(2015). Proceedings of the 2014 Annual Meeting of the Canadian Mathematics Education Study Group = Actes De La Rencontre Annuelle 2014 Du Groupe Canadien D'√©tude en Didactique Des Math√©matiques (38th, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, May 30-June 3, 2014). Canadian Mathematics Education Study Group This submission contains the Proceedings of the 2014 Annual Meeting of the Canadian Mathematics Education Study Group (CMESG), held at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta. The CMESG is a group of mathematicians and mathematics educators who meet annually to discuss mathematics education issues at all levels of learning. The aims of the Study Group are: to advance education by organizing and coordinating national conferences and seminars to study and improve the theories of the study of mathematics or any other aspects of mathematics education in Canada at all levels; and to undertake research in mathematics education and to disseminate the results of this research. These proceedings include plenary lectures, an elder talk memoire, panel discussions, working group reports, topic sessions, new PhD reports, and summaries of ad hoc and poster sessions. Papers include: (1) The Economic Use of Time and Effort in the Teaching and Learning of Mathematics (Dave Hewitt); (2)… [PDF]
(2011). Aboriginal Business Capacity Building Programs in the Central Interior of British Columbia: A Collaborative Project between the University and Communities. Canadian Journal of University Continuing Education, v37 n1 Spr. Aboriginal communities in Canada are typically marginalized, have very low employment participation rates, and have limited economic infrastructure. The downturn in global economies further marginalized these communities. The University of Northern British Columbia's (UNBC) Continuing Studies department piloted an Aboriginal and Small Business Leadership Certificate program in the central interior of British Columbia (BC) between November 2008 and May 2009. The aim of the program was to address some of the issues faced by Aboriginal communities affected by the mountain pine beetle infestation in central BC. The success of the pilot project led UNBC Continuing Studies to collaborate with some communities in the central interior of BC to access funds through the federal government's Community Adjustment Funds initiative in order to develop and deliver a business capacity building project. The project consisted of a certificate program with enhanced Aboriginal content and an internship… [Direct]
(2009). Using Digital Technologies to Address Aboriginal Adolescents' Education: An Alternative School Intervention. Multicultural Education & Technology Journal, v3 n2 p144-162. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how digital technologies were introduced in a collaborative literacy intervention to address a population long underserved by traditional schools: the Aboriginals of Canada. Design/methodology/approach: Situated within a critical ethnographic project, this paper examines how digital technologies were introduced. The questions focused on: how can critical multiliteracies be used to engage students, in both academic and digital literacies development? In what ways does participation in multimodal media production provide evidence of teachers and students' critical literacy development?Findings: Digital literacies as a part of multiliteracies were developed in teaching contexts where learning is challenged by many factors. Research limitations/implications: The paper reports on the achievement and the struggles that remain. Implications for further research and teacher education are also drawn from the experience of implementing a broader… [Direct]
(2009). Indigenous Fijian Female Pupils and Career Choice: Explaining Generational Gender Reproduction. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, v29 n1 p29-43 Mar. This paper examines aspects of the school-to-work transition process for high-achieving indigenous Fijian young women using selective data from a wider study of school-to-work transitions conducted in 2005. It appears that traditional and colonial understandings of the role of Fijian women still shape even high-achieving girls' career and life options; these are expressed through their subject choices at school and their narrow career aspirations. While the social reproduction mechanisms of schools are evident, families and communities are also implicated. High-achieving girls still tend to emulate the career choices of older women in their families and communities, even in the current context of a marked lessening of labour market opportunities for the time-honoured "white-collar" occupations of teaching, nursing and public service work. Some provisional interpretations, looking towards productive interventions at school, community and church level, of this phenomenon are… [Direct]
(2012). Watching, Creating and Achieving: Creative Technologies as a Conduit for Learning in the Early Years. British Journal of Educational Technology, v43 n4 p641-651 Jul. This paper describes the use of robotics in an Early Years classroom as a tool to aid the development of technological skills in a creative environment rich with literacy and numeracy opportunities. The pilot project illustrates how a three-phase process can result in the development of: (1) emergent literacy and numeracy, (2) digital access for disadvantaged Early Years learners and (3) basic engineering concepts. The pilot study was conducted with a class of 16 students aged between 5 years and 6 months to 7 years, over a 6-week period. During this period, the students were introduced to and engaged in the creation of robots and simple machines via the use of a commercial robotics package. The pilot was designed around three distinct phases: modelling, exploring and evaluating. These phases provided scaffolding for the students to engage with the technology and for the class teacher to develop her own skills. The use of this particular robotics package is unique to Australia,… [Direct]
(2012). Home-Going as a Strategy for Success among Haudenosaunee College and University Students. Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, v49 n2 p193-209 May. Native American students find sources of strength in their families, communities, and culture. This article reviews the experiences of 26 Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) college graduates who lived in residence halls while enrolled in college. These students obtained college educations while remaining culturally centered by going home often, some said "every single weekend," until they could transfer to an institution close to home and commute. The importance of place is discussed in relation to home-going behavior…. [Direct]
(2009). Parental Involvement in the Development of a Culture-Based School Curriculum. Intercultural Education, v20 n4 p311-319 Aug. This study focuses on parental involvement in Sami schools when developing a culturally sensitive school curriculum. The research recognizes a number of competing and complementary interests that play a role when constructing structures and policies in curriculum development. Two Sami schools in Sweden with 115 pupils, their parents and 27 teachers were included in a longitudinal three-year study. Interviews, school visits, videotapes and document analysis were used to gather information. The results indicate the invisible existence of culture-based school practice and curriculum texts. The lack of contact among homes, schools and community culture was obvious. Parents and teachers expressed an interest in developing a culture-based local curriculum through a process of reflecting on and creating an education incorporating the past, the present and the future. The study showed that parents, pupils and teachers experienced increased awareness in culture-based schoolwork. The study… [Direct]
(2009). Art Education in New Zealand: Historical Antecedents and the Contemporary Context. Canadian Review of Art Education: Research and Issues, v36 p19-36. Education is never a passive, autonomous, or static activity. It manipulates, as much as it is manipulated, and reflects specific contexts. Education histories document continuities and changes over time, and are able to throw light on and inform contemporary practice. Prompted by perspectives on curriculum as a social and cultural construction, together with Efland's (2004) identification of the principal visions of nineteenth and twentieth century art education in the United States, the author traces the historical antecedents of art education in New Zealand. The author points out that the development of art education in New Zealand from the 1840s to the 1990s was essentially a selection from the culture–the way of life, the kinds of knowledge, and the attitudes and values of society–of a particular time. The author discusses how the current policies and practices in art education reflect the economic, social, cultural and educational changes, including curriculum reforms,… [PDF]
(2009). Focus Groups of Alaska Native Adolescent Tobacco Users: Preferences for Tobacco Cessation Interventions and Barriers to Participation. Health Education & Behavior, v36 n4 p711-723. Tobacco cessation interventions developed for Alaska Native adolescents do not exist. This study employed focus group methodology to explore preferences for tobacco cessation interventions and barriers to participation among 49 Alaska Natives (61% female) with a mean age of 14.6 (SD = 1.6) who resided in western Alaska. Using content analysis, themes from the 12 focus groups were found to be consistent across village, gender, and age groups. Program location or site (e.g., away from the village, hunting, fishing), a group-based format, and inclusion of medication and personal stories were reported to be important attributes of cessation programs. Motivators to quit tobacco were the perceived adverse health effects of tobacco, improved self-image and appearance, and the potential to be a future role model as a non-tobacco user for family and friends. Parents were perceived as potentially supportive to the adolescent in quitting tobacco. The findings will be used to develop tobacco… [Direct]
(2009). "Wait a Second. Who Are You Anyways?": The Insider/Outsider Debate and American Indian Studies. American Indian Quarterly, v33 n4 p440-461 Fall. In this article, the author presses the virtues of insider research, suggesting that Native American studies might profit from a deeper engagement with the broader debates that have taken place in other disciplines and fields. Insider research, he suggests, can generate questions not available to those with outsider perspectives. Participating in the insider/outsider debate gives American Indian studies scholars the opportunity to exert influence on an issue important to their discipline to a wider academic audience, demonstrating that their research has significance not only to Indigenous communities but also to the broader scholarly community. In this article, the author situates his dissertation research within both the insider/outsider debate and American Indian studies and thereby highlights the interplay of both. This article is divided into four sections. First, the author presents a discussion of the dominant issues in the insider/outsider debate, specifically, those issues… [Direct]
(2009). Perceptions of "the Other" in Children's Drawings: An Intercultural Project among Bedouin and Jewish Children. Journal of Peace Education, v6 n1 p69-86 Mar. This article presents research on an intercultural project supervised by teacher trainers and implemented by two Jewish student teachers in a Bedouin school in the south of Israel. The student teachers developed and taught an English language unit on the differences and similarities between Jewish and Arab cultures for the purpose of promoting intercultural awareness and acceptance. Figure drawings of Jewish and Arab people made by the children were analyzed qualitatively as measures of changes in attitudes and stereotypes before and after the educational intervention. We found that many negative stereotypes were changed as a result of the culture unit taught by the student teachers. As teacher trainers and researchers, we present this project as an example of an educational intervention for the promotion of intercultural understanding. (Contains 1 table and 6 figures.)… [Direct]
(2009). Indigenizing Civic Education in Africa: Experience in Madagascar and the Sahel. International Journal of Educational Development, v29 n6 p599-611 Nov. In Africa, as in many countries of the South, democratization is sometimes perceived as a process modeled upon outside–and specifically Northern–experience. Formal civic education programs in those countries arguably reflect the same bias and have not always been notably successful. Yet there are rich patterns of civic involvement and democratic process in African culture and in the myriad ways in which it has adapted to development challenges, often more successfully reflected in non-formal and informal education endeavors. This article reports on a comparative study of related experience in Madagascar and Sahelian West Africa and draws conclusions regarding ways to draw inspiration for school-based civic education from such ground-level sources…. [Direct]
(2008). Community-Based Adult Education for the Fisherwomen of Rajapalyam Fishing Village in Tuticorin, Southeast Coast of India. Australian Journal of Adult Learning, v48 n2 p399-405 Jul. Rajapalyam village is located in the Tuticorin district along the biodiversity rich Gulf of Mannar coast in southeastern India. The people of this village are economically backward and most of the men are engaged in fishing. The fisherwomen of this village are less literate than the men, or illiterate. Adult education has been introduced to the women of this village in order to enhance their literacy level, environmental awareness and livelihood. Within a very short period, the women have improved themselves greatly through learning and are now demonstrating the importance and necessity of education to neighbouring villages. (Contains 1 table.)… [PDF]
(2007). Subaltern Social Movement Learning and the Decolonization of Space in India. International Education, v37 n1 p10-41 Fall. Prompted by the author's experience as a participant in an organized partnership with "Adivasis" in south Orissa since the early 1990s; Gayatri Spivak's intimation that the "subaltern can not speak" (Spivak, 1988) [and the "theoretical asphyxiation" of a subaltern politics ably contested in Parry's work as a "deliberate deafness to the native voice where it can be heard" (1987, p. 39)]; Dirlik's (1994) pertinent assertion that postcolonial theory reduces the material relations of colonial power to the rules of language (colonial discourse analysis); and the praxiological possibilities encouraged by a Gramscian-strain of subaltern studies (Sarkar, 2005), this paper addresses subaltern agency as expressed through social movement learning and the decolonization of physical/material space (land and forests in particular) in "Adivasi" contexts in south Orissa. Relying on data and associated reflections on emergent themes and understandings… [Direct]
(2009). Collaboration in Animation: Working Together to Empower Indigenous Youth. Art Education, v62 n5 p6-12 Sep. How do underrepresented populations, with little exposure to global media discourse, begin not only to develop a critical stance toward dominant messages in the media, but also to assert their own voices and perspectives in unfamiliar formats? How can a school with a mission to develop leadership skills for members of indigenous populations empower students to honor and preserve valued traditions, languages, and practices while adapting to the challenges of thriving in an increasingly media-saturated society? Perhaps through media literacy programs like the one that these authors have offered for the past 3 years at the Centro Rural de Educacion Superior (CRES) in Estipac, Mexico. In this article, they describe the goals, processes, and outcomes of their animation and technology workshops at CRES, and offer insights into the teamwork that is integral to this ongoing project…. [Direct]