(2018). Outcomes of an Australian Nursing Student-Led School Vision and Hearing Screening Programme. Child Care in Practice, v24 n1 p43-52. Nursing students typically do not undertake clinical training in school settings. However, they are well placed to have a role in providing health screening and education in schools or community health venues under supervision of qualified nurses. This study provides a description and outcomes of a vision and hearing screening programme delivered by university nursing students working out of a student-led clinic situated in an underserved, largely Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community in regional Australia. Screening and follow-up data collected from 741 elementary school children indicated some important population patterns and trends, with nearly 30% having identified problems. Anecdotal evidence suggested children who gained treatment had improved school performance. Challenges to follow-up and confounding variables are discussed and a suggestion for future research is offered…. [Direct]
(2018). Community Elders' Narrative Accounts of "Ubuntu" Translanguaging: Learning and Teaching in African Education. International Review of Education, v64 n6 p823-843 Dec. While South Africa has been lauded as a multilingual country that accorded official status to 11 languages, the academic notion of multilingualism has always been conceived from a monolingual perspective. Monolingual ideologies, which inadvertently favoured European languages to the detriment of local languages, were passed on to African countries through the occupation, division and colonisation of African territory by European powers in the early 1880s. Surprisingly, however, to date hardly any research has investigated African multilingualism predating the colonial era, or analysed pre-colonial narratives to offer alternative insights into African sociolinguistic and cultural realities. Aiming to shed some light on indigenous ways of knowing and the nature of translingual practices in local South African communities, the author of this article presents a study which collected and analysed storied narratives of six community elders–a glimpse into the pre-colonial period. The… [Direct]
(2017). One against the Grain: Re-Imagining the Face of School Leadership in Aotearoa New Zealand. International Journal of Educational Management, v31 n5 p612-621. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to reframe transformative and culturally sustaining leadership for a diverse global society by addressing the need for educational systems to better serve people of color, situated in the urban Auckland area of Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ), who have been marginalized by the societies to which they immigrate. Design/methodology/approach: Grounded in an applied critical theoretical framework, this qualitative inquiry uses raw auto-ethnographical data gleaned from a case study featuring the voice of Deva, a Malaysian Punjabi woman educator, who is also an aspiring school leader. In aspects of her auto-ethnography, she candidly shares experiences of racism, discrimination, and oppression germane to her professional educational experiences in Aotearoa NZ. Findings: Findings inform practice and policy to foster more inclusive school improvement in a bicultural and increasingly multicultural context that has historically recognized Maori (indigenous to… [Direct]
(2006). Proceedings of the Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (30th, Prague, Czech Republic, July 16-21, 2006). Volume 2. International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education This document contains the second volume of the proceedings of the 30th Annual Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education. Conference presentations are centered around the theme "Mathematics at the Centre." This volume features 60 research reports by presenters with last names beginning between Abr and Dri: (1) The Odds of Understanding the Law of Large Numbers: A Design for Grounding Intuitive Probability in Combinatorial Analysis (Dor Abrahamson and Rose M. Cendak); (2) Imaginary-Symbolic Relations, Pedagogic Resources and the Constitution of Mathematics for Teaching in In-Service Mathematics Teacher Education (Jill Adler and Zain Davis); (3) Relationship between Pre-Service Mathematics Teachers' Teaching and Learning Beliefs and Their Practices (Hatice Akkoc and Feral Ogan-Bekiroglu); (4) Teachers' Awareness of Dimensions of Variation: A Mathematics Intervention Project (Thabit Al-Murani); (5) The Student Teacher and the Others:… [PDF]
(2013). Nana i ke kumu: Returning to Our Ancestral Wisdom. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Hawai'i at Manoa. Nana i ke kumu refers to the Hawaiian practice of returning to traditional knowledge and resources to understand the underlying cultural roots of everyday words and actions used in contemporary Hawaiian settings. In this strengths-based research project, videotaped lessons in four classrooms at a Native Hawaiian-serving school were viewed and analyzed in an attempt to uncover the Hawaiian cultural roots of the classrooms' current teaching and learning practices. After viewing each of the videotapes, a focus group of five Hawaiian cultural experts commented on the Hawaiian teaching and learning practices that were evident in each of the lessons. The cultural experts then followed with suggestions for possible ways to enhance the Hawaiian cultural components of each of the existing lessons. It is my hope that the results of this study can inform future decisions made in regards to Native Hawaiian culturally based literacy education, both at this school and beyond. [The dissertation… [Direct]
(2014). Deepening Knowledge to Inspire Action: Including Aboriginal Perspectives in Teaching Practice. in education, v19 n3 p108-122 Spr. Deepening Knowledge Project, through Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), undertook research within the Initial Teacher Education program to explore the relationships between teacher candidates and Aboriginal content. Our research question was, "Which strategies used within OISE's Central cohort are most powerful in increasing teacher candidates' willingness and readiness to incorporate Aboriginal knowledges and pedagogies into their classroom practice?" Data consisted of surveys administered to approximately 70 teacher candidates at three key points in their program as well as two rounds of interviews with five purposively selected participants. We found that teacher candidates most appreciated the inclusion of First Voice perspectives, in-depth instruction on current and historical events, and a continuous examination of privilege as means to prepare them for incorporating Aboriginal content into their future practice. While most students reported feeling… [PDF]
(2019). Impact of a Discrete First Peoples Health Course on Students' Experience and Development of Cultural Capabilities. Higher Education Research and Development, v38 n5 p1090-1104. As Australian universities move towards the mandatory inclusion of First Peoples content into undergraduate health professional programs, it is imperative to evaluate course impact and quality of teaching. A discrete First Peoples Health course underpinned by The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Curriculum Framework was evaluated using the Cultural Capability Measurement Tool (CCMT). Tool items reflect the five core cultural capabilities outlined in "The Framework" (Respect, Communication, Safety and Quality, Reflection, and Advocacy). All enrolled students (n = 297) were invited to complete an online survey before and after the course. Students' experience of course quality was assessed using a university-generated online survey. Completed surveys could be matched for 87 students (29.3% response rate). Mean increase in CCMT scores from baseline to post-course was 10.85 (95% CI 8.84, 12.86). The eta squared statistic (?[superscript 2] = 0.57) indicated a large… [Direct]
(2019). Interactions between Children and Their Early Childhood Educators: The Effect of Cultural Match on Communication. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, v44 n1 p48-62 Mar. This paper describes the findings of research into children's interactions with educators who were of the same or different culture from that of the children. The research investigated the effect of cultural context on the children's communication and the quality of their interactions in one mainstream early childhood setting. Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal educators were video-recorded interacting with Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children in an early childhood education and care setting. The interactions between the children and their educators were categorised according to whether the culture of the educator matched that of the child (cultural match), or not (cultural non-match). The interactions were transcribed and the children's communication analysed across a variety of linguistic measures. Results indicated that the children's communication with their educators differed in qualitative but not quantitative measures in response to cultural match. These findings support the need… [Direct]
(2019). Evidence of Co-Learning through a Relational Pedagogy: Indigenizing the Curriculum through MIKM 2701. Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, v10 n1 Article 11 May. In the winter term of 2016, Cape Breton University launched a revised version of a second year Mi'kmaw Studies course entitled Learning from the Knowledge Keepers of Mi'kmaki (MIKM 2701). This course was designed to be led by local Elders and Knowledge Keepers with facilitation support from university faculty. It was designed by course facilitators as a dual-mode course, with the opportunity for students to participate face-to-face and online, and the excitement it generated quickly went "viral." In this paper, we describe the experiences of the participants in the course through an analysis of their own reflections on the 13 weeks of instruction. The aim of this analysis is to share course design considerations for post-secondary institutions attempting to "Indigenize the academy" at a course level, but also to evaluate the process of co-learning as it was evidenced in the course as a means to address educational complexity and decolonization efforts in the… [PDF]
(2019). The Problem of Inequality in Australia's Early Childhood Education and Care Sector: A Policy Frame Analysis. Australian Journal of Education, v63 n3 p322-339 Nov. A policy problem is a discursive construction, and the way in which the problem is framed determines both the nature of the policy responses and the possibility of resolving it. In this paper, drawing on critical frame analysis, we examined three major equity policies in the Australian early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector. In mapping out framing and reasoning devices of the policies, our analytical interest is to highlight the representation of inequality as a problem and unmask underlying assumptions of the equity responses. The findings show that disadvantage in Australia's ECEC sector has been framed as a lack of access, limited navigational capacity and cultural exclusion; and the framings are underpinned by economic, educational and social rationales. The analysis also reveals problematic categories, issue-omissions and conceptual shifts within the texts. The paper draws practical implications of the frame contradictions and silences…. [Direct]
(2020). Teachers and Leaders. National Comprehensive Center Learning across the disciplines (e.g., mathematics, science, art) can be enhanced for all students by grounding learning in historical and cultural (Western and Native) knowledge and context. The survival of Native knowledge in the United States depends on the leadership and teaching skills of many traditional and non-traditional educators. The Native knowledge systems that were in place and thriving in a pre-colonial context produced the great thinkers and problem solvers that were well suited to cultures and geographies of Native peoples. Though these systems have since been disrupted, Native knowledge is resilient and continues to provide theories, methodologies, and philosophies that remain relevant. Within this context, this brief explores ways in which state education agencies, local education agencies, tribal education departments, schools, and educator preparation programs can support teachers and leaders to preserve Native culture, knowledge, and language to improve the… [PDF]
(2019). Teacher Professional Change at the Cultural Interface: A Critical Dialogic Narrative Inquiry into a Remote School Teacher's Journey to Establish a Relational Pedagogy. Australian and International Journal of Rural Education, v29 n1 p17-29. This is a co-constructed narrative between both Marie, an early career teacher, Stephen an artist and colleague in the school's creative arts faculty and Colin, an Aboriginal teacher and researcher. They met throughout 2012 and discussed issues that related to their discursive interactions that occurred in this small rural school between its teachers and the town's largely Aboriginal community. These discussions were conducted within the context, of Marie's experiences as a new scheme teacher, Stephen's reflexive observations as a teacher of many years' experience and Colin, who had worked with the school on various curriculum projects. These narratives give witness to their experiences, their failures and successes and of the discursive concerns seen to affect school student success and community relationships. These narratives connect with the town's history of race relations and the aspirations and concerns of Aboriginal people living in this community. This paper, which focuses… [Direct]
(2018). Creolizing Educational Practices. Review of Education, Pedagogy & Cultural Studies, v40 n1 p58-68. Author Jane Anna Gordon begins this commentary by saying that early in her academic career she was struck by the dual character of schools as places that can damage and waste the human potential of some on one hand, and that can and should be put in the service of liberation on the other. She writes that this point was driven home to her through an experience she had as a high school student. Gordon tells the story of an AP U.S. History course, taught by a white U.S. southern conservative teacher, who prided himself on how the curriculum for the class had remained unchanged, impermeable to the movements in social and cultural history. In the absence of any other way to fulfill the national U.S. history requirement, a group of parents of primarily Black students at the school mobilized to demand the creation of an African American history class. A highly qualified teacher was hired from a historically Black college to teach the class. Gordon writes of having found the class… [Direct]
(2018). Preparing Teachers to Engage Rural Students in Computational Thinking through Robotics, Game Design, and Culturally Responsive Teaching. Journal of Teacher Education, v69 n4 p386-407 Sep-Oct. This article examines teacher preparation and teacher change in engineering and computer science education. We examined culturally responsive teaching self-efficacy (CRTSE), culturally responsive teaching outcome expectancy (CRTOE) beliefs, and attitudes toward computational thinking (CT) as teachers participated in one of three treatment groups: robotics only, game design only, or blended robotics/game design. Descriptive data revealed that CRTSE gain scores were higher in the robotics only and blended contexts than in the game design only context. However, CRTOE beliefs were consistent across all treatment groups. In regard to CT attitudes, teachers' gain scores were higher in the game design only and blended contexts than in the robotics only context. In addition, there were differences by treatment group related to STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) practices, while cultural artifacts were evident in each learning environment. The results of this study… [Direct]
(2018). Enhancing Understandings of Emerging Physical Education Practical Theory: Aboriginal Teacher Candidates' Reflective Journaling Practices. McGill Journal of Education, v53 n1 p11-25. This paper describes results from a study that arose to explore, alongside Aboriginal teacher candidates, emerging physical education (PE) practical theory utilizing reflective journaling practices. Practical theory can be described as an individual's personal and dynamic set of values, knowledge, and experience that guides, in part, teaching choices and behaviours. In the thematic analysis of teacher candidates' reflective journals, care was taken to honour and confirm the voices of nine Aboriginal teacher candidates. Four key themes were identified: marginality (foreign activities and stereotypical expectations), cultural preservation through PE, Elder involvement in PE, and looking to the future. The results may serve to inform those with an interest in reflective practices in physical education teacher education (PETE) and/or Aboriginal teacher education…. [Direct]