(2006). Meanings of Reconciliation in the School Context. Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, v35 p68-77. This paper draws on findings from a major research project conducted between 1998 and 2000 on meanings of reconciliation in the school education sector. Using data collected from surveys and drawing from the community context in which schools exist, it explores and analyses meanings of reconciliation within school communities when the discourse of what constitutes reconciliation was at its peak. Survey responses were used to map the level of support for reconciliation and to identify what barriers existed to the teaching of reconciliation in schools. Responses were categorised into various themes which defined the type of meaning respondents had accrued to reconciliation. The overwhelming impression from this research is that Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people aspire to a level of harmonious co-existence; what is less clear is the direction on how this can be achieved. There is a great level of support for reconciliation within the education community with almost no responses being… [Direct]
(2006). Transdisciplinary Research and Aboriginal Knowledge. Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, v35 p78-89. Indigenous academic researchers are involved in Indigenist, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research, all of which present problems and opportunities for Indigenous knowledge traditions. "Transdisciplinary" research is different from "interdisciplinary" research because it moves beyond the disciplinarity of the university and takes into account knowledge practices which the university will never fully understand. Indigenous knowledge traditions resist definition from a Western academic perspective–there are Indigenous knowledge practices which will never engage with the academy, just as there are some branches of the academy which will never acknowledge Indigenous knowledge practices. In this paper I present the story of my own non-Indigenous perspective on Indigenous research and what happens to it in a university. I am not concerned here with the knowledge production work Aboriginal people do in their own ways and contexts for their own purposes, but… [Direct]
(2006). Western Maps/Yanyuwa Meaning: An Interview with John Bradley. Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, v35 p90-101. In July 2003 an important one-volume text, \Forget about Flinders: A Yanyuwa atlas of the south west gulf of Carpentaria\ (Yanyuwa Families, Bradley & Cameron, 2003) produced in a limited edition of 14 copies, returned to Yanyuwa country and to the families who collaborated with John Bradley and artist Nona Cameron on the project. Subsequently, a second edition of 20 copies has been released, mainly to institutions. It is the most comprehensive attempt yet to restore Yanyuwa names to country and to produce a multilayered, dynamic, history-rich, and bilingual representation of how country is known in this community, and how the central song cycle texts intersect with Yanyuwa tradition. What follows is a condensed and edited interview with Frances Devlin-Glass, in which John Bradley discusses the motivations, the hybridised methodologies employed, the innovations of this new genre, and the pedagogical ends served by this latest iteration of Yanyuwa song cycles. [\Western Maps/Yanyuwa… [Direct]
(2018). Harnessing Indigenous Basketry Resources for Prenumber and Early Number Work. Journal of Education and Learning, v7 n2 p210-220. Even though basketry is an age old occupation in Ghana and the world over, it appears mathematics tasks and activities involving the designs and structures have remained unnoticed and inadequately tapped for early school instructions. This qualitative survey therefore, purposively sampled four teachers, two basket artisans and six pupils in the Bolgatanga Municipality of Upper East Region of Ghana to harness, discuss and apply the tasks and activities indigenous basket resources could be employed to enhance conceptual knowledge and understanding in prenumber and early work. The findings showed that apart from providing employment and income for local artisans, teachers and pupils were equipped with prenumber activities that lead to the acquisition of early number work in pre-algebra, pre-geometry and pre-statistics tasks and activities in mathematics. We therefore, recommended instructional policies and programmes that promote and improve upon conceptual learning of prenumber and… [PDF]
(2016). Culturally Relevant Physical Education: Educative Conversations with Mi'kmaw Elders and Community Leaders. in education, v22 n1 p2-21 Spr. This paper presents results from a recently completed inquiry that investigated culturally relevant physical education for Aboriginal students. Employing a decolonizing research methodology (storywork), we engaged seven Mi'kmaw Elders and three Mi'kmaw community physical activity/education leaders in conversations about culturally relevant physical education. Attending to Halas, McCrae, and Carpenter's (2012) framework for culturally relevant physical education, we share our findings related to Mi'kmaw students and school communities. The results ought to be of notable interest to those who share an interest in culturally relevant pedagogy, physical education, and/or Aboriginal education…. [PDF]
(2016). Toward a Shift in Expectations and Values: What We've Learned from Collaborative Action Research in Northern Indigenous Communities. Canadian Journal of Action Research, v17 n2 p19-32. In this paper we propose that collaborative action research values, goals and practices have much in common with guiding principles for conducting research with educators and community members in First Nation, Inuit and Metis communities, as outlined in the Task Force on Aboriginal Languages and Cultures on Aboriginal Languages and Cultures' (2005) document. We draw on experiences in the Northern Oral Language and Writing through Play Partnership project to make our case, and conclude by identifying needed shifts in expectations and values within the broader academic community for conducting educational research in Indigenous communities…. [Direct]
(2017). The Role of Cultural Task Value in Engaging Rural and Indigenous Science Learners. AERA Online Paper Repository, Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (San Antonio, TX, Apr 27-May 1, 2017). Early adolescents, particularly from underrepresented or marginalized communities, may feel disconnected from school science leading to a lack of engagement. The lack of connection between their out of school experiences and school science may lead them to devalue science. This study examines interviews with 56 middle school students and 12 teachers from rural and indigenous communities participating in a highly contextualized science curriculum that examines the sustainability of local activities or social practices (e.g., maple sugar farming, hunting, etc.). The majority of students reported valuing the community-oriented tasks they were asked to complete as part of the curriculum. Two elements of the curriculum that particularly contributed to their enjoyment and appreciation for community task value were the involvement of local community experts and the greater awareness of how everyday local practices affect their lives. This paper discusses the concept of community task value… [Direct]
(2015). A History of the First Nations College Movement of Canada, 1969-2000. Tribal College Journal of American Indian Higher Education, v26 n3 p38-41 Spr. Since the early 1970s, First Nations people in Canada have established 24 Native-run colleges. This article identifies the important factors that influenced them to create postsecondary institutions. It also highlights efforts in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, where Native leaders played an especially important role in advancing higher education for the Aboriginal population with the establishment of the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College in 1976, later renamed the First Nations University of Canada…. [Direct]
(2019). Re-Imaging and Re-Constructing Cross-Cultural Research through Critical Personal Narratives: An Examination into Fault Lines. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education (QSE), v32 n2 p167-187. In this paper, the authors illustrate the impacts of their cross-cultural research in Africa, on their current work in science and STEM education. Through the examination of two research projects in cross-cultural settings in Africa, the authors explore the lasting impacts of this type of work. Specifically, through the use of Critical Personal Narratives and feminist theory, the authors discover fault lines existing in this cross-cultural work and ultimately the shifts in their conceptions of science and STEM education…. [Direct]
(2020). Handbook of the Cultural Foundations of Learning. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group Edited by a diverse group of expert collaborators, the "Handbook of the Cultural Foundations of Learning" is a landmark volume that brings together cutting-edge research examining learning as entailing inherently cultural processes. Conceptualizing culture as both a set of social practices and connected to learner identities, the chapters synthesize contemporary research in elaborating a new vision of the cultural nature of learning, moving beyond summary to reshape the field toward studies that situate culture in the learning sciences alongside equity of educational processes and outcomes. With the recent increased focus on culture and equity within the educational research community, this volume presents a comprehensive, innovative treatment of what has become one of the field's most timely and relevant topics…. [Direct]
(2023). Essential Components in Planning Multilingual Education: A Case Study of Cambodia's Multilingual Education National Action Plan. Current Issues in Language Planning, v24 n1 p21-41. Multilingual education (MLE) is increasingly recognized as a means to ensure equitable access to education for children with a nondominant first language and to retain endangered languages. UNESCO has championed MLE and identified 10 essential components in planning implementation of MLE implementation. This article examines these 10 components in Cambodia's implementation of its first Multilingual National Action Plan (2014-2018), drawing on an independent in-country evaluation conducted by the authors in 2019. The findings suggest that UNESCO's 10 essential components are a useful guide for planning MLE, but that three even more foundational components are missing from this formulation. Visible, collaborative national leadership is critical to assure stakeholders, especially teachers and parents, that MLE is authorized in government schools. Adequate financial and technical resources must be provided to subnational actors charged with ensuring quality education. The nondominant… [Direct]
(2020). Indigenous Women in Educational Leadership: Identifying Supportive Contexts in Mi'kmaw Kina'matnewey. International Journal of Leadership in Education, v23 n6 p691-711. This article is drawn from a larger qualitative case study that examined the leadership context and leadership approaches of five Mi'kmaw women school principals in Mi'kmaw Kina'matnewey (MK), an Aboriginal educational authority, located in Nova Scotia, Canada. This article aims to identify the contextual supports within MK that have enabled Mi'kmaw women educators to obtain and retain positions as principals. The use of a decolonizing methodology positioned the participants to work in partnership with the researcher during data collection and analysis. Data collection and analysis involved the use of one-on-one and sharing circle conversations with the principals. Findings suggest that the social, cultural, and organizational contexts where women lead have had a significant influence on their lives. More specifically, familial, collegial, community, and organizational supports have enabled these women to hold positions as principals and enabled Mi'kmaw cultural revitalization to… [Direct]
(2021). Let's Break Free: Education in Our Own Image, Voice, and Interests. Equity & Excellence in Education, v54 n1 p28-38. The colonial miseducation oppressed people have historically gotten in the United States keeps dispossessed people alienated from resources, belief systems, and ways of being that are inherently theirs. Pro-people, anti-colonial, and abolitionist social movements provide important insights for educational researchers and teacher educators to consider in their scholarship and preparation of classroom practitioners. This article, thus, advocates for research that understands the educational experiences and insights, and advances and celebrates the aspirations of multiply marginalized and colonized people in the United States, namely Black, Indigenous, and other children and youth of Color…. [Direct]
(2014). Designing for Learning Engagement in Remote Communities: Narratives from North of Sixty. Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology, v40 n3 Sum. There are multiple challenges to designing learning experiences for schools in remote communities, including technology and infrastructure limitations, high teacher and administrator turnover, and conflicting interests between local culture and school curricula. In this paper, we offer a brief history of educational initiatives in remote Arctic communities, focusing on: 1) the importance of traditional knowledge, 2) the role of Indigenous culture in school learning materials and activities, and 3) how and why technology might be used to enhance and preserve traditional knowledge, language, and culture. We share implementation examples of one design model, adventure learning, that has successfully engaged learners worldwide in remote and urban communities alike. We conclude by presenting design principles for engaging learners in remote communities through a focus on reflective presence, interaction, educator support, and simplicity of design. These principles are illustrated with a… [PDF]
(2018). Standards-Based Reform to Senior-Secondary Curriculum and Metacognition in the Literacy Domain. Curriculum Journal, v29 n3 p338-353. This study analyses the intended and enacted curricula that are produced when metacognition is included as an element within standards-based reforms for schooling. Reformers of the senior-secondary curriculum for South Australia (SA) and the Northern Territory (NT) hoped to improve the academic outcomes of all students, and especially those from low-SES and Indigenous backgrounds, by creating a curriculum that required year-10 students to reflect on their capacities. Reflection on learning in the literacy domain was a particular emphasis during the reforms. A constructionist epistemology and case-study methodology informed the approach taken in the study. Data collection and analysis involved accessing and analysing the intended curriculum, as well as the curriculum planning documentation designed by four teachers in one NT high school. The results indicate that learning opportunities to reflect on literacy capacities will not be created when the intended curriculum provides… [Direct]