(2018). A Murray Cod Assemblage: Re/Considering Riverscape Pedagogy. Journal of Environmental Education, v49 n2 p130-141. This article enacts Deleuze and Guattari's (1987) concept "assemblage" to craft a riverScape pedagogy that is informed by, and responsive to, the Murray Cod, the river, and its circumstances. The Murray Cod, the largest fish species in Australia's Murray-Darling Basin, has diverse cultural meanings. Cod are at once a creation being of Indigenous people, a migratory predator that breeds in response to warm floodwaters, and a fish suffering significant ecological decline as a result of changes to land and water use in its habitat. Murray Cod assemblage weaves these elements together to re/create a bioegalitarian pedagogy, part thought experiment and part teaching strategy…. [Direct]
(2017). Toward Projects in Humanization: Research on Co-Creating and Sustaining Dialogic Relationships. American Educational Research Journal, v54 n1 suppl p373S-394S Apr. In this article, we argue that co-constructing knowledge, co-creating relationships, and exchanging stories are central to educational research. Relying on humanizing and Indigenous research methods to locate relational interactions in educational research allows us to engage in transformative praxis and storying, or Projects in Humanization (PiH). We contend that PiH focus on the creation and sustenance of relationships; the human capacity to listen to, story with, and care about each other; and the establishment of more inclusive, interconnected, and decolonizing methodologies that disrupt systemic inequalities found in Western constructs of educational research. More specifically, in this article, we rely on research vignettes to argue for a necessary commitment that researchers must have to sustain, extend, and revitalize the richness of the languages, literacies, histories, cultures, and stories of and by those with whom they work…. [Direct]
(2018). Sexuality Education in New Zealand: A Policy for Social Justice?. Sex Education: Sexuality, Society and Learning, v18 n5 p601-609. In 2015, the New Zealand Ministry of Education released a new curriculum policy document for sexuality education in all schools — "Sexuality Education: A Guide for Boards of Trustees, Principals and Teachers". This policy is a rare international example of a curriculum document that explicitly values diversity, promotes inclusive school environments, and approaches sexuality education as an area of study (rather than a health promotion intervention). Since its release, the document has, however, gained little attention either of a scholarly nature or in terms of dedicated implementation in schools. One exception is a recent article in this journal by Sarah Garland-Levett, which raises some interesting and important concerns about the possibilities of such policy documents. I follow her lead here and continue the discussion about the place and potential of progressive sexuality education policy, and offer some thoughts about the content and intentions of this text…. [Direct]
(2021). 'We Are All in This Together': Investigating Alignments in Intersectoral Partnerships Dedicated to K-12 Food Literacy Education. Health Education Journal, v80 n6 p699-711 Oct. Background: Activities to foster food literacy in young people are increasingly common in schools, driven both by the public health sector and by curriculum mandates from education officials in government. In Canada, both Kindergarten-Grade 12 (K-12) classroom teachers and educators from community organisations deliver food literacy education programmes in schools, often framed as partnerships working in the interests of young people. Objective: The study examines the alignment between what both classroom teachers and community educators state are the desired outcomes for students of their food literacy education work and the topics/activities they engage in with students. Design, setting and method: We surveyed and interviewed teachers and community educators in British Columbia, Canada, and utilised participant observation and secondary data from food literacy education network activities. Results: Shared food literacy education goals and topics/activities were evident in the… [Direct]
(2020). The Role of Educational Spaces in Supporting Inuit Youth Resilience. Child Care in Practice, v26 n4 p390-415. Indigenous youth in Canada grow up in communities shaped by the enduring political and economic legacies of settler colonialism. These legacies continue through systemic marginalisation, manifesting in strained sociocultural resources, intergenerational trauma, and poorer psychosocial outcomes for youth. To redress these outcomes, communities are drawing on traditional culture, together with life philosophies and frameworks, to identify relevant resources that better support young people and their development. Research findings support these approaches, demonstrating the importance of cultural continuity and related enculturation, in promoting improved psychosocial outcomes. The emerging question however, is how to foster increased engagement by children and youth. "Spaces & Places," a participatory action study positioned within a resilience framework, responds to this question. In this article, we draw on findings from one of the three participating communities to… [Direct]
(2020). Building the Moral Imperative to Do Better by Maori Students: A Pakeha Teacher's Reflection. set: Research Information for Teachers, n2 p43-48. The goal of the Poutama Pounamu blended learning course is to promote contexts for change where equity, excellence, and belonging for Maori and all learners can be realised. In this article I share some key learnings from my own journey through this course. I reflect on my path towards honouring the Treaty of Waitangi, including the challenges I have experienced in confronting Pakeha privilege and deficit theorising. I share my developing understanding of what it means for Maori to achieve success as Maori, as well as the meaning of ako and unfinishedness. Growing my own critical praxis has been uncomfortable, but the journey I share in this article is ultimately about hope. I believe that we can collaboratively build education to do better by Maori students, to benefit all learners and the nation…. [Direct]
(2019). Reading Recovery's Unrecovered Learners: Characteristics and Issues. Review of Education, v7 n2 p237-265 Jun. Reading Recovery (RR) was developed in New Zealand in the early 1980s to provide 30 minutes of daily individualised literacy instruction over 20 weeks for students struggling with learning to read after one year of formal schooling. Considerable research has been undertaken on the RR programme. While results indicate short-term success for some students, each year 15-30% of students do not successfully complete the programme and are therefore 'unrecovered'. Research on the characteristics of these unrecovered students is sparse. This review examines findings on the characteristics of unrecovered students. These RR students typically have limited phonemic awareness and phonemically based decoding skills, and lower scores on RR screening measures on entry to RR than 'recovered' students. In New Zealand, unrecovered students tend to be enrolled in schools serving lower socio-economic neighbourhoods, and tend to be from Maori or Pasifika (Polynesian Pacific Island heritage) backgrounds…. [Direct]
(2019). Professionalism in Early Childhood Teaching: A Posthumanist Perspective. Early Childhood Folio, v23 n2 p29-34. Professionalism in early childhood teaching is shaped within contexts, relationships, and multiple discourses of professionalism, as well as historical and enduring maternalism. This article uses posthumanist ideas from Deleuze and Guattari to reframe professionalism as produced in relationships among human and other-than-human aspects of early childhood settings, including materials, theories, and regulations. This article unpacks two data excerpts from a research study into emotions in early childhood teaching. I suggest that early childhood teachers could explore creative ways to enact professionalism as complex, fluid, shifting processes negotiated within everyday happenings, rather than properties contained within human individuals…. [Direct]
(2023). Managing the Ongoing Impact of Colonialism on Mathematics Education. Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia, Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia (MERGA) (45th, Newcastle, Australia, Jul 2-6, 2023). This paper is a brief summary of a large historic research project in Papua New Guinea (PNG). The project aimed to document and analyse the nature of mathematics education from tens of thousands of years ago to the present. Data sources varied from first contact and later records, archaeology, oral histories, language analyses, lived experiences, memoirs, government documents, field studies, and previous research especially doctoral studies. The impacts of colonisation, post-colonial aid and globalisation on mathematics education have been analysed and an understanding of the current status of mathematics education established as neocolonial. Managing neocolonial education policies may minimise the loss of cultural ways of thinking…. [PDF]
(2019). An Evaluation of Content Creation for Personalised Learning Using Digital ICT Literacy Module among Aboriginal Students (MLICT-OA). Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, v20 n3 Article 4 p41-58 Jul. ICT in the Malaysian education system serves as a tool to accomplish the National Education Blueprint 2015-2025. Under this blueprint, privileged groups such as the aborigines or Malaysian aboriginals will be given equal opportunity in education. However, a specific classroom teaching method is required to maintain the aboriginal students' focus and attention on their learning experiences due to their unique paradigm of learning. This study used the Partial Least Square (PLS) and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) tool to examine the factors influencing personalised learning and digital self-learning ICT literacy module. It also measured the impact of personalised learning and digital ICT literacy module among secondary aboriginal students. This study involved 92 aboriginal students who participated in a transferable skills and ICT programme held in a public university in Malaysia. Results show that personalised learning positively supported the use of a digital ICT literacy module… [PDF]
(2019). A Critique of Rata on the Politics of Knowledge and Maori Education. Waikato Journal of Education, v24 n1 p93-101. This article unpacks and critiques the scholarship of Elizabeth Rata on the politics of knowledge in education. Rata represents a widespread, though covert, influence within the global academy of an imperialist form of philosophical universalisn, which has particular significance for Aotearoa New Zealand due to her vocal opposition to Kaupapa Maori education and Maori politics more generally. This article uses critical discourse analysis (CDA) to focus on the arguments of one key article, in order to expose its philosophical weaknesses. Our analysis shows that Rafa's scholarship is based on misconceptions of several key terms and concepts, which inexorably lead to inadequate arguments and invalid conclusions, and undermine the cogency of her claims about the 'dangers' of Kaupapa Maori education…. [PDF]
(2019). Analytical Study Based on Perspectives of Teacher Educators in India with Respect to Education for Sustainable Development. Journal of Teacher Education for Sustainability, v21 n2 p38-55 Dec. Education for sustainable development (ESD) has been accepted worldwide as one of the most powerful paradigms of thinking, which has a potential for changing the ongoing course of unsustainable development in order to save the fate of life on Mother Earth. As we prepare ourselves to achieve the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) of United Nations 2030 Agenda, it is crucial to analyze and reflect on the initiatives taken, which aim at sensitizing the stakeholders of education with the holistic concept of ESD, especially when it has been reported in the literature that countries of the Asia Pacific region have been slow in formally embracing the concept of ESD in their education system. With this contextual background, the present research paper aimed at understanding the prevailing perception of ESD amongst the teacher educators of India. A qualitative deductive content analysis methodology was adopted for an in-depth analysis of the subjective responses of teacher educators,… [Direct]
(2019). A Systematic Review of Pedagogies That Support, Engage and Improve the Educational Outcomes of Aboriginal Students. Australian Educational Researcher, v46 n2 p297-318 Apr. This review analyses studies that identify pedagogies to support, engage and improve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student outcomes. Some studies focus on pedagogies to support and engage, while others describe pedagogies that are designed to improve engagement, attendance and academic skills. The role of context emerges as a key theme, particularly in remote areas. In larger studies, Aboriginal students are often a subset of a larger student group, included because of socio-economic status and achievement levels. Key findings indicate a disconnect between practice and outcomes where links to improved outcomes are by implication rather than evidence. Further, definitions and detail about pedagogies are mostly absent, relying on 'common understandings' of what pedagogy means. This review highlights that most of the research identifies effective pedagogies to engage and support Aboriginal students rather than to improve their educational outcomes…. [Direct]
(2019). Kanien'keha/Mohawk Indigenous Language Revitalisation Efforts in Canada. McGill Journal of Education, v54 n1 p151-171. This paper gives an overview of ongoing revitalisation efforts for Kanien'keha / Mohawk, one of the endangered Indigenous languages in Canada. For the Mohawk people, their language represents a significant part of the culture, identity and well-being of individuals, families, and communities. The endangerment of Kanien'keha and other Indigenous languages in Canada was greatly accelerated by the residential school system. This paper describes the challenges surrounding language revitalisation in Mohawk communities within Canada as well as progress made, specifically for the Kanien'keha / Mohawk language…. [Direct]
(2019). Explaining Ethnic Disparities in Bachelor's Degree Participation: Evidence from NZ. Studies in Higher Education, v44 n7 p1130-1152. There are substantial ethnic gaps in higher education in NZ, despite considerable policy effort aimed at this concern. This study uses newly linked administrative data to examine the underachievement of Maori and Pasifika relative to Europeans. We follow a population cohort born between 1990 and 1994 from school through to young adulthood to assess the relative contributions of prior academic performance, socioeconomic status, and parental education to these gaps. Controlling for the relevant covariates narrows the Maori-European gap, and eliminates the Pasifika-European gap in bachelor's degree participation rates. Utilising Fairlie decompositions, we find that school performance is by far the largest contributor to the ethnic gaps. Socioeconomic status and parental education are also pertinent, but less important. Our results suggest that ethnic-based policies aimed at encouraging participation are likely to have a limited effect if used in isolation, and signal the need for policy… [Direct]