated participants associated positive, congruent desire, interest and affection for the LA major, but also low utility and worth with LA class content, revealing a need to convey the utility of the LA skill set for employment. Finally, LA majors were… [PDF]
(2014). The Challenge of More Light, the Complexity of Culture: Lessons Learned in Exploring the Cultural Positioning of Literacy Teachers. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, v35 n1 p1-15. This conceptual article, based on data collected and analyzed within a larger study, considers perspectives on cultural diversity and research in the context of the current politicized educational environment within the United States. Drawing from previous research conducted in a graduate course exploring language, literacy and culture, the author articulates three practices that teacher educators and researchers can attend to in order to maintain complex explorations of culture with preservice and inservice teachers. These practices are (1) fostering a discursive view of culture, (2) attending to localized knowledge and (3) acknowledging and developing empathic stances. While examples are drawn from a US context, educational and multicultural concerns addressed are global in implication…. [Direct]
(2014). A Resource Package Training Framework for Producing Quality Graduates to Work in Rural, Regional and Remote Australia: A Global Perspective. Australian and International Journal of Rural Education, v24 n2 p1-14. The purpose of this paper is to advocate the resource package for producing quality graduates to work in rural, regional and remote Australia (TERRR Network), using a global perspective. This paper argues that the resource package achieves more than the objectives of the original project; "Developing Strategies at the Pre-service Level to Address Critical Teacher Attraction and Retention Issues in Australian Rural, Regional and Remote Schools". Through implementation of the resource package, subsequently all Teacher Education students develop the ability to understand context and build confidence to adapt curriculum accordingly, thus enhancing learning and teaching. This often requires extension from ones "comfort zone" in order to experience and understand "context". It also requires teachers to be flexible and understanding, an essential role of Teacher Educators in the modern world. It is relevant that when viewing rural education on the global stage,… [Direct]
(2014). "Scaling Up" Educational Change: Some Musings on Misrecognition and Doxic Challenges. Critical Studies in Education, v55 n2 p87-103. Educational policy-makers around the world are strongly committed to the notion of "scaling up". This can mean anything from encouraging more teachers to take up a pedagogical innovation, all the way through to system-wide efforts to implement "what works" across all schools. In this paper, I use Bourdieu's notions of misrecognition to consider the current orthodoxies of scaling up. I argue that the focus on "process" and "implementation problems": (1) both obscures and legitimates the ways in which the field logics of practice actually work and, (2) produces/reproduces the inequitable distribution of educational benefits (capitals and life opportunities). I suggest that the notion of misrecognition might provide a useful lens through which to examine reform initiatives and explanations of their success/failure…. [Direct]
(2014). Huitzilopochtli: The Will and Resiliency of Tucson Youth to Keep Mexican American Studies Alive. Multicultural Perspectives, v16 n1 p3-7. In response to the banning of Mexican American Studies in Tucson, students in the newly formed Chican@ Literature, Art, and Social Studies program displayed their resiliency in the face of the oppressive actions of the Tucson Unified School District and the state of Arizona. This article serves as a platform for the voices of these dedicated youth who continued their educational and activist journey on Sundays throughout the 2012-2013 academic school year. The students share their impressions of why the Chican@ Literature, Art, and Social Studies program was important to them and how the curriculum, pedagogy, and relationships with classmates and their teacher shaped their continued struggle to revive Mexican American Studies for future generations and the transformation of the world…. [Direct]
(2015). Dancing with Ethnic Identities: An Aboriginal Dance Club in a Taiwanese Middle School. International Journal of Multicultural Education, v17 n2 p20-35. Research in Taiwan has shown that aboriginal students often have low self-esteem and a negative view of their life due to their heritage. This research studied 14 Taiwan aboriginal students to understand how the experience of an aboriginal dance club influenced the development of their ethnic identity. The results showed that the experiences of socializing with other aboriginal group members and learning about traditional tribal culture created a more positive ethnic identity. Moreover, through international performances, they gained self-confidence and diverse perspectives. The study suggests that a safe environment where students can learn about their ethnic cultural practice would help aboriginal students develop a more positive ethnic identity…. [PDF]
(2015). Actual Minds of Two Halves: Measurement, Metaphor and the Message. Educational Philosophy and Theory, v47 n11 p1227-1233. This article takes "measurement" as a will to determine or fix space and time, which allows for a comparison of ontological models of space and time from Western and Maori traditions. The spirit of "measurement" is concomitantly one of fixing meaning, which is suggested as the essence of the growth of the scientific genre of language that has taken place alongside the growth of science itself, since the European Enlightenment. "Measurement" and "metaphor" are posited as an original binary for classifying thinking and language, updating classical educational models of thought by drawing on recent results in brain and cognitive science, and recognising that basic cognitive resources, such as logic and rationality, power all forms of thinking. The article suggests that the notion of "cultural worldview" may involve different balances of left and right brain thinking, embedded in the discourses, lexicons and grammars of each language, and… [Direct]
(2015). Not Just "Sunny Days": Aboriginal Students Connect Out-of-School Literacy Resources with School Literacy Practices. Literacy, v49 n2 p60-68 Apr. In this paper, I report on a school-university collaborative research project that investigated which practices and knowledges of Canadian Aboriginal students not acknowledged in school may provide these students with access to school literacy practices. The study, which took place in a small city in Western Canada, examined ways to merge the out-of-school literacy resources with school literacy practices for minority language learners who struggle with academic literacies. Drawing on the third space theory, in conjunction with the concept of "funds of knowledge," I explain how students' linguistic and cultural resources from home and community networks were utilised to reshape school literacy practices through their involvement in the Heritage Fair programme. I analyse a representative case study of Darius, a 10-year-old boy who explored his familial hunting practices for his Heritage Fair project. This illustrative exemplar, "Not just sunny days," highlights the… [Direct]
(2015). From Paradise to Beyond: Geographical Constructs and How They Shape Education in the Bush. Australian and International Journal of Rural Education, v25 n3 p62-79. Schools in Australia are sometimes described, categorised and defined by their locations. These statistical geographical categorisations help to determine how funding is allocated. They help to determine the types of teachers that are recruited, what kinds of teachers are attracted, how they much they are paid. Geographical categories can create perceptions that sometimes end up as stereotypes in the minds of parents and students. At times remote geographical locations are associated with disadvantage. These kinds of categorisations tend to treat schools in binary terms, or on a linear continuum, which may also be associated with value judgements that can be misleading. For example, rural schools are often thought of as disadvantaged, while city schools are therefore advantaged. In this paper the authors argue that the categorisations described above are unhelpful, limiting, misrepresent and are often unwarranted. In this paper they draw from the descriptions offered by schools for… [Direct]
(2015). Research Library Issues: A Report from ARL, CNI, and SPARC. Special Issue on Copyright. RLI 285. Association of Research Libraries "Research Library Issues" ("RLI") focuses on current and emerging topics that are strategically important to research libraries. The articles explore issues, share information, pose critical questions, and provide examples. This issue includes the following articles: (1) Special Issue on Copyright (Prudence S. Adler); (2) Fair Use Rising: Full-Text Access and Repurposing in Recent Case Law (Brandon Butler); (3) What Does the "HathiTrust" Decision Mean for Libraries? (Jonathan Band); and (4) International Copyright Developments: From the Marrakesh Treaty to Trade Agreements (Krista Cox). Individual articles contain endnotes…. [Direct]
(2015). A Multiple Cross-Cultural Comparison of Approaches to Learning. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, v45 n2 p272-294. This study compares learning approaches of local English-speaking students and students from Asian countries studying at an Australian metropolitan university. The sample consists of students across 13 different countries. Unlike previous studies, students from Asian countries are subdivided into two categories: students from Confucian Heritage Cultures (CHC) and students from Asia-based non-Confucian Heritage Cultures (non-CHC). The rich diversity of student background enables meaningful comparison between cultural groups. There are three key findings. Firstly, CHC and non-CHC students are more likely to adopt a deep learning approach than local English-speaking (LES) students. Secondly, CHC students show a strong tendency to simultaneously adopt surface and deep approaches to learning. This tendency also exists with non-CHC students, albeit not as strongly as in as the former group. The LES students show the least tendency to adopt this mixed approach. Thirdly, memorisation appears… [Direct]