(2009). Early Vocational Education and Training Programs for Young Aboriginal Learners: Perceptions of Practitioners and Young People. Occasional Paper. National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) The perceptions of students, school and technical and further education (TAFE) staff involved in V Tracks, an early intervention program for Aboriginal school students are explored in this paper. The study identifies outcomes, challenges and recommendations for future program design. Overall, V Tracks was found to improve student engagement in school and provide greater insights into the available education, training and employment pathways for students. National Centre for Vocational Education Research's (NCVER's) Building Researcher Capacity program funded this paper, which is based on research undertaken by a novice researcher in the Community of Practice scholarship program. Appendix includes a section titled Tracks and Deadly Days: TAFE-schools initiatives to increase the retention and engagement of young Aboriginal learners in education, employment and/or training. (Contains 9 figures and 1 footnote.)… [PDF]
(2009). Authentic Science Experiences as a Vehicle to Change Students' Orientations toward Science and Scientific Career Choices: Learning from the Path Followed by Brad. Cultural Studies of Science Education, v4 n3 p611-638 Sep. Bringing a greater number of students into science is one of, if not the most fundamental goals of science education for \all\, especially for heretofore-neglected groups of society such as women and Aboriginal students. Providing students with opportunities to experience how science really is enacted–i.e., \authentic science\–has been advocated as an important means to allow students to know and learn about science. The purpose of this paper is to problematize how \authentic\ science experiences may mediate students' orientations towards science and scientific career choices. Based on a larger ethnographic study, we present the case of an Aboriginal student who engaged in a scientific internship program. We draw on cultural-historical activity theory to understand the intersection between science as practice and the mundane practices in which students participate as part of their daily lives. Following Brad, we articulate our understanding of the ways in which he hybridized the… [Direct]
(2011). The Interface of Environmental and Humane Education as an Emerging and Relevant Dialogue: A Point of View from Brazil. Canadian Journal of Environmental Education, v16 p93-105. This article addresses the interface between environmental and humane education, as a theoretical and practical emerging field in Brazil. We begin by presenting conceptual similarities that, in our view, underpin and justify the need for a growing connection between the two fields of research and educational practice. We then describe an experience of an educational workshop conducted in Campinas-Sao Paulo that sought to bring the two fields closer, involving the screening and discussion of a Brazilian documentary about the meat industry. We consider the possibility that drawing environmental and humane education together may contribute to changes in favour of all forms of life. (Contains 2 notes.)… [PDF] [Direct]
(2007). Talking Books for Children's Home Use in a Minority Indigenous Australian Language Context. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, v23 n1 p48-67. Members of the Kunibidji community are the traditional owners of the lands and seas around Maningrida, a remote community in Northern Australia. Most of the 200 members of the Kunibidji Community speak Ndjebbana as their first language. This study reports on the complexities of transforming technology to provide Kunibidji children with access to digital texts at home. The printed Ndjebbana texts that were kept at school were transformed to Ndjebbana talking books displayed on touch screen computers in the children's homes. Some results of the children's interaction around these touch screens are presented as well as some quantitative results of the computer viewing in the homes. The processes of rejecting technological determinism, upholding linguistic human rights of speakers of minority languages and viewing technology as practice rather than a set of artefacts are discussed in this paper. The results of this study highlight the need for speakers of minority Indigenous Australian… [Direct]
(2009). Convergence and Divergence: Examining Perceptions of Chinese and Expatriate Project Implementers on Cross-Cultural Teacher Training Programmes. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, v39 n6 p691-706. This article reports on a study of perceptions of Chinese and expatriate personnel on a Sino-British English teacher training programmme on a range of issues with regard to the programme. Semi-structured one-to-one interviews were conducted to gather information from 17 Chinese and three British project participants. It was found that there existed convergences and divergences in the two sides' views. This article argues that the convergences may have been induced by the project implementers' collaborative work experience on the programme and the advantages of the top-down approach adopted for this programme, whilst the divergences may have been caused by cultural differences, the lack of communication between the two sides, and the drawbacks of the top-down approach. This study suggests that perception gaps can occur between local and expatriate personnel and that it is necessary for both sides to adapt to and support each other in order to enhance mutual understanding and… [Direct]
(2009). Contemporary American Indian Studies. American Indian Quarterly, v33 n1 p18-32 Win. In his keynote address to the Fifth Annual American Indian Studies Consortium in 2005 David Wilkins began by commenting on earlier attempts to formally organize such a gathering in ways that might help establish and accredit Indian studies programs. He said he had the sense that the thrust of earlier meetings \was really an opportunity for Native academics, graduate students, and their allies to meet, chat, socialize, and network.\ As he investigated the possibilities of more fully engaging the many powerful topics confronting Native nations, both within and outside the academy, Wilkins was reassured to discover that the consortium intended to take up Elizabeth Cook-Lynn's provocative essay, \Who Stole Native American Studies?\ Both Wilkins's and the consortium's willingness to more carefully consider American Indian higher education signals a major shift in focus, a shift from an attitude that vital issues can most effectively be confronted through the legal system to a realization… [Direct]
(2010). "She Can Bother Me, and that's because She Cares": What Inuit Students Say about Teaching and Their Learning. Canadian Journal of Education, v33 n1 p140-175. In this study, we have investigated, through interviews, conversations, questionnaires, and observations, perceptions of learning success of northern Qikiqtani (Baffin Island) of Nunavut Inuit middle years (grades 5-8) students and the classroom pedagogy influencing their success, in particular their learning in science. Most of the processes identified as contributors to successful learning were culturally located. Students also placed importance on teachers who cared not only for them as people, but also for their performance as learners. Based upon students' information, we have presented a profile of the characteristics of effective teachers in Inuit schools to promote learning within a positive environment. (Contains 5 footnotes.)… [PDF] [PDF]
(2012). Sustainable Development–Education, Business and Management–Architecture and Building Construction–Agriculture and Food Security. InTech Securing the future of the human race will require an improved understanding of the environment as well as of technological solutions, mindsets and behaviors in line with modes of development that the ecosphere of our planet can support. Some experts see the only solution in a global deflation of the currently unsustainable exploitation of resources. However, sustainable development offers an approach that would be practical to fuse with the managerial strategies and assessment tools for policy and decision makers at the regional planning level. Environmentalists, architects, engineers, policy makers and economists will have to work together in order to ensure that planning and development can meet our society's present needs without compromising the security of future generations. Better planning methods for urban and rural expansion could prevent environmental destruction and imminent crises. Energy, transport, water, environment and food production systems should aim for… [Direct]
(2007). Travels in Space and Place: Identity and Rural Schooling. Canadian Journal of Education, v30 n3 p771-792. This analysis draws on interview data from a three-year study of educational decision making of youth living in a coastal community in Atlantic Canada. Students whose educational and mobility aspirations extend outside the known spaces of the community develop the ability to negotiate multiple social spaces in and out of school. The school- successful "floater" identity position is assumed by youth comfortable in a variety of social groups and situations ranging from peer cliques to interactions with teachers and other institutional authority figures. This contrasts with more localized identity positions, marked by strong and exclusive identification with local networks. (Contains 5 notes.)… [PDF] [Direct]
(2007). Pedagogic Principles in Negotiating Cultural Conflict: A Melanesian Example. International Journal of Science Education, v29 n1 p101-122 Jan. This paper draws on the personal experiences of three researchers: an "outsider" (or western-oriented) science teacher, a science teacher educator who has lived in Melanesian countries for almost a decade, and a national researcher who was born and educated in Melanesia. During a recent interpretative research study of the problematic relationship between the traditional world-views of Melanesian villagers and the official school science views of young Melanesian people, Bruce became increasingly aware of the importance of conducting culture-sensitive interpretative research. Bruce and Joe describe three people with different experiences and approaches to education. Mindful of the important role of the outside teacher researchers in providing essential information for the local contextualisation of school science curricula, we propose a number of culture-sensitive practices when working in Melanesian cross-cultural contexts. Karsoon: I like Melanesian ways. I wanted to… [Direct]
(2009). When Needs Must: Interpreting Autoethnographical Stories. Qualitative Inquiry, v15 n6 p980-995. Autoethnographical research, though interesting and satisfying to conduct, presents a challenge to graduate students who are required to engage in data analysis to meet the needs of their degree. This article tells the collaborative story of how one such student balanced her academic, methodological, ethical, and personal imperatives and developed the notion of "motif" as a beginning point for the effective interpretation of autoethnographical stories. Each motif in this research consisted of a collective story, vignette, art, and literature review. (Contains 2 notes.)… [Direct]
(2009). How Study Abroad Shapes Global Careers: Evidence from the United States. Journal of Studies in International Education, v13 n3 p382-397. What is the impact of study abroad on U.S. college students' career paths? What factors of education abroad differentiate alumni who later worked or volunteered for international organizations in the United States and/or in other countries compared with alumni who did not pursue global-career experiences? This article presents findings that address these questions, as indicated by data from a survey the Institute for the International Education of Students conducted of 17,000 participants of its programs between 1950 and 1999. The study illustrates the significant career impact of study abroad on the majority of respondents. The career impact and continued use of foreign language are much greater for alumni who worked internationally than for those who did not. Study abroad for a full year, host university course enrollment, internship participation, and host family living arrangements are all program factors that correlate strongly with future international work. (Contains 7 tables.)… [Direct]
(2009). Reply to Li, D'Angiulli and Kendall: The Early Development Index and Children from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Backgrounds. Early Years: An International Journal of Research and Development, v29 n1 p83-87 Mar. This article presents a response to the paper by Li, D'ngiulli and Kendall (2007). The authors address two key aspects of this paper. The first concerns a number of errors and misconceptions in the paper that the authors think are important to clarify and correct. The second issue relates to the significant amount of research and effort that has taken place since this article was first written, particularly the increasing amount of effort, both in Canada and in Australia, to engage the Indigenous/Aboriginal populations…. [Direct]
(2008). Reflections on the Importance of Indigenous Geography. American Indian Culture and Research Journal, v32 n3 p73-88. Using storytelling from his experiences with the Western Apache, Keith Basso elaborates the notion that \wisdom sits in places,\ that is, the way in which social and cultural knowledge and guidance–wisdom–is based on experience. Because experience occurs in places, landscapes (and their stories and place names) can come to encode social and cultural knowledge. This notion of geography as philosophy would not have been foreign to the ancient Greeks to whom the discipline is often traced, but geography today, with some notable exceptions, is only slowly returning to the quest for wisdom. As an academic discipline, geography must struggle against the limitations of the larger (post)modern episteme within which it is situated. A genuine engagement with Indigenous geography may open a pathway out of this fix. In this article, the author considers Indigenous geography, its challenges and its offerings. His starting point is values in the world, and because \rationality\ is fraught, his… [Direct]
(2007). What if Indigenous Knowledge Contradicts Accepted Scientific Findings?–The Hidden Agenda: Respect, Caring and Passion towards Aboriginal Research in the Context of Applying Western Academic Rules. Educational Research and Reviews, v2 n3 p225-235 Sep. The statement in the title, what if Indigenous Knowledge contradicts accepted scientific findings (Fowler, 2000), is an expression of the dilemma people who research Indigenous Knowledge think they find themselves in when they are confronted with different interpretations of what it means to be human, or, as I may summarize it, with different cultural interpretations of human existence. I sense a certain amount of fear in this statement, which, indeed, suggests an Indigenous interpretation that threatens the accepted scientific worldview. The question is, of course, who the accepting entity is and what the acceptance is measured on. The statement was made by an academic (PhD) executive of a diamond company who, responsible for inclusion of Indigenous Knowledge in the environmental assessment the company had to do before starting the mine, suspects contradictory interpretations on land use by the Indigenous people who occupy the land that should be developed by the company he… [PDF]