(2024). Decolonizing Digital Accessibility within Land/Water Realities Using Minimal Computing. Learning, Media and Technology, v49 n5 p755-768. The purpose of this essay is to conceptualize accessibility in digital education for school children through a minimal computing perspective. This perspective prioritizes the contextual, social, and relational as part of the ethic of minimal computing mantra to consider "What." "We." "Need." To achieve our goals, we begin with a story from a classroom in rural New Mexico, then we problematize definitions of accessibility for computing in educational settings considering how an identification as having disabilities is situated within colonial monolingual/monocultural structures that position minds and bodies as deficient. We connect these structures to capitalistic educational technology movements like using "personalized" instructional materials that do little to support the identities of children in spaces like the rural Southwest. Finally, we highlight what accessibility might look like as conceptualized from a land/water perspective where… [Direct]
(2021). A Critical Pedagogy of Agriculture. Journal of Agricultural Education, v62 n3 p51-71. Socio-cultural issues within our agrifood system such as social inequality, personal and community health, and the environment have been the subject of interdisciplinary inquiry and curriculum from inside and outside of education, but exploration of these topics from within Agriculture Education is lacking. The importance of these issues, as well as the responsibility that agriculture educators have to fostering agency and consciousness in the next generation of agriculturalists, requires that School Based Agriculture Education formulate a pedagogical framework to address them. This paper introduces a new pedagogical approach to be applied across SBAE programs–a critical pedagogy of agriculture. In order to accomplish this, (a) the need for a critical pedagogy of agriculture is discussed, (b) the history of critical theory and critical pedagogy is explained as well as other critical pedagogies that have emerged to address similar and overlapping issues with agriculture, and (c)… [PDF] [Direct]
(2015). Social, Cultural, and Ecological Justice in the Age the Anthropocene: A New Zealand Early Childhood Care and Education Perspective. Journal of Pedagogy, v6 n2 p41-56 Dec. Educators have an ethical responsibility to uphold the wellbeing of the children, families and communities that they serve. This commitment becomes even more pressing as we move into the era of the Anthropocene, where human induced climate changes are disrupting the planet's systems, threatening the survival of not only humans, but of eco-systems and the earth's biodiversity. This paper draws upon examples from Aotearoa (New Zealand) to demonstrate ways in which a critical pedagogy of place informed by local traditional knowledges can inform early childhood education whilst also enhancing dispositions of empathy towards self and others, including more-than-human others…. [Direct]
(2019). Creating Spaces for Radical Pedagogy in Higher Education. Human Rights Education Review, v2 n2 p64-83. This paper tells stories from a higher education study abroad collaboration entitled "Investigating Diversity, Human Rights and Civil Society in Japan and Australia." Starting from a pedagogical focus on students' active learning about human rights, this project has come to value relationship building–between academic institutions, civil society and community groups, and individuals. We ask 'what is human rights education?', and argue for a radical pedagogy in which knowledge about human rights and diversity is negotiated in 'third spaces' (Bhabha). In an attempt to address the 'im/possibility of engaging with alterity outside of a pedagogic relationship of appropriation or domination' (Sharma), learners 'become border crossers in order to understand otherness on its own terms' (Giroux). As the stories demonstrate, active learning also requires active unlearning (Spivak). Pivotal to our radical pedagogy is a conception of human rights education as dialogic and that creates… [Direct]
(2019). Native Ecologies: Environmental Lessons from Indigenous Histories. History Teacher, v52 n2 p265-290 Feb. Since the late 1960s, the fields of indigenous and environmental history have boomed. In the United States these large, nuanced, and often-overlapping historiographies have provided college educators with enormous scope to re-evaluate the past and contextualize contemporary political and social issues related to Native peoples and the environment. Given the synergies between indigenous and environmental histories, it seems only reasonable that college instructors challenge students to think critically about the historical complexities of contemporary indigenous and environmental issues. This essay presents readers with historiographical examples of the types of reference points that might be effectively deployed in the college classroom to encourage students to develop historical frameworks that enhance civic engagement and sociopolitical decision-making on issues related to Native ecological knowledge and environmental sustainability. The author's analysis builds on the insights of… [PDF]
(2019). Supporting Teacher Confidence and Perceived Competence in Relation to Culturally-Responsive Pedagogy Utilising Communities of Learning Kahui Ako. Kairaranga, v20 n2 p30-39. This professional inquiry investigates how Community of Learning Ka hui Ako across-community teachers (ACT) can support teacher confidence and perceived competence in relation to their culturally-responsive pedagogy. Communities of Learning Ka hui Ako are explored in terms of defining what makes a community successful and how they can be used as a vehicle for accelerating the achievement of Ma ori learners. A review of the literature surrounding culturally-responsive pedagogy, its enablers and barriers, as well as evidence that Communities of Learning Ka hui Ako can address this, is examined. A semi-structured interview was used to explore Community of Learning Ka hui Ako ACT perceptions of culturally- responsive pedagogy and successful practice. Findings from this inquiry suggest that the mechanism of Communities of Learning Ka hui Ako though the ACT is having a positive impact on teacher confidence and perceived competence in relation to culturally-responsive pedagogy through the… [PDF]
(2019). Sustainable Development for Whom? A View from Oceania. International Education Journal: Comparative Perspectives, v18 n3 p1-13. Sustainable development, like climate change, has become the new rave globally, regionally, and nationally. At the University of the South Pacific (USP), where I work, it is in your face when you open its website: "Excellence and sustainability in higher education". It is also assumed that most people in the world today know what the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are and most educators know about Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Many people who talk about, teach, and do things related to ESD know that ESD is not straightforward or as easy as they would like or had expected. In this presentation, I problematize the notion of ESD by first providing a brief background of what ESD means to the international community by discussing the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD 2004-14). I then examine selected Pacific notions of ESD and their implications for formal education…. [PDF]
(2021). Fostering Relationships between Elementary Students and the More-Than-Human World Using Movement and Stillness. Journal of Environmental Education, v52 n4 p272-289. We join scholars who criticize the Western separation of humans and the more-than-human (MtH) and believe that an emphasis on the MtH within students' local community is supported by repeated exposure. We take an ethnographic approach to study a collaborative program between a university, a local nonprofit, and a US public elementary school that organizes field trips to a local arboretum three times per year, over students' elementary career. We share longitudinal ethnographic data over four years, following the first cohort from K-4th grade, describing ways in which students appear to connect with the MtH. We propose a construct for building connection to the MtH that includes a balance between aspects and activities we call "Movement" and those we call "Stillness." We suggest that shifting between movement and stillness requires scaffolded, embodied practice. We propose that including movement and stillness aspects in EE, when scaffolded over time, can help… [Direct]
(2021). Comprehending Interculturality and Its Future Directions in English Language Teaching and Teacher Education in the Colombian Context. HOW, v28 n3 p93-104. Interculturality has to do with the personal relational aspects of caring about the other. In this sense, interculturality confronts and challenges untruths and stereotypes that deny the existence of diversity. This article aims to provide a comprehensive view of what interculturality means, as well as to contribute to current and future trends in the field of English language teaching and teacher education in Colombia. I present examples of intercultural practices as possibilities to understand and explore interculturality in ELT, and I share a review of studies that have undertaken this complex conception of interculturality…. [PDF]
(2021). Block Teaching and Active Learning Improves Academic Outcomes for Disadvantaged Undergraduate Groups. Issues in Educational Research, v31 n4 p1330-1350. In 2018, Victoria University adopted a new teaching delivery model, now known as the Block Teaching Model (BTM). The aim of this study focuses on how this new approach to teaching has impacted student learning and academic success, in particular for students who come from a disadvantaged background, compared with those who come from a non-disadvantaged background. In this study, disadvantage is defined by the following categories: non-English speaking background (NESB), first in family to attend university (FIF), low socio-economic status (SES), low Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) and gender (male students). Results indicate that when compared to non-disadvantaged students, the newly established BTM has achieved a significantly higher reduction in student failure rates across ATAR, SES, and NESB versus ESB and gender, while the reduction in fail rates for FIF was not reduced significantly more than NFIF. This work encapsulates the University's central vision, "The VU… [PDF]
(2021). Academic Achievement of Diverse K-12 Students in Inclusive Three-Block Model Classrooms. International Journal of Inclusive Education, v25 n12 p1391-1409. The academic achievement of diverse kindergarten to grade 12 students in inclusive classrooms implementing the Three-Block Model (TBM) of universal design for learning was investigated. Fifty-one teachers and 684 of their students, including students with disabilities, students who were English language learners (ELL), and Indigenous students, participated in treatment and control groups. Results indicated significant differences between the two groups on measures of academic achievement, as reflected in a rubric that assessed levels of critical thinking. This was the case for typically developing students as well as those in the three subgroups, with large effect sizes in all cases. These findings suggest that the combination of social and emotional programming with universally designed instruction holds promise for improving the academic achievement of a broad spectrum of learners. Results are discussed in regards to implementation and training needs, and recommendations are made… [Direct]
(2020). The Future of Ethics and Education: Philosophy in a Time of Existential Crises. Ethics and Education, v15 n3 p371-389. Philosophy confronts two existential crises: the threats to its existence from scientists like Stephen Hawking who claim that philosophy is dead; and the threat to life itself from catastrophic climate change. The essay's first theoretical part critiques Nietzsche's claim that philosophy's primary function is to guarantee the future of life. The essay's second practical part claims that philosophy must meet the challenge of life's extinction through a revised model for ethics in education. Taking its start from recent conceptualizations of philosophy as a 'field discipline,' this part considers African American models for delivering ethics in education to under-resourced communities. The third part shows how these theoretical models may be actualized in the practice of an African field philosopher…. [Direct]
(2020). What's New? Projections, Prospects, Limits and Silences in "New" Theory and "Post" North-South Representations. Journal of Environmental Education, v51 n2 p171-182. This "in process" Conclusion to the Special Issue (SI) "Global politics of knowledge production in EER: 'New' theory and North-South representations" (The Journal of Environmental Education) aims to highlight relevant issues and acknowledged limitations and silences from the sample of critiques presented in the SI, all built from a pre-elaborated research agenda and methodological framework for reviewing/revisiting, and possibly de and reconstructing of "new" and "post" (theory). The formulated critique is presented as a prelude to shedding much more critical, praxical, conceptual and empirical "light" on discussing and challenging certain ideas, or ideals, or illusions in environmental education research. Praxis remains to be a notable (epistemological; methodological; pedagogical) limitation, as such, a prominent outstanding challenge…. [Direct]
(2020). Decolonising Design Education through Playful Learning in a Tertiary Communication Design Programme in South Africa. International Journal of Art & Design Education, v39 n3 p523-535 Aug. This article introduces playful learning as part of the decolonising project at institutes of higher learning in South Africa with specific reference to the discipline of communication design. Not only does the article interrogate the content of design education, specifically design for development, but more specifically the way that design for social innovation is taught. The article begins with a contextualisation of the decolonisation debate both locally and internationally, which is followed by a brief historical overview of formal design education. Design education's trajectory informs the contemporary conception of design as a form of rhetoric. Design and play are then interfaced theoretically, and pragmatically through a case study to explore how deeper learning was made possible by play in a curriculum-based project. Ultimately, the article aims to highlight the value of playful learning in design higher education to nurture alternate modes of design thinking that favour… [Direct]
(2019). Making a Connection to Field Geoscience for Native American Youth through Culture, Nature, and Community. Journal of Geoscience Education, v67 n4 p487-504. This qualitative study examines the experience of 12 Native American youth who participated in culturally appropriate geoscience summer programs throughout California. These programs have been shown to change participating youths' perceptions of science. After the programs, the youth are more likely to describe science as something tribes use to manage natural resources and have been using for a long time, something that is not only learned in classrooms, and that they can live a cultural way of life and still be scientists. In this study we used hermeneutic phenomenology to understand the experience of the participating youth. Semistructured, life-world, pre- and postinterviews were designed to elucidate participants' program experience. These were coded and analyzed following phenomenological methodology. Our analysis shows the function of program elements in providing a supportive path for student participants into science building on a base of cultural and individual assets. The… [Direct]