(2018). The Colonial and Neoliberal Roots of the Public-Private Education Debate in Sri Lanka. Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies, v16 n1 p145-174 Apr. The controversy surrounding Sri Lanka's privatising education system is one of the most pressing social and political issues facing the country today. This paper explores the history of this debate by drawing connections to broader processes of colonialism and neoliberalism. Particularly, this paper traces the shifting sociocultural functions of education in Sri Lanka. Colonial-era education in Sri Lanka provoked debates about access, cultural identity, and employment that somewhat resemble contemporary discourses on the role of international education in Sri Lankan society. As the world system shifted from colonialism to neoliberalism in the 20th century, Sri Lankan education began to deemphasize government employment for its graduates. Instead, the education system became oriented towards the needs of the economy, especially in terms of private sector employment. While Sri Lankan education finds new purpose in preparing students for employment in the globalizing economy, it also… [PDF]
(2021). Rearticulating PISA. Globalisation, Societies and Education, v19 n2 p245-258. The OECD's PISA exercise has by now been widely critiqued. Whilst we agree with most concerns, we begin with the assumption that PISA will remain an enduring and powerful feature of the global educational landscape. Even if the PISA test itself were discontinued, a similar large-scale quantitative assessment exercise would soon arise to take its place. As such, we focus herein on strategies for rearticulating ILSAs such as PISA: the creative use of data to shift the exercise away from dissemination of one dominant worldview towards the recognition of alternatives. To do this, we discuss the approach and findings from our recent papers, and then suggest future directions. Rather than mere accommodation, re-articulation underscores an approach to critique that is generative for theory and practice, one that extends of the horizon of possibility beyond culturally saturated notions of 'good' education…. [Direct]
(2014). Native Birthrights and Indigenous Science. Reclaiming Children and Youth, v22 n4 p56-58 Win. In traditional tribal cultures, children are treated with great respect and eagerly learn from their elders. But in contemporary Western society, Native students have the highest dropout rates and are subjected to disproportionate school disciplinary exclusion, which becomes a pipeline into the justice system (Sprague, Vincent, Tobin, & Pavel, 2013). A growing literature calls for culturally appropriate approaches that build on strengths of indigenous students (Reyhner, Martin, Lockard, & Gilbert, 2013). Indians of the Americas share a worldview grounded in respect for all life. Gregory Cajete (2000) of the University of New Mexico describes Native science as the "natural laws of interdependence." In contrast, Western science has tended toward reductionism, measuring cause and effect links between isolated variables. But human harmony requires a relational–not linear–worldview (Cross, 2012). There are two contrasting systems for governing human societies–cultures… [Direct]
(2016). Role, Impacts and Implications of Dedicated Aboriginal Student Space at a Canadian University. Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, v53 n4 p458-469. This article draws on a case study of the University of Guelph's Aboriginal Resource Centre (ARC) to identify the role that dedicated spaces have in the lives of Aboriginal students. Three roles that were identified include how these spaces build a sense of community, foster and enhance Aboriginal identity, and provide a safe space for Aboriginal Students. Recommendations for higher education and student affairs are included…. [Direct]
(2017). "Being Sami Is My Strength": Contemporary Sami Artists. International Journal of Education & the Arts, v18 n17 Apr. The aim of this case study was to discover how three Sami artists present their culture in their arts and how their art grows from Sami traditions. Our first purpose was to find out how they use their art forms' roots to create new ideas. The other purpose of this study was to bring into discussion the importance of a minority culture's arts in teacher education programmes. The data was collected from the writings of and interviews with three Sami artists for whom Sami tradition is strongly present. Sami artists can be seen as an open space for challenging preoccupations and prejudices in which traditions and artistic practices work as playful means of questioning the ways in which subjects, social interactions, and practices are constructed. In these artistic processes, subjects and cultures become hybrid and a changing force for interaction among cultural traditions, other cultural ideas, and the environment to generate new arts…. [PDF]
(2017). Shifting Tides: Reflecting on Regional Aspects of Our Roles as Comparative and International Educators. International Education Journal: Comparative Perspectives, v16 n3 p49-68. In this paper, we critically interrogate the way in which comparative and international education coursework at two large institutions in Australia and New Zealand embody or challenge teleological, colonial, and Western/Northern-centric perspectives on education and development. Embedded within a broader and introspective examination of our roles as comparative and international educators in these universities, we deconstruct the intent behind our course objectives, readings, lecture content and assessment tasks, and place them into conversation with our own pedagogical self-reflections, observations of practice and student feedback. In doing so, we highlight ways in which we believe we are beginning to prepare a new generation of more critically conscious, and regionally-minded set of teachers, development practitioners and researchers. Specifically, by "making the familiar strange," and encouraging our students to co-construct knowledge, we argue we can begin to create… [PDF]
(2020). The Learning Passport: Curriculum Framework (Maths, Science, Literacy). Making Progress Possible: Improving the Quality of Education for Vulnerable Children Everywhere. Cambridge Assessment The Learning Passport project is part of a joint collaborative project that involves UNICEF and the University of Cambridge based around a Programme Cooperation Agreement (PCA) between Cambridge University Press and UNICEF signed in April 2019. The goal of the project is to develop a blueprint curriculum framework as a basis for programme and materials design, with these to be used with refugee and displaced learners ('learners on the move') in Education in Emergency (EiE) contexts. This report outlines the methodology that was used to explore the development of the curriculum framework and includes the output frameworks and matrices that resulted from the development process. In Cambridge the framework development project involved several departments and collaborative partnership organisations from across the University. These partners included Cambridge Assessment, Cambridge Mathematics, Cambridge University Press, the Faculty of Education, and the Department of Psychology…. [PDF]
(2019). See You in Court: How Do Australian Institutions Train Legal Interpreters?. Interpreter and Translator Trainer, v13 n4 p361-389. Legal and court interpreters require advanced professional skills to perform their demanding tasks. How well does Australia prepare interpreters to fulfil the linguistic needs of its numerous communities, including 'established' migrant, indigenous, 'new and emerging' and deaf, in a variety of legal settings? Based on the online data and interviews with educators, this study provides an overview of formal legal interpreter training offered by two types of educational institutions, academic and vocational. The survey of the existing courses, curricula, aims and outcomes, content and settings, teaching methods and assessment, identifies the characteristics of these two approaches, considers advantages and disadvantages of each system, and questions their effectiveness for preparing competent graduates for legal settings. Relying on the educators' opinions, we consider what roadblocks Australian educational institutions encounter in meeting the requirements of the legal system and… [Direct]
(2019). Multicultural Education Based in the Local Wisdom of Indonesia for Elementary Schools in the 21st Century. Journal of International Social Studies, v9 n2 p94-106. Indonesia consists of a variety of tribes, religions, races, and groups that exist on islands that spread from Sabang to Merauke. The wealth of ethnic diversity in Indonesia should be an advantage to unite the nation, but the reality in the field of cultural gatherings raises new conflicts, based on increasing social conflict in the community. In 2013, there were 92 total conflicts, in 2014 here were 83 conflicts; and in 2015 in the middle quarter, social conflicts originating from ideology, politics, economics, and social culture amounted to 20 cases. Local wisdom in each community is a reflection of an integrated (holistic) philosophy of life. Citizenship learning models depend on teachers, who develop materials by integrating contexts with the values of the philosophy of local wisdom. These models can be interpreted as multicultural education based on local wisdom…. [PDF]
(2019). "What Am I Doing to Be a Good Ancestor?": An Indigenized Phenomenology of Giving Back among Native College Graduates. American Educational Research Journal, v56 n3 p603-637 Jun. Although giving back is consistently recognized as a goal of Native (Native Hawaiian, Native American, and Alaska Native) college students, little in the literature describes giving back in detail. To fill this gap, this research examines the essence of giving back as it is experienced by Native college graduates. It explores, through both Indigenous and phenomenological research methodologies, how Native college graduates come to value giving back, enact giving back, and make meaning of giving back. The findings from this study contribute to what is known about how Native college graduates may contribute to the self-determination of their nations and call for a reconceptualization of postsecondary success for Native peoples…. [Direct]
(2019). Wetekia kia rere: The Potential for Place-Conscious Education Approaches to Reassure The Indigenization of Science Education in New Zealand Settings. Cultural Studies of Science Education, v14 n2 p449-464 Jun. "Wetekia kia rere" is an expression in the Maori language that refers to "unleashing potential". This paper discusses questions of power relevant to challenges recently identified by government officials regarding learners' experiences of science education in New Zealand schools. We begin by summarising the Treaty relationship (Treaty of Waitangi, considered to be the country's founding document first signed in 1840) that informs the framing of New Zealand's science curriculum guidelines. Next we outline some official New Zealand education strategies along with several policy guidelines relevant to the aspirations of Maori communities for a transformative science curriculum. This is followed by a discussion of how the historical processes of ecological imperialism, environmental racism and institutional racism have combined to attenuate Maori experiences of science education. A review of international literature is then presented to support calls for the… [Direct]
(2020). Honoring the Treaty: School Leaders' Embrace of Indigenous Concepts to Practice Culturally Sustaining Leadership in Aotearoa. Journal of School Leadership, v30 n6 p588-603 Nov. As a field, school leadership has maintained a colorblind stance, marginalizing practitioners' awareness of culturally sustaining practice, and erasing the experiences of Indigenous and other minoritized groups of students, teachers, and families. Looking to research and practice that attempts to embrace racial and cultural difference in order to make schools more culturally sustaining places to be is imperative in order for the field to respond to the growing diversity in schools. This article specifically explores culturally sustaining and Indigenous school leadership practices. Using data collected from interviews with ten school leaders in Aotearoa (New Zealand) as well as school documents, this article presents new insights into the implementation of culturally sustaining school leadership, which has implications for theory and practice in the field of educational leadership, which has been too long dominated by white ways of knowing…. [Direct]
(2020). The Impact of a Multicultural Exchange between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous History Teachers for Students' Attitudes: Preliminary Evidence from a Pilot Study in Chile. Multicultural Education Review, v12 n3 p215-222. This manuscript presents the results of a pilot study, Kuykuitin. A project that provides history teachers of elite schools in Chile with firsthand contact with history teachers in an intercultural school in the Araucan√≠a. This region is the conflict zone with higher levels of violence between the Mapuche and the Chilean State. The pilot study analyzes the perceptions of the students of elite schools in the city's capital — Santiago — about the Mapuche and the present-day conflict, before and after their history teachers participated in the Kuykuitin project…. [Direct]
(2020). 'You Have to Change, the Curriculum Stays the Same': Decoloniality and Curricular Justice in South African Higher Education. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, v50 n7 p961-977. This article reports on a study that focuses on students from rural areas of South Africa and their experiences of higher education. These students have attracted little attention in widening participation research in South Africa, despite being one of the most marginalised groups. The article, drawing on the experiences of student co-researchers and using the concepts of decoloniality and curricular justice as a theoretical framework, argues for greater acknowledgement of epistemic reciprocity in curriculum development as a way to ensure more socially just curricula. Findings illustrate the importance that students attribute to being able to relate to curricula that reflect their experiences, curricula that they rarely experience in higher education. Students report feelings of marginalisation, lack of recognition of the importance of knowledge and skills developed in their communities and their relevance to higher education together with the challenges they face accessing and… [Direct]
(2020). RE-AIM Evaluation of a Teacher-Delivered Programme to Improve the Self-Regulation of Children Attending Australian Aboriginal Community Primary Schools. Emotional & Behavioural Difficulties, v25 n1 p42-58. Studies in north-western Australia Aboriginal communities identified executive functioning and behavioural regulation as significant issues for children. Exposure to alcohol prenatally and adverse childhood experiences are known risk factors for impaired self-regulation and executive function, these risk factors being present in remote communities. In response, a partnership was initiated to trial a teacher-delivered self-regulation intervention based on the Alert Program Æ. While student outcomes were assessed, this paper describes the implementation and impact of the intervention on teachers through the five dimensions of the RE-AIM framework (Reach, Efficacy, Adoption, Implementation, Maintenance). Trained classroom teachers (n = 29) delivered eight Alert Program Æ lessons to students over 8- weeks. Impact and implementation outcomes were assessed through teacher training and student lesson attendance data, and pre-training and post-intervention teacher questionnaires. Data were… [Direct]