(2015). What Are the Key Ingredients for an Effective and Successful Tertiary Enabling Program for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Students? An Evaluation of the Evolution of One Program. Australian Journal of Adult Learning, v55 n2 p244-266 Jul. Tertiary enabling programs have become an increasingly important part of the post-secondary schooling landscape. In recognition of the need for increased access for certain under-represented groups within the university population, enabling, bridging or foundational programs are offered by a large number of universities in Australia as alternative entry pathways. This paper explores the outcomes of an enabling program being offered to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults who are arguably one of the most under-represented groups within the university system in Australia. It explores, in two parts, the combination of factors that are resulting in these positive outcomes. Part one explores the "data story" of the course and the factors that support retention and completion. Part two explores the "stories of transformation" as told by the students themselves, providing insider accounts of richness and depth about the things that truly enable success in a… [PDF]
(2007). The Pedagogy of Place: Reinterpreting Ecological Education through the Language Arts. Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education, v1 n2 p109-126 Apr. The impetus for this article was research I conducted while living with children on the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, during the culmination of decades of blatant disregard for the marine ecosystem. At the heart of the social and ecological devastation happening in Canada's Newfoundland and Labrador communities are matters of environmental justice and ecological rights. The research project was born of a belief that education, in its present form, may be an obstacle to a new understanding of our place in the living world. The project proposes to see bioregional literature as a way to re-vision what it means to dwell in place. This article records the "disruption" in children's lives characterized as a deep-felt "homelessness" in response to the out-migration brought about by environmental degradation. It is hoped that the inquiry is part of a future direction in curriculum studies that is driven by an understanding of the principles of ecology. (Contains 1… [Direct]
(2015). The Development and Use of an Instrument to Investigate Science Teachers' Views on Indigenous Knowledge. African Journal of Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, v19 n3 p319-332. Science teachers in South Africa and globally experience difficulties with the integration of indigenous knowledge into their science lessons–a requirement of many science curricula. One of the reasons for this may relate to the views teachers hold about indigenous knowledge. Such views can form a barrier against successful inclusion of indigenous knowledge in the science classroom. It was, therefore, deemed useful to investigate teachers' views on indigenous knowledge. This article reports on the development of a theoretical framework, and a questionnaire derived from it, to investigate teachers' views on indigenous knowledge. The researchers were informed by the framework developed by Lederman, Abd-El-Khalick, Bell and Schwartz regarding the nature of science (NOS) and their views-on-the-NOS questionnaire. A qualitative study was done to develop and validate the views-on-the-nature-of-indigenous-knowledge instrument (VNOIK). The findings indicate that the VNOIK instrument is… [Direct]
(2015). A Delphi Survey on Citizenship Education in Asean Countries: Findings for Brunei. Journal on Educational Psychology, v8 n4 p38-52 Feb-Apr. The aim of the Delphi Survey was to elucidate Bruneian Education experts' responses to five questions regarding their knowledge and understanding of the charateristics of citizenship education viz. Environment, Coexistence, Culture, Social Justice and Equity, Democracy, Sustainable Development, Interdependence, Foreign Language, Social Welfare, Human Rights, ASEAN History and Culture, and Common Social Problems of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations ) Countries. A Delphi Survey questionnaire was given to the education experts at two different times. The education experts were primary and secondary teachers, University lecturers and other education experts. There were 386 participants in the first round survey, and 101 participants in the second round survey. The results shows that in the first part of the survey, most of the education experts' thought about their achievements of the characteristics for knowledge and understanding, skills and understanding, and values and… [PDF]
(2015). Residents' Perceptions toward Utility-Scale Wind Farm Development. Journal of Extension, v53 n6 Article 6RIB2 Dec. Increased development of wind farms in the U.S. has fostered debates surrounding the siting and support for the projects. Prior research demonstrates the importance of understanding the attitudes and opinions of community members when developing projects. This article reviews a case study of an Ohio community that integrated a local survey to measure local knowledge, support, attitudes, and opinions of community residents on a proposed wind farm into the local conversation and decision-making. Ultimately the survey results informed local programming needs and an outreach and engagement strategy and provided elected officials data to guide informed decision making on the project…. [PDF]
(2015). Envisioning a Career in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics: Some Challenges and Possibilities. Cultural Studies of Science Education, v10 n3 p657-664 Sep. In "How High School Students Envision Their STEM Career Pathways", Lin Zhang and Michael Barnett attempt to shed light on the problem of underrepresented students (e.g., Aboriginals, Hispanics, African Americans, urban, females) in STEM higher education and related careers by exploring, in general terms, five high school students' career visions and the experiences that influenced their career visions. In this paper, I attempt to extend the authors' discussions on the underrepresentation of minority students in STEM higher education by highlighting some of the factors that begin to influence youths' career decisions long before they reach the high school level and are required to make specific career choices. I also draw on Glen Aikenhead's "Sci Edu," 27, 1-52 (1996) notion of border crossing and research by Victoria Costa "Sci Edu," 79, 313-333 (1995) to reflect on the significance of the relationship between students' cultural worlds and the cultural… [Direct]
(2015). Corporate Speak and "Collateral Recruitment": Surfing the Student Body. Review of Education, Pedagogy & Cultural Studies, v37 n4 p345-358. Academic practice is scrutinized and regulated with such "Corporate speak" terms as "performance indicators," "benchmarking," "service providers" and "clients." As part of a field where ideological shifts continue to apply marketized frames of reference as neoliberalism tightens its grip, new terms and phrases are commonplace. These terms however acquire new and different meanings through appropriation, expropriation, or recycling of terms whose origins refer to other contexts, events, or histories. Like old songs, these re appropriated terms undergo a remix giving them a new "sound" so that often, recognition of previous tones disappears as they are excised from any former, less harmonious connotations. The genesis of this article is a solicitation to the author to be "profiled" in a faculty humanities brochure as part of "recruitment collateral." The request was made on the basis of previous research… [Direct]
(2015). Culturally Appropriate Behaviour Support for Australian Indigenous Students: What Does the Literature Show?. Australian Association for Research in Education, Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) (Freemantle, Western Australia, Nov 29-Dec 3, 2015). Teacher responses to Indigenous student behaviour, when couched in cultural mismatch and lack of cultural understanding, can lead to overrepresentation of Indigenous students in negative indicators associated with student behaviour. To better understand appropriate strategies to support the behaviour of Australian Indigenous students a review of the published peer reviewed and non-peer reviewed literature was undertaken. The review revealed a number of themes which underpin appropriate Indigenous student behavior support: an understanding of Self and the Other and power relations without a deficit paradigm; particular personal qualities of the teacher and the ability to create effective relationships with Indigenous students. In addition, for classroom behaviour support to be successful teachers should also know or be willing to learn: the culture and characteristics of students, their learning strengths, successful pedagogy for Indigenous students and proactive behaviour support… [PDF]
(2017). Hierarchies of Knowledge, Incommensurabilities and Silences in South African ECD Policy: Whose Knowledge Counts?. Journal of Pedagogy, v8 n1 p77-98 Aug. Policy for young children in South Africa is now receiving high-level government support through the ANC's renewed commitment to redress poverty and inequity and creating "a better life for all" as promised before the 1994 election. In this article, I explore the power relations, knowledge hierarchies and discourses of childhood, family and society in National Curriculum Framework (NCF) as it relates to children's everyday contexts. I throw light on how the curriculum's discourses relate to the diverse South African settings, child rearing practices and world-views, and how they interact with normative discourses of South African policy and global early childhood frameworks. The NCF acknowledges indigenous and local knowledges and suggests that the content should be adapted to local contexts. I argue that the good intentions of these documents to address inequities are undermined by the uncritical acceptance of global taken-for-granted discourses, such as narrow notions of… [Direct]
(2007). Increasing School Success Among Aboriginal Students: Culturally Responsive Curriculum or Macrostructural Variables Affecting Schooling?. Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education, v1 n1 p21-41 Jan. Aspects of Aboriginal cultural knowledge/perspectives were integrated into the Grade 9 social studies curriculum of a high school in a western Canadian city to appraise the impact on academic achievement, class attendance, and school retention among specific groups of Aboriginal students. The results suggest cautious optimism about increasing academic achievement among these students by integrating Aboriginal perspectives. Significantly, however, the study suggests that culturally responsive curriculum and pedagogy alone cannot provide a functional and effective agenda in reversing achievement trends among Aboriginal students. A holistic and comprehensive approach that also takes into account larger social, economic, and political variables affecting schooling may provide a more meaningful and lasting intervention. (Contains 2 footnotes.)… [Direct]
(2016). Out of Place: Economic Imperialisms in Early Childhood Education. Educational Philosophy and Theory, v48 n2 p138-149. New Zealand has received world-wide accolades for its Early Childhood Education (ECE) curriculum, Te Whariki. This paper explores the tension between economic imperialism, and a curriculum acknowledged as visionary. The foundational ideas of Te Whariki emanate from sociocultural and anti-racist pedagogies. However, its implementation is hampered by the overarching policy discourse of Human Capital Theory (HCT), with its instrumental emphasis on economic outcomes. While Te Whariki offers local cultural and educational possibilities, HCT is presented by those espousing economic disciplines, as having universal application. These tensions, largely unacknowledged and unexplored, place ECE teachers in positions of difficulty. While trying to meet aspirational curriculum goals in their daily practices, teachers' attempts are constrained by supranational economic discourses. I ask how Edward Said's (1999, "Out of place: A memoir," New York, Knopf) concept of contrapuntal readings… [Direct]
(2015). The Origins of Kura Kaupapa Maori. New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies, v50 n1 p23-38 Apr. Kura kaupapa Maori provide a unique primary school education system that immerses children in Maori language and culture. Interviews with founding members from the first Auckland kura give a critical sense of the aspirations that guided them in their struggle to set up the kura kaupapa Maori initiative. The desire to provide suitable schooling for their children, educated in a pre-school Maori immersion environment, led to a political and legal battle to provide an education validating traditional Maori knowledge. The narratives inform of the hardship endured in the setting up of kura kaupapa Maori without government assistance, and clarify the political strategies employed to establish kura. The restructuring of New Zealand's Education Department opened a space for the development of kura kaupapa Maori, leading to legislation in 1989 and formal recognition in 1999 of the Te Aho Matua document, the guiding philosophy for the majority of kura today…. [Direct]
(2016). Signatures of Quality Teaching for Indigenous Students. Australian Educational Researcher, v43 n4 p453-471 Sep. This paper presents findings from the validation of a survey instrument constructed in response to what Indigenous parents/carers and students believe constitutes culturally responsive pedagogies that positively influence Indigenous student learning. Characteristics of culturally responsive pedagogies established through interviews with Australian Indigenous parents, community members and students generated themes which were distilled into survey items by a team of Indigenous and other educators. The instrument was then put on trial with 141 teachers for statistical validation. Analyses employing the Rasch model confirmed that the instrument measured a unidimensional latent trait: culturally responsive pedagogy. Seven subscales, content validities of which were determined by a panel of experts, were also confirmed. Results highlighted differences between primary and secondary teachers' self-reported practice, and important facets of teacher pedagogy in the two different school… [Direct]
(2013). Supporting Indigenous Students' Understanding of the Numeration System of Their First Language. Mathematics Education Research Journal, v25 n1 p23-42 Mar. Results from a project conducted in Mexico are discussed, in which a group of 17 indigenous teachers analyzed the numeration systems of their first language. The main goal of the project is to develop resources that help teachers in supporting students' understanding of the systems. In the first phase of the project, the central organizing ideas of 14 numeration systems were specified. Each system belonged to a different Mesoamerican language. Three aspects of the systems were identified that would have to be accounted for in instructional design. They include using 20 as a multiplicative base. Examples are presented of the instructional resources that indigenous teachers could use to help their students understand the quantitative rationales of the systems…. [Direct]
(2014). Australian Indigenous Students' Performance on the PIPS-BLA Reading and Mathematics Scales: 2011-2013. International Research in Early Childhood Education, v5 n1 p103-123. The assessment of literacy and numeracy skills of students as they enter school for the first time is not yet established nation-wide in Australia. However, a large proportion of primary schools have chosen to assess their starting students on the Performance Indicators in Primary Schools-Baseline Assessment (PIPS-BLA). This series of three studies aimed to establish whether (a) items in the Reading and Mathematics scales of the PIPS-BLA function differently for Indigenous and non-Indigenous students; (b) easier items developed for both scales are able to target Indigenous low-scoring students more reliably; and (c) factors such as gender, age, geolocation and ESL status are related to high and low levels of performance. The samples consisted of Indigenous and non-Indigenous students from metropolitan, regional and remote areas in Western Australia starting school in the years 2007 to 2013. The Rasch model was used to examine the operation of items. Both scales showed very little… [PDF]