(2013). Claiming "Educative Outcomes" in HPE: The Potential for "Pedagogic Action". Asia-Pacific Journal of Health, Sport and Physical Education, v4 n2 p127-142. This paper will propose and privilege "educative outcomes" in Health and Physical Education (HPE), reflecting that one of the five propositions in the "Draft Shape of Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education" (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA], 2012a) can be regarded as the bonding agent. The paper recognizes current research in HPE and refers to the long-standing positioning of (successful) "learning" at the forefront of subjects, activities and curriculum (Hayes, Capel, Katene, & Cook, 2006). It explores gaps and potential in "pedagogical work" (Tinning, 2008) and "pedagogic action" (Penney, 2013) that may prioritize and legitimate, or challenge, how topics, curriculum, assessment and activities can be emphasized over learning. It argues that foregrounding educative outcomes requires knowledge building in relation to curriculum, pedagogy and assessment; that the significance of the… [Direct]
(2014). Education Hubs and Talent Development: Policymaking and Implementation Challenges. Higher Education: The International Journal of Higher Education and Educational Planning, v68 n6 p807-823 Dec. The discourse on the internationalization of higher education emphasizes revenue generation while neglecting other diverse rationales pursued by governments and institutions. For countries that are seeking to venture into a knowledge economy or accrue greater competitive advantages under globalization, many policymakers view cross-border higher education as a platform for developing human talent. In this pursuit, education hubs stand out as large-scale initiatives supported by extensive planning and investment. By comparing the developments of Malaysia, Singapore, and Hong Kong as education hubs, three distinct objectives are apparent: to develop local talent, to attract foreign talent, and to repatriate diasporic talent. Despite the attention directed at the recruitment of international students, developing local talent remains a fundamental goal among education hubs. Talent development includes manpower planning as well as more inclusive provisions that support the diverse… [Direct]
(2018). Placing Students at the Centre of the Decolonizing Education Imperative: Engaging the (Mis)Recognition Struggles of Students at the Postapartheid University. Educational Studies: Journal of the American Educational Studies Association, v54 n6 p595-608. Misrecognition of South African university students is at the heart of this article. "Misrecognition" refers in this article to the exclusionary institutional discourses and practices of this country's universities, which continue to prevent the majority of their (Black) students' from achieving a successful education. It is a conceptual account of the ways in which these misrecognized students develop a complex educational life in their quest for a university education. The article argues that at the heart of students' university experiences is an essential misrecognition of who they are, and how they access and encounter their university studies. I suggest that gaining greater purchase on their (mis)recognition struggles may place the university in a position to establish an engaging recognition platform to facilitate their educational success. Divided into four sections, the article starts with a rationale for bringing the institutional misrecognition of students into… [Direct]
(2019). Indigenous Learners of Mathematics: Reflections from Teaching at the Top of Australia. Australian Primary Mathematics Classroom, v24 n3 p34-40. In this article, Libby reflects on her experiences as a teacher, wife and mother while working at a school in Far North Queensland. In sharing these aspects of her identity, she effectively demonstrated one of the ways in which non-Indigenous educators can begin to connect with and address the learning needs of Indigenous students…. [Direct]
(2019). A Neoindigenous Perspective on Language Silencing in Science Education. Research in Science Education, v49 n4 p1041-1053 Aug. The authors draw on their own experiences as practitioners, one as a Biology and Agriculture teacher in Kenya, and the other as an educator in a summer science program serving African American youth in a city in the Midwestern United States. They document and analyze moments of language contestation and explore the use of the construct of neoindigenous to see in what ways it illuminates new understandings of continued colonization through language silencing in relation to science teaching and learning. A self-study methodology is used, which includes memory work, narrative, and conversation, and allows the researchers to fuse personal narrative and sociocultural exploration. What emerges are glimpses of what is lost and rendered valueless when English and the language of science are positioned as elite and correct. The research also shows the difficulty for educators of diminishing the power of science that is sustained by access to its language, even when they intentionally try to… [Direct]
(2019). Using Visual Narratives (Comics) to Increase Literacy and Highlight Stories of Social Justice: Awakening to Truth and Reconciliation. Collected Essays on Learning and Teaching, v12 p46-59. How can creating a simple stick figure comic help us tell — and deeply listen to — true stories of social injustice and practice anti-oppression strategies? More specifically, how can creating a series of stick-figure comics help learners enhance their understanding of the Indigenous Peoples' testimonies in the Truth and Reconciliation Report (TRC, 2015)? In my experience, stick-figure visual narratives can help participants tell stories of social injustices and practice ways that might restore right relations. In this paper, I provide a background story and a literature review in describing the rationale and method of using this approach to teach social justice concepts and rehearse pro-social interventions. I conclude with a detailed lesson plan for using the social-justice comics method for visually presenting the TRC 2015 report…. [PDF]
(2017). Hyper-Activating Inukshuks: The Renewal of Social Studies in Alberta. Canadian Social Studies, v49 n1 p30-33. A recent study that surveyed close to 500 Alberta social studies teachers concluded that irreconcilable pressures "point to tensions between the formal program of studies and its prescribed outcomes, and the realities and complexities of classrooms where teachers attempt to realize good practices" (Alberta Teachers' Association, 2016, p, 46). As the researchers observed, while there is widespread support for addressing "indigeneity" and "multiple perspectives," such expectations need to be contextualized in the experiences of the lived curriculum in classrooms where teachers are putting in 60-hour work weeks in the midst of ever-increasing prescription and control over their practice (pp. 30-31). By unpacking the narratives of milestones and the linear march of curriculum policymaking, the author summarizes why Alberta cannot make the mistake of assuming that reform will be a clear march forward where a western Enlightenment view of the world continues… [PDF]
(2013). Building on Conceptual Interpretations of Aboriginal Literacy in Anishinaabe Research: A Turtle Shaker Model. Canadian Journal of Education, v36 n2 p4-33. This article comes out of the larger context of my doctoral dissertation where I investigated my experiences as an academic who attempts to remain true to Indigenous Knowledge (IK) traditions while working within a Western European intellectual setting. In this current paper, I combine the conceptual frameworks of Aboriginal literacy and Cavanagh's (2005) holistic educational model of the Anishinaabe teaching wand to present a holistic model of Anishinaabe literacy. I then consider the ethical responsibility of protecting and sustaining IK. Finally, I share a personal narrative and detail a central model of Anishinaabe literacy–my carving of a turtle shaker. The turtle shaker model is an applied example of Anishinaabe literacy that was developed using learning gained from traditional knowledge and academic environments. The intention is for this model to facilitate the transformation of how IK is taken up in the academy and in schooling settings. (Contains 5 figures and 3 footnotes.)… [PDF] [Direct]
(2014). Youth Driving Community Education: Testimonies of Empowerment from Asia and the Pacific. UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning The case stories presented in this publication focus on young people from vulnerable communities that the Asia South Pacific Association for Basic and Adult Education (ASPBAE) members are actively engaged with and who have been mobilized in ASPBAE programs for youth leadership and capacity development. Their narratives showcase the successes of empowered youth in rising to the daunting challenges presented by their environments. Following a foreword by Arne Carlsen, Director of the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, and an introduction by Maria Lourdes Almazan Khan, Secretary-General of the ASPBAE, the self-authored narratives include: (1) Sketches from the Life of an Inspired Bangladeshi Rural Youth (Fahima Prity); (2) Earning and Empowered (Shanti Devi); (3) Changing Rural Landscape through Community Video (Subhash Maule); (4) Living Her Dreams (Sifa Humaeroh); (5) "Ko Wai Au? Ko Au He Tao Rangatira!" Who Am I? I Am a Young Warrior! (Brooklyn Emery); (6) Returning to… [PDF]
(2016). Route Description in Iwaidja: Grammar and Conceptualisation of Motion. PNA, v11 n1 p53-74. This study focussed on the effect of grammar of Iwaidja, an indigenous Australian language, on mathematical conceptualisation. It investigated route description in Iwaidja. Spatial concepts such as direction, height and movement in relation to another object are briefly described using examples. Differences between English and Iwaidja are used to illustrate the some of the impact of grammar on mathematical conceptualisation. The implications are discussed in terms of how understanding these grammatical features can help teachers, especially when children are not fluent in the language of instruction, as well as providing keys to cross-linguistic investigations of mathematical cognition…. [PDF]
(2016). Walking the Talk: Towards a More Inclusive Field of Disability Studies. International Journal of Inclusive Education, v20 n1 p67-90. This paper is a conversation about growing an inclusive field of disability studies. The paper draws on data collected through an analysis of existing disability studies programmes in selected Canadian universities. The paper makes a case for including diverse perspectives, experiences, viewpoints, and voices in these programmes. In this work, I call for an interrogation of the normativity in the field of disability studies and for critical reflections and discussions about growing a diverse and inclusive field that pays attention to marginalised populations. There is a need to rethink the exclusionary nature of knowledge, space, bodies, and pedagogy in the field, which perpetuates Eurocentric culture, thoughts, and practices…. [Direct]
(2016). Cultural and Social Uses of Orality and Functional Literacy: A Narrative Approach. Reading & Writing: Journal of the Reading Association of South Africa, v7 n1 Article 119. Lesotho's educational system and development are largely influenced by missionaries and colonisers who taught the three 'Rs' (reading, writing and numeracy skills) to the Basotho. Most of those enlightened Basotho were to carry on the duties of either educating others or as missionary workers. Some became clerks, interpreters, police officers, nurses and Sunday school teachers. This article is an account of a functionally literate Mosotho male adult learner who was herding livestock and taught himself reading and writing skills. In his narrative, Hlalefang (not his real name) compares literacy to money and a watch or a clock. He further expresses how people like him have managed to muster some basic and restructure the cognitive and oral history and archival memories, through intuitiveness. The story is based on the work of Paulo Freire where culture influences the discourse of literacy. A qualitative narrative story-telling approach was used to relate Hlalefang's lived-experiences… [PDF]
(2016). Culture in Schooling in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region. in education, v22 n1 p61-76 Spr. We describe research on Inuvialuit culture in schooling in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region in the northwestern Northwest Territories in Arctic Canada. A mixed-methods case study using questionnaires in the region's six communities explored students', parents,' and high school teachers' perspectives on Inuvialuit culture in the schools. While students and parents were pleased that local culture is reflected in the schools, most would like to see more Inuvialuit culture become part of schooling. Teachers would like to know more about Inuvialuit culture and history and would like professional development to help them teach Inuvialuit students more effectively. This research suggests that policy in the Northwest Territories to move towards culturally responsive schooling is yet to be fully embodied. It should be prioritized…. [PDF] [Direct]
(2014). Children's Models about Colours in Nahuatl-Speaking Communities. Research in Science Education, v44 n5 p699-725 Oct. This paper presents the development and structure of indigenous children's ideas about mixing colours as well as their ideas about each colour, derived from their traditions. The children were interviewed both at school and outside it, and an educational proposal was implemented. Ideas expressed in the school context were analysed using the partial possible model, which states that the inferences and explanations used to describe a subject consist of constricting ideas, rules of correspondence, and a set of phenomenological inferences about processes. After identifying these components in the children's ideas, we developed models to describe their conceptions about mixing colours. We employed a different approach to analyse children's ideas related to their cultural context. The results showed that children change from a conception that focuses on colours as entities that do not change and as properties of objects (model 1) to the idea that colour represents a quality of substances… [Direct]
(2015). Addressing Insecurity on Nigerian Roads through Literacy, Language and Semiotics. African Educational Research Journal, v3 n1 p47-50 Feb. Language plays significant role in human relations and this language can be verbal and non-verbal. Among the forms of non-verbal communication are kinesics (the use of body signs), proxemics (the use of space) and the use of signs in communication. The appropriate and adequate interpretation of signs is expected to bring peace and harmony. There have been series of carnages and accidents on Nigerian roads and these, among other factors, are connected to disregard of road users to road signs. The paper is quasi-empirical through the use of unstructured interview with union leaders and their members. The findings from this unstructured interview reveal that superstitious belief in the power of Ogun, Yoruba god of iron and war, to avert road accident, illiteracy and inability to read road signs contribute to the regularity of traffic accidents on Nigerian roads. It is recommended that government and its designated agency should increase media advocacy and literacy activities for all… [PDF]