(2023). Finding Space in Ibadan: The Linguistic Dilemma of Igbo Children in the City. Reading Matrix: An International Online Journal, v23 n1 p145-156 Apr. Although the Igbo are one of the most widely travelled people in Nigeria, little is known about the sociolinguistic impact of migration (international or internal) on their language. Based on interview data collected from 24 Igbo youth in Ibadan, this study explores the space available for young Igbo migrants and the role of language in accessing the space. The Igbo youth learn Yoruba to enable them find space in Ibadan and its environs. The complexities of locating space compel some of them to sometimes disguise as Yoruba in order to gain acceptance and favourable perception. However, the need to maintain their Igbo identity and find space in Igboland whenever possible propels them to also learn to speak Igbo. As long as discriminatory citizenship is practised in the country, language and ethnicity will remain crucial in the search for space by settlers…. [PDF]
(2023). Explaining Achievement Gaps between Students from Regional and Metropolitan Areas: Accounting for Socio-Demographic and School Climate Factors. Australian Journal of Education, v67 n1 p76-93 Apr. Australian children from regional, rural and remote (RRR) areas exhibit lower educational outcomes than their peers in metropolitan areas. The mechanisms driving the comparatively poorer educational outcomes of children in RRR areas, however, are not well understood. This paper proposes and tests two sets of factors that may be responsible for these disparities: population socio-demographic composition and school climate. Using rich survey and linked administrative data from the "Longitudinal Study of Australian Children" (n = 9,248 observations), we estimate the relative contribution of these sets of factors to RRR children's disadvantage in NAPLAN numeracy test scores. Our results indicate that both socio-demographic and school climate factors account for part of the educational disparities between children in RRR and metropolitan areas. These findings suggest that hybrid policy approaches that tackle both the social determinants of educational success and use schools as… [Direct]
(2019). Whose Truth Matters? Reimagining Indigeneity Provision in Higher Education in Aotearoa. AERA Online Paper Repository, Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (Toronto, Canada, Apr 5-9, 2019). This paper argues that the idea that tertiary education in New Zealand is a public good has been inhibited by extreme policies that treat education as a commodity and the education sector as a market. Education is about producing highly skilled, knowledgeable and useful citizens and the notion of a 'profit' is in 'creating educated citizens' (TEU, 2018). While governments have promoted tertiary education as a core public good, it is not what these same governments have emphasised. In fact, if access to tertiary education by Maori is anything to go on, quite the opposite has been the reality…. [Direct]
(2022). Re-Membering Place: Mathematical Actions for Innovative, Resilient, and Culturally Rich Communities. North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education, Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (44th, Nashville, TN, Nov 17-20, 2022). How might mathematics educators recognize discourses as resonating harmonies in their practices as researchers? In this paper we share individual experiential narratives guided by Ojibway author Richard Wagamese's Medicine Wheel teachings in the four directions of East (humility), South (trust), West (introspection), and North (wisdom). As we journey through (re)membering place we offer opportunities for recognizing resonating harmony(ies) and algorhythms in our practices as mathematics education researchers and for engaging with critically dissonance discourses and actions. This (re)membering supports relating with each other, mathematics, communities, and place in ways that are more sustainable, inter-connected, and kincentric. [For the complete proceedings, see ED630210.]… [PDF]
(2020). Effectiveness of Environmentally-Based Science Learning towards Environmentally-Friendly Character of Students in Coastal Area. International Journal of Instruction, v13 n3 p233-246 Jul. This research aims at analyzing the effectiveness of environmentally-based science learning to improve the environmentally friendly character of the students in the coastal area. This was experimental research with one group pre-test — post-test design. A total of 83 elementary students from the coastal area participated as a sample in this research. Samples were obtained through cluster random sampling. The test was administered to collect the data on student character. Wilcoxon test was administered in this research. The result obtained p < 0.05, where a significant increase in the environmentally friendly character of students in the coastal area was shown. This research concluded that environmentally based science learning is effective in increasing the environmentally friendly character of the students. This result was expected to contribute to the development of the environmentally friendly character of students by their teachers…. [PDF]
(2007). Education for Hmong Women in Thailand. Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, v36 suppl p88-97. The Hmong are the second largest tribal group in Thailand. Hmong society is stratified by both age and gender. Women were considered inferior to men in Hmong traditional society. There was a strong bias against education for Hmong women in the past. Hmong women's access to education has improved with recent developments in the socio-economy and modern educational system. Today there does not appear to be discrimination against girls in continuing their education beyond the compulsory level. However, the conventional ideas that "marrying early, bearing early, and having many children are blessings" are popular in the Hmong community. Many girls of school age leave school for marriage. These traditional conventions are an obstacle for females in continuing their formal education. Today, the Hmong's traditional subsistence economy is undergoing change, and many Hmong women are actively involved in business. Adult and vocational education is also an important way for Hmong… [Direct]
(2007). Aboriginal University Student Success in British Columbia: Time for Action. Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, v36 p88-100. Educational outcomes for Aboriginal students in British Columbia, and Canada in general, are a cause for considerable concern. High dropout rates, low participation, completion and success rates at educational institutions have challenged educators for decades. Solutions have included lowering admission requirements for Aboriginal candidates and establishing alternative programmes that improve attendance and remedy learning problems. However, most of these policies have not offered a lasting solution to challenges facing Aboriginal students. This study presents findings from interviews conducted with 20 Aboriginal undergraduate students, seven professors, and five non-academic staff at four universities in British Columbia, namely: Malaspina University College, University of Victoria, University of British Columbia, and Simon Fraser University. It presents their definitions of student success and how this could be improved. Four policy options are proposed. These are then tested… [Direct]
(2022). A Homeland Education Journey. Australian and International Journal of Rural Education, v32 n1 p85-89. Over recent years a lot of attention has been given to education for First Nations students living in remote communities. The quest for improved outcomes, better attendance, retention and year 12 completions disguises other perhaps more important issues. During the 1970s and 1980s the homeland movement 'return to Country' created opportunities for many First Nations people to achieve a degree of self-determination. But schooling for homelands was treated differently to schooling in communities. People had to put a request to the Department of Education for a school in their homelands, and mostly homelands were offered a visiting teacher for two to three days per week. Local First Nations staff, as untrained 'assistant teachers' were expected to ensure that students completed their work in the teacher's absence. Some training was offered through the Remote Area Teacher Education program. In 1990 there were 271 people enrolled in Diploma of Teaching courses, with the majority in Stage… [Direct]
(2022). What Do We Know about Enabling Education as an Alternative Pathway into Australian Higher Education, and What More Do We Need to Know? A Meta-Scoping Study. Research Papers in Education, v37 n3 p321-343. In the context of the equity/widening participation policy landscape in Australia, scholarly exploration of alternative pathways into higher education is becoming increasingly important to inform innovative pedagogies, answer complex questions, and improve outcomes and experiences for students. This article focuses on one alternative pathway, 'enabling' education, which has a 45-year history in Australia but has, for a variety of reasons, remained on the periphery of mainstream discourses about higher education. In this article, we offer a meta-scoping study of a selection of 88 journal articles and research reports focusing on Australian Enabling education. Through an analysis of who is writing, what is written and how it is written, we attempt to unite enabling education scholars in a conversation about our field and suggest ways forward to better connect with broader conversations about higher education in Australia and move enabling programs, practitioners and the students they… [Direct]
(2018). The Palgrave International Handbook of Women and Outdoor Learning. Palgrave Studies in Gender and Education. Palgrave Macmillan This Handbook serves as a starting point for critical analysis and discourse about the status of women in outdoor learning environments (OLEs). Women choose to participate actively in outdoors careers, many believing the profession is a level playing field and that it offers alternatives to traditional sporting activities. They enter outdoor learning primarily on the strength of their enthusiasm for leading and teaching in natural environments and assume the field is inclusive, rewarding excellence regardless of age, gender, socioeconomic status, disability, or ethnicity. However, both research and collective experiences in OLEs suggest that many women feel invisible, relegated, marginalized, and undervalued. In response to this marginalization, this Handbook celebrates the richness of knowledge and practices of women practitioners in OLEs. Women scholars and practitioners from numerous fields, such as experiential outdoor education, adventure education, adventure therapy, and gender… [Direct]
(2021). Teaching Live from Groote Eylandt. Teaching Science, v67 n3 p15-20 Sep. It takes a special kind of teacher to enlist in a Bush Blitz TeachLive expedition: camping; long days hiking or wading through marshland; catching arachnids, lizards and insects; and all the while managing to remotely teach students back in the classroom. The latest instalment of Bush Blitz TeachLive sent five Northern Territorian teachers to stunning, undisturbed areas of Groote Eylandt — the whole of which and its surrounding waters, lie within the Anindilyakwa Indigenous Protected Area. The archipelago from which its largest island takes its name, lies about 50km off the east coast of Arnhem Land, and is an important biodiversity zone, where endangered species can dwell in safety and scientists can gauge the impacts of climate change. Two of the teachers who attended, Will Forman and Tim Reilly, are from local schools on the island, and were both keen to learn more about the ecology of their region and to grow their knowledge of the area's biodiversity. Veronica Wiley (Darwin),… [Direct]
(2020). Post-Secondary Education in the Inner-City: Breaking Barriers and Building Bridges in a Divided City. International Journal for Talent Development and Creativity, v8 n1-2 p203-211 Aug-Dec. The Department of Urban and Inner-City Studies (UICS) is a department in the faculty of Arts at the University of Winnipeg in Manitoba, Canada. The Department is located outside of the main campus in one of Canada's poorest neighbourhoods. UICS is intentionally located here to offer access to postsecondary education to people who might not otherwise attend university. Our department aims to encourage people who have come to believe that university is 'not for them'. It also serves to bring students from other areas of the city into the neighbourhood to begin to dispel long held misconceptions about the North End. We continue to develop our critical, place-based model in the spirit of putting 'reconciliation into action'. As described by Senator Murray Sinclair, the former Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, it is "'up to society' to step up and take the actions that are needed." (CBC 2017). At UICS, we are committed to 'stepping up' by creating… [PDF]
(2020). Fostering Belonging through Cultural Connections: Perspectives from Parents. Early Childhood Folio, v24 n1 p31-36. This article discusses findings from research investigating ways teachers at one early childhood centre fostered children's sense of belonging through making cultural connections with children and their families. The research is part of a University of Waikato project, funded by the Teaching and Learning Research Initiative (TLRI), "Strengthening belonging and identity of refugee and immigrant children through early childhood education". Findings based on data collected from four case-study children and their families' experience at the centre highlight the value of cultural/religious artefacts, role play, and relationship building in fostering children's sense of belonging. The findings have implications for effective practice that values culture and diversity in the early childhood setting. [This article was written with Elaine Khoo.]… [Direct]
(2017). Sharing Global Musics: A Multimedia View of the Music of Mongolia. Music Educators Journal, v104 n1 p14-21 Sep. The author, John Whitener, traveled to Mongolia, "the land of blue sky," in the summer of 2013 and again in summer of 2016. Mongolia is a land of awe-inspiring geography, similar in many respects to the wilds of Alaska. Approximately half the country's population has migrated to Ulaan-Baatar and other urban areas because of harsh winters and the death of their animals. Although many believe this signals the eventual end of the Mongolian nomadic herdsman lifestyle, Mongolian indigenous musical customs continue to flourish, albeit modified by modernization. Urbanization has had strong effects on Mongolian music. Since the departure of the Soviets, there is newfound national pride and recognition of the importance of preserving traditional musical practices. Sharing the music of any culture implies the responsibility of helping learners better understand the country and its people. The singing styles and instruments listed in this article are some of the most prevalent… [Direct]
(2024). Evolving Dynamics of Language Policy and Chinese Language Education in the Philippines: Future Direction and Challenges. International Journal of Language Education, v8 n2 p291-306. This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the evolution of language policy in the Philippines, with a particular emphasis on the status, challenges, and future prospects of Chinese language education within the national framework. The study is structured into five distinct sections. Firstly, the historical development of language policies in the Philippines is explored, tracing the transitions from colonial to contemporary eras and assessing their implications for language education. Secondly, an in-depth exploration of the present landscape of Chinese language education is provided, evaluating its integration into the Philippine education system and the effectiveness of existing programs. Thirdly, a critical examination of the current state of local Chinese language teacher training is conducted, analyzing the approaches used to foster a sustainable local teaching workforce. Fourthly, strategic pathways for the next decade are outlined, focusing on the localization of Chinese… [PDF]