(2010). Immigration, Racial Profiling, and White Privilege: Community-Based Challenges and Practices for Adult Educators. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, n125 p65-77 Spr. In this chapter, the author will explore the significance of race from a social constructionist perspective. He will focus on immigration laws and on examples of legal cases that have set the stage for current definitions of whiteness and racial identification. A community-based transformational organizing model will be presented. The model will be explained by describing the challenges and educational strategies used by an immigrant rights organization in dealing with federal and local law enforcement agencies that were in the process of shifting unauthorized immigration from a civil to a criminal offense. The conclusion of this chapter will reflect on how and in what ways this transformative, organizing approach involves relational and contextual dialogue to build a community of learners through action…. [Direct]
(2011). The Role of Making the Stuff of Life in Place-Based Education. Pathways: The Ontario Journal of Outdoor Education, v23 n3 p7-13 Spr. This article examines the role material culture and making items can serve in establishing a sense of place or informing place-based educational practices. It is arranged around six principles that, if used in a learning context, connect material from a place to an enhanced comprehension of a sense of place. A critical component in making the stuff of life includes shaping and making practical items like tools, food, shelter and clothing. Contemporary place-based educational practices frequently emphasize connecting children with their food through gardening activities, but this article emphasizes that making practical items from local material is also a valuable way to begin learning about the place where one lives. The author describes some guiding principles that can be used to enrich the context of place during making experiences focused upon the stuff of life…. [PDF]
(2008). Indigenous Geography, GIS, and Land-Use Planning on the Bois Forte Reservation. American Indian Culture and Research Journal, v32 n3 p139-151. The map is a primary tool in geographic research, and the discipline of geography has experienced a significant methodological transformation during the last three decades with the development and now near ubiquity of geographic information systems (GIS) technology. The introduction of this technology into Indian country has spurred a debate over the appropriateness and effectiveness of using GIS for Native mapping purposes. In this article, the author reviews issues concerning the use of GIS in Native communities and presents a case study of one particular tribe's implementation of the technology. GIS are computer systems designed to store, manipulate, and portray spatial data, theoretically making analysis of such data easier, faster, and more powerful. However, many in the geographic community view GIS as a \contradictory technology that can both empower and marginalize people and communities.\ At the same time that broader debates about the social impacts of GIS,… [Direct]
(2011). The Context of Training Teachers to Implement a Socially Relevant Science Education in Africa. African Journal of Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, v15 n3 p98-121. The underlying assumption to this paper is that learners' ability to appreciate the relevance of school science and its importance to socio-economic development of their communities to a large extent depends on the quality of instruction they receive from their teachers. A popular conundrum is that no country is greater than the calibre of its teachers. However, a sort of Mathew's principle of the "haves" having more and the "have-nots" losing even what they do have tends to hold. Hence, learners of well-trained teachers tend to outperform those of poorly trained teachers on most tasks. A vivid example here in South Africa is the usual wide chasm between the matriculation results of learners from the former well-resourced Model C schools and those (with few exceptions due to massive support) from the previously disadvantaged schools. In pursuit of relevance many African political leaders and policy makers have called on teacher training institutions to produce… [Direct]
(2009). Segregation and Protectionism: Institutionalised Views of Aboriginal Rurality. Journal of Rural Studies, v25 n4 p414-424 Oct. Rurality is a complex and contested term, with multiple notions and gazes amid calls for theoretical pluralism. In Australia, the spatial categories of "remote", "rural", "regional" and "urban" are applied to places that vary in their distance from an economic and political core and have differing population densities. We argue that natural resources institutions in rural Australia demand an "authentic" performance of Aboriginality that is framed within orthodox and stable constructions of an Indigeneity associated with the remote category. Dominant representations of remote Aboriginal people living on traditional homelands and engaged in "traditional" environmental protection are assumed to hold for all places and transposed when natural resources institutions satisfy compulsory Indigenous engagement. Such institutional requirements for authenticity exclude alternative and multiple Indigenous voices in natural resources… [Direct]
(2008). The Land Remembers: Landscape Terms and Place Names in Lowland Chontal of Oaxaca, Mexico. Language Sciences, v30 n2-3 p291-315 Mar-May. This paper examines landscape terminology and place names of the Chontal region in the state of Oaxaca in southern Mexico, with a focus on terms from Lowland Chontal, a highly endangered language spoken near the Pacific coast. In addition to the linguistic analysis, the paper presents a general description of the physical geography of the area and how it relates to settlement patterns and subsistence activities, with specific detail of the territorial organization of Huamelula as a sociopolitical unit and of the importance of sacred sites. The analysis serves both to anchor the Chontal speakers as long-time residents deeply engaged with the elements of their landscape and to document in part the dynamics of the multilinguistic and multiethnic history of the region. (Contains 5 figures and 9 tables.)… [Direct]
(2013). Ministry of Education 2012/13 Annual Service Plan Report. British Columbia Ministry of Education The education system is complex, but at its core, it is a learning partnership between the student, the family and teachers. This partnership — supported by the Ministry — is ultimately responsible for ensuring every learner receives a high quality education. A high quality education enables learners to realize their full potential and contribute to the well being of society. It supports students as they develop the foundational skills of reading, writing, and math, as well as other essentials necessary in the 21st century, such as self-reliance, communication, critical thinking, inquiry, creativity, problem solving, innovation, teamwork and collaboration, cross-cultural understanding, and digital information literacy. This annual service plan report provides data and discusses the results related to the measures in the Ministry of Education 2012/13-2014/15 Service Plan. The Province's fiscal year does not parallel the school year; therefore, some data is unavailable at this time…. [PDF]
(2013). Ministry of Education 2013/14-2015/16 Service Plan. British Columbia Ministry of Education Inspired by innovative change already taking place in British Columbia communities and developed through many months of consultation with educators, students, parents and other British Columbians, BC's Education Plan responds to the realities and demands of a world that has already changed dramatically and continues to evolve. The engagement and consultation begun through the development of BC's Education Plan has led to a shift in how ministry business is conducted. The Ministry is continuing to actively solicit input, feedback, and comments from the public, students, parents, teachers, and education partner organizations through online, social media, and face-to-face engagement efforts. With BC's Education Plan as the vision for educational transformation, this Service Plan outlines the work the Ministry will continue to undertake to modernize education in B.C. and achieve its vision. This year's Service Plan includes: (1) Message from the Minister and Accountability Statement; (2)… [PDF]
(2009). Rethinking the Notion of Technology in Education: Techno-Epistemology as a Feature Inherent to Human Praxis. Science Education, v93 n2 p218-232 Mar. Educators repeatedly underscore the intimate relationship between science and technology. This is problematic because technology, far from being "applied science," presupposes a unique epistemology (techno-epistemology). A focus on the role of science in technology overshadows this unique way of knowing and hence limits technology education and privileges a scientific worldview in education. To appropriately frame the unique epistemology of technology in education, we propose a cognitive framework developed to understand the use and development of tools in human activity, namely, Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT). Drawing on a case study of technology that is not rooted in a (Eurocentric) scientific tradition, the SXOLE (Reef Net) fishing technology of the WSANEC (Saanich) people, we show how technology can be understood as inherent to human praxis, which presupposes a dialectically related and unique epistemology that is incommensurable and irreducible to a… [Direct]
(2011). Educational Outcomes of Children on Guardianship or Custody Orders: A Pilot Study, Stage 2. Child Welfare Series. Number 49. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare This report presents a snapshot of the academic performance of children on guardianship/custody orders from 2003 to 2006, and changes in their performance over this period. This concludes a two-stage pilot study, the first of its kind in Australia. A considerable proportion of children on guardianship/custody orders are not meeting the national benchmarks for reading and numeracy (ranging from 4% to 68% across states and years), and Indigenous children within this group are particularly disadvantaged. A glossary is included. Appendices are: (1) Methods; and (2) Detailed tables and figures. (Contains 29 tables, 11 figures, and 4 boxes.) [For the first study, "Educational Outcomes of Children on Guardianship or Custody Orders: A Pilot Study. Child Welfare Series. Number 42," see ED512577.]… [Direct]
(2011). Latino Parents and Students Foster Literacy through a Culturally Relevant Folk Medicine Event. Multicultural Education, v18 n2 p39-43 Win. This study was inspired by the literary elements of "cuentos tipicos" (culturally-relevant stories). The book "Prietita y la llorona" ("Prietita and the Ghost Woman") written by Anzaldua (1995) is a good example of a "cuento" that provides information about medicinal herbs and also includes "consejos" (advice). The plot stems from a well-known Mexican story that is traditionally told orally and passed on through generations. Reading this book validates the parents' background knowledge of medicinal herbs and provides a forum for their animated discussion, enthusiastic contributions, and elaboration of shared information. This context thus inspired a community of learners, which in turn facilitated the parents' participation and performance of the protocol-based literacy tasks the authors assigned them. The Family Institute for Early Literacy (FIELD) is housed on two university campuses in Texas. FIELD seeks to examine how multiple… [PDF] [Direct]
(2011). Characteristics of Participants in Australia's Get Healthy Telephone-Based Lifestyle Information and Coaching Service: Reaching Disadvantaged Communities and Those Most at Need. Health Education Research, v26 n6 p1097-1106 Dec. To address increasing rates of overweight and obesity, a population-based telephone intervention was introduced in New South Wales, Australia. The Get Healthy Information and Coaching Service[R] (GHS) offered participants a 6-month coaching program or detailed self-help information. Determining the population reach of GHS is of public health importance to ensure that the program reaches disadvantaged groups. This paper describes the socio-demographic and risk profile of participants (n = 4828) in the first 18 months of operations, determines how representative they are of the population, assesses changes in participants' socio-demographic profile and compares "information-only" and "coaching" participants. The results show that GHS users are representative of the adult population in relation to education, employment status, Aboriginal status, fruit and vegetable consumption and alcohol use. However, more female, middle-aged, English-speaking, rural and socially… [Direct]
(2009). S&E Graduate Enrollments Accelerate in 2007; Enrollments of Foreign Students Reach New High. InfoBrief. NSF 09-314. National Science Foundation U.S. enrollment in science and engineering (S&E) graduate programs in 2007 increased by 3.3% over comparable data for 2006. This is the highest annual growth rate since 2002 and is nearly double the 1.7% growth rate seen in 2006. First-time, full-time enrollment of foreign students (the terms \foreign student\ and \temporary\ visa holder are equivalent in this report) eclipsed its previous high, set in 2001, and total enrollment of temporary visa holders topped its 2003 high. Despite this growth, the proportion of S&E graduate students who are temporary visa holders remained below its peak level, set in 2002, because of growth in the numbers of U.S. citizens and permanent residents pursuing graduate-level study in S&E fields. The National Science Foundation-National Institutes of Health (NNSF-NIH) Survey of Graduate Students and Post-doctorates in Science and Engineering (GSS), which collects these data, was refined in 2007 to improve reporting. New fields were added to the survey,… [PDF]
(2009). Education, Culture and Society in a Globalizing World: Implications for Comparative and International Education. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, v39 n5 p601-614 Sep. As the world settles in to the reality of globalization, it becomes clear that many incongruous facets of human existence have been forced together into a giant tumbler–economy, information systems, finance and people–giving rise to contradictory but also generative responses. Previously excluded and excised \objects\ are now occupying intimate spaces with those who had believed that their subject position was ordained by God. Questions around co-existence and co-determination, knowledge and citizenship, culture and science, and cognitive justice are being asked at the most penetrating levels. This paper posits the integrative paradigm shift as a method in this dynamic episode in which knowledge paradigms of those excluded and epistemologically disenfranchised move centre stage, acquire agency and demand a new synthesis, signalling an era in which modernization now proceeds but without Western values. New theories of freedom, understandings of context, diversity, difference and… [Direct]
(2010). Engaging Educators in Representing Their Knowledge in Complex Ecologies and Cultures of Inquiry. Online Submission, Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (Denver, CO, Apr 30-May 4, 2010). This paper is a self-study in which a university teacher educator studies her practice. She creates a space for alternate ways of representing forms of knowledge from diverse cultural backgrounds, including Indigenous, and for their accreditation in the Academy. As she develops a way of thinking that is appropriate for getting closer to understanding indigenous ways of knowing, there is a transformation in her own understandings. Moving from reliance on print to the use of multi-media and artifacts to represent forms of knowledge in complex ecologies supports the development of cultures of inquiry. In this work, the meanings of the embodied energy-flowing values that educational researchers use to explain their educational influences in their own learning and in the learning of others, are made explicit. These meanings are shown to have epistemological significance for educational knowledge…. [PDF]