(2016). Vernacular Knowledge and Critical Pedagogy: Conceptualising Sexual Health Education for Young Men Who Have Sex with Men. Sex Education: Sexuality, Society and Learning, v16 n2 p184-198. Over 30 years after HIV was first recognised in the USA, the epidemic continues to pose a disproportionate threat to vulnerable and marginalised populations. Increasing HIV incidence among young men who have sex with men has spurred debate around the content and approach to HIV prevention interventions directed towards this vulnerable population. A comprehensive model for conceptualising the content of sexual health education is described, which can be tailored to the unique needs and experiences of young men who have sex with men through the application of social theory. Vernacular knowledge is incorporated as a manner of nesting sexual health messages within the shared understandings of young men regarding same-sex sexual practices, gender roles and expectations, community mores and conventions and other shared knowledge of sex and sexuality. Critical pedagogy is then discussed as a way of guiding one's pedagogical approach during intervention design and implementation that is most… [Direct]
(2016). Aboriginal Ways of Knowing and Learning, 21st Century Learners, and STEM Success. in education, v22 n1 p161-172 Spr. Aboriginal people are alarmingly under-represented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-related careers. This under-representation is a direct result of the lack of academic success in science and mathematics, an issue that begins early in elementary and middle school and often escalates in secondary school with the majority consequently doing poorly, not completing these courses and often dropping out. This makes them ineligible to pursue STEM-related paths at the post-secondary level. The greatest challenges to success in these courses are the lack of relevancy for Aboriginal learners and, as importantly, how they are taught; impediments that are also paramount to the increasing lack of success for many nonAboriginal students in STEM-related courses. This paper explores how Aboriginal ways of knowing and learning and those of the 21st century learners of today very closely parallel each other and illustrates how the creative multidisciplinary approach of a… [PDF]
(2016). Kina'muanej Knjanjiji'naq mut ntakotmnew tli'lnu'ltik (In the Foreign Language, Let Us Teach Our Children Not to Be Ashamed of Being Mi'kmaq). in education, v22 n1 p148-160 Spr. Colonialism has assimilated and suppressed Indigenous languages across Turtle Island (North America). A resurgence of language is needed for First Nation learners and educators and this resurgence is required if Indigenous people are going to revitalize, recover and reclaim Indigenous languages. The existing actions occurring within Indigenous communities contributing to language resurgence include immersion schools. Eskasoni First Nation opened its doors in September 2015 to a full immersion school separate from the English speaking educational centers. This move follows the introduction of Mi'kmaq immersion over ten years earlier within the English speaking school in the community. The Mi'kmaw immersion school includes the Ta'n L'nuey Etl-mawlukwatmumk Mi'kmaw Curriculum Development Centre that assists educators in translating educational curriculum from the dominant English language to Mi'kmaq. In this paper, stories are shared about the Eskasoni immersion program's actions… [PDF]
(2001). Disturbances and Dislocations: Understanding Teaching and Learning Experiences in Australian Aboriginal Music. Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, v29 n2 p1-7. A White Australian professor of a class on Indigenous women's dance has her Aboriginal sister-in-law conduct workshops on Indigenous dance. The classroom dynamics resulting from the complex power relationships (teacher as White woman, Aboriginal family member, and students) disturbs Western paradigms. The responsibility of "safely delivering" Indigenous knowledge is likened to that of a midwife. (TD)…
(2018). Social Mapping and Environmental Education: Dialogues from Participatory Mapping in the Pantanal, Mato Grosso, Brazil. Environmental Education Research, v24 n10 p1514-1526. This article illustrates the steps taken to enact a new methodology for participatory social mapping by the Environmental Education, Communications and the Arts (GPEA) Research Group of the Federal University of Mato Grosso (UFMT). The aim of Social Mapping is to record the identities, territories and socio-environmental conflicts experienced by social groups, based on their own namings and narratives, rather than relying on those more typically generated or provided by researchers or theorists. As such, it offers an important dialogical pathway for environmental education practices, in that it highlights the intrinsic relationship between culture and nature, and reinforces the understanding that the loss of one implies the disappearance of the other…. [Direct]
(2016). Language Variation and Change in the Australian Curriculum English: Integrating Sub-Strands through a Pedagogy of Metalogue. English in Australia, v51 n2 p74-85. The Language Strand of the Australian Curriculum: English (Australian Curriculum, Assessment & Reporting Authority (ACARA), 2016b) includes the sub-strand of "Language Variation and Change". This sub-strand is a marked space for discovery and discussion of the history and politics of language use. As such, this sub-strand points to an agenda of respect for different languages in use throughout Australia, including the means of communication between Indigenous Australians and those representative of multicultural Australia. We posit that this important sub-strand can be made more enduring by not being treated as a "singular" (Bernstein, 2000) but integrated with Content Descriptions from other Language sub-strands. This integration of knowledge, called "regionalization" by Bernstein (2000), "implies challenges for pedagogic practice" (Wolmarans, Luckett, & Case, 2016, p. 99). As a way forward, we consider the affordances of an… [Direct]
(2016). Improvement of Human Resources Quality through Vocational Training in Tourism in Karimunjawa Islands (Central Java, Indonesia): A Pro-Economical Tourism Approach. International Education Studies, v9 n8 p28-35. The effort to improve human resource quality is not easy to be implemented. This effort becomes more complicated to do when implemented to the group of poor community, especially in this case marginal community of small island. This research analyzes the characteristic of poor household in small island as well as the strategy of poverty eradication through the improvement of human resource quality. This is a qualitative research supported by quantitative approach. Data was collected through in-depth interview, focus group discussion, and survey. Research result indicates that the groups of traditional farmers and fishermen spread out of Karimunjawa islands who are categorized extremely poor and having limited human resource. In one side, Karimunjawa apparently has a potential to be a tourist spot. Karimunjawa inhabitants are interested to take part in economical tourism activity. This study recommends a strategy to eradicate poverty and improve human resource quality through Pro-Poor… [PDF]
(2018). 'We Need More Mob Doing Research': Developing University Strategies to Facilitate Successful Pathways for Indigenous Students into Higher Degrees by Research. Higher Education Research and Development, v37 n5 p908-922. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students are still grossly under-represented in Higher Degrees by Research (HDRs) when compared to non-Indigenous students. Developing the pipeline of Indigenous students from undergraduate to postgraduate study remains key to increasing the number of Indigenous students undertaking HDRs. While much of the existing work has historically focused on explaining failure, more recent research has argued that the focus should instead be on deepening our understanding of the factors contributing to Indigenous student success. This paper reports on findings from a National Teaching Fellowship that explored how universities can increase the number of Indigenous students transitioning from undergraduate study to HDRs. Drawing on interviews with Indigenous HDR graduates, key success factors to enter into a HDR are examined. The paper also discusses outcomes from the fellowship that include strategies for successful pathways into HDRs for Indigenous students… [Direct]
(2003). Community Archaeology and Oral Tradition: Commemorating and Teaching Cultural Awareness on Mua Island, Torres Strait. Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, v31 n1 p41-50. Education is about learning. But it is not always about teaching. Nor is it always held in formal educational settings. Here we present an example from Mua Island in Torres Strait, where cultural knowledge was recently communicated and passed down to the younger generation through community participation rather than through formal educational institutions. The role that community research and ceremonies play in customary learning is here brought out through recent commemoration of the legendary hero Goba on Mua Island. [This article was written with the Mualgal (Torres Strait Islanders) Corporation.]… [Direct]
(2014). Confidence and Professional Learning: A Case Study of Indigenous Teacher Assistants Attending Professional Learning. Australian Association for Research in Education, Paper presented at the Joint Australian Association for Research in Education and New Zealand Association for Research in Education Conference (AARE-NZARE 2014) (Brisbane, Australia, Nov 30-Dec 4, 2014). The focus of this paper is to examine the personal impact professional learning had on ITAs within the mathematics classroom. This paper is based on a four-year longitudinal qualitative study called Representations, Oral Language and Engagement in Mathematics (RoleM). The main study focused on the teaching and learning of mathematics of Indigenous students. As part of this study, Indigenous teacher assistants (ITAs) together with their teachers participated in the RoleM professional learning model (RoleM PL). RoleM PL included professional development workshops, leadership workshops and follow-up visits in the classrooms, which were facilitated by researchers. Nineteen Indigenous teacher assistants from remote, rural and metropolitan Queensland participated in this study. Data were drawn from semi-structured interviews conducted at least once a year with ITAs. An analysis of the interview transcripts highlights the beliefs, attitudes and understandings of Indigenous teacher… [PDF]
(2003). Preparing Preservice Teachers' Minds, Hearts and Actions for Teaching in Remote Indigenous Contexts. Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, v31 p17-24. This paper examines some challenges we confront working with preservice teachers prior to serving in remote Indigenous communities. Some challenges include what preservice teachers bring to their studies – subjectivities, experiential understandings of teaching and notions of childhood/adolescence, culture and social justice, all of which involve minds, emotions and our notions of our places in society. Some challenges involve linking new notions of teaching to what they already know which may entail unlearning before relearning. Some challenges involve making sense of the theory/action dialectic – teasing out links between strongly held but unarticulated values, beliefs and actions that derive from them. Some challenges involve anticipating what it might be like to live and teach in a remote setting and preparing to work effectively across cultures. I then discuss how we might tackle them in the light of productive pedagogy and culturally relevant pedagogy (Osborne, 2001a, 2001b)…. [Direct]
(2003). Meeting Teachers' Needs: Reaching Literacy through Grammar in Indigenous Schools. Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, v31 n1 p25-34. Many teachers and teaching assistants report that they lack an understanding of Standard Australian English grammar and that this hinders their work with Indigenous students who are learning English as a second language. This paper reports on the success of an accredited professional development strategy in Far North Queensland. This strategy is not based on out-of-context grammar lessons but promotes the idea that grammar is best learnt in communicative and collaborative classrooms which value fun and visual performance. The grammar activities are also embedded in current strategies for the teaching of literacy. This kind of professional development can reinvigorate teachers' practices in order to increase literacy outcomes in Indigenous schools…. [Direct]
(2015). The Academy, Development, and Modernity's "Other". International Journal of Development Education and Global Learning, v7 n2 p46-60. Epistemological preferences in Western academies over the centuries became the measuring rod for what is to count as valid knowledge in thinking about development. The genealogy of the sciences of law and economics can be traced back to the Roman and British empires. The problem is posed in this paper as to the question of how remnants of these genealogies continue to influence development models and to what extent the academy may be in need of transformation by the inclusion of epistemologies and ethics found in modernity's "other", i.e. in cultures that continue to exist outside modernity. This transformation of the academy by enlargement, it is argued, would become more feasible by scientific methodologies inspired by forms of transdisciplinarity, trilateral science, and "praxis."… [PDF]
(2015). Pedagogy Lost? Possibilities for Adult Learning and Solidarity in Food Activism. Studies in the Education of Adults, v47 n2 p185-198 Aut. In this paper, I examine the potential for solidarity between indigenous and non-indigenous peoples within food movements working in the context of a settler colony such as Canada. I argue that it is necessary to engage with narratives provided by indigenous food activists and indigenous studies scholars and that learning from these narratives requires connecting food with land, sovereignty, and self-determination. In order to learn about these connections, I suggest that food activists and academics may need to engage in a "pedagogy of discomfort" and that doing so requires recognising complicity, rethinking relationships, and building solidarity…. [Direct]
(2015). Indigenous Knowledge Provides an Elegant Way to Teach the Foundations of Mathematics. 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 (37th, East Lansing, MI, Nov 5-8, 2015). This unlikely cast of characters, by working collaboratively in a trusting learning community, was able to identify an approach to teaching rational numbers through measuring from the everyday practices of Yup'ik Eskimo and other elders. "The beginning of everything," as named by a Yup'ik elder, provided deep insights into how practical activities were conceptualized and accomplished by means of body proportional measuring and nonnumeric comparisons. These concepts and practices shed light on the importance of measuring as comparing and the importance of relative units of measure, and helped us imagine a way to establish an alternative learning trajectory and school-based curriculum that begins with the insights gained from Yup'ik and other elders. This approach may well provide teachers a way to teach aspects of elementary school mathematics in an integrative and elegant way. [For the complete proceedings, see ED583989.]… [PDF]