scholarly journals Indigenous Education and Literacy Policy in Australia: Bringing Learning Back to the Debate

2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Fogarty ◽  
Stewart Riddle ◽  
Melissa Lovell ◽  
Ben Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Education Policy ◽  
Indigenous Education ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Pedagogical Practices ◽  
Indigenous Australians ◽  
Literacy Curriculum ◽  
Remote Communities ◽  
Curriculum And Pedagogy ◽  
Literacy Policy ◽  
Indigenous Learners

In a policy landscape dominated by forces that seek to continually reshape education according to market logics, there are particular impacts on the seemingly intractable crisis of Indigenous education policy making. Entrenched discourses of deficit result in education policy continually being ‘done to’ communities, with little heed paid to the effects of such efforts on the learning opportunities available to young Indigenous learners, particularly those living in remote communities. This paper examines the contemporary network of policy levers that come to shape how literacy policy is framed for Indigenous Australians through narratives of failure and crisis. In doing so, we ask what learning is made (im)possible and what are some of the ‘flattening’ effects on literacy curriculum and pedagogy as a result? Further, this paper seeks to open up the conversation around what learning is possible when the policy landscape is unflattened, when policy is ‘done with’ communities, and when pedagogical practices are opened up, rather than closed down.

Mobile Learning and Indigenous Education in Canada

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 39-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siomonn Pulla
Keyword(s):  
New Media ◽  
Mobile Learning ◽  
Indigenous Education ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Culturally Relevant Teaching ◽  
Mobile Technologies ◽  
Urban Centers ◽  
Quality Learning ◽  
Indigenous Learners

M-Learning holds great potential for supporting the positive educational outcomes of underserved Indigenous communities in the Candian North, and even in urban centers, that are at risk of exclusion from affordable, high-quality learning experiences. The technical advantages of having mobile technology to deliver educational curricula and assess outcomes, however, must not overshadow the continuing need for culturally relevant teaching modalities that work for Indigenous learners. When used innovatively, mobile learning can be integrated successfully into a context of existing practices, beliefs, experiences, and values related to Indigenous epistemologies and pedagogies. These mobile technologies are not only helping Indigenous learners to develop new media aptitudes, they are providing an opportunity for learners and instructors to develop stronger links between formal and informal learning opportunities, building on the inherently mobile and contextual traditions of Indigenous peoples.

Indigenous higher education sector: the evolution of recognised Indigenous Leaders within Australian Universities

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stacey Kim Coates ◽  
Michelle Trudgett ◽  
Susan Page
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Indigenous Education ◽  
Indigenous Australians ◽  
Access To Higher Education ◽  
Public Schooling ◽  
Indigenous Students ◽  
Early Experiences ◽  
Commonwealth Government ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Over Time

Abstract There is clear evidence that Indigenous education has changed considerably over time. Indigenous Australians' early experiences of ‘colonialised education’ included missionary schools, segregated and mixed public schooling, total exclusion and ‘modified curriculum’ specifically for Indigenous students which focused on teaching manual labour skills (as opposed to literacy and numeracy skills). The historical inequalities left a legacy of educational disparity between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Following activist movements in the 1960s, the Commonwealth Government initiated a number of reviews and forged new policy directions with the aim of achieving parity of participation and outcomes in higher education between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Further reviews in the 1980s through to the new millennium produced recommendations specifically calling for Indigenous Australians to be given equality of access to higher education; for Indigenous Australians to be employed in higher education settings; and to be included in decisions regarding higher education. This paper aims to examine the evolution of Indigenous leaders in higher education from the period when we entered the space through to now. In doing so, it will examine the key documents to explore how the landscape has changed over time, eventually leading to a number of formal reviews, culminating in the Universities Australia 2017–2020 Indigenous Strategy (Universities Australia, 2017).

Torres Strait Islanders‘ understandings of chronic hepatitis B and attitudes to treatment

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elayne Anderson ◽  
Jeanne Ellard ◽  
Jack Wallace
Keyword(s):  
Chronic Hepatitis ◽  
Liver Cancer ◽  
Hepatitis B ◽  
Chronic Hepatitis B ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Cancer Surveillance ◽  
Indigenous Australians ◽  
Remote Communities ◽  
Torres Strait

Indigenous Australians are disproportionally affected by hepatitis B compared with non-Indigenous Australians. The higher prevalence of hepatitis B among Indigenous Australians has been linked to an increased incidence of liver cancer in this population. There is evidence that comprehensive programs of hepatitis B virus management, which include liver cancer surveillance and appropriate antiviral therapy, offer a cost-effective approach to reduce the incidence of liver cancer in Australia. This paper reports on data from the first study investigating understandings of hepatitis B and attitudes to treatment among Torres Strait Islanders living with chronic hepatitis B. Forty-two participants completed an interview questionnaire. Participants typically had an unclear understanding of hepatitis B and reported significant gaps in monitoring and follow up. A majority of participants indicated a willingness to use treatment if required. The findings of this study suggest the need for a new service delivery model that is appropriate to remote communities such as the Torres Strait Islands, to improve hepatitis B follow up, disease monitoring and management, and where appropriate, the uptake of treatment.

The missing mobile: impacts from the incarceration of Indigenous Australians from remote communities

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 150-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Taylor ◽  
Hannah Payer ◽  
Tony Barnes
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Australians ◽  
Remote Communities

scholarly journals Investigating the ‘integration of theory and practice’ in examination physical education

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 1036-1055 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Jones ◽  
Dawn Penney
Keyword(s):  
Physical Education ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Curriculum Planning ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Pedagogical Practices ◽  
Assessment Practices ◽  
Integrated Theory ◽  
Conceptual Clarity ◽  
Official Curriculum

This paper presents theoretical insights and empirical findings from research in Western Australia (WA) that explored the concept of ‘integrated theory and practice’ in the context of the introduction of a new examination physical education course. The lack of conceptual clarity associated with attempts to embed ‘integration’ into curriculum developments in examination physical education internationally provided a stimulus for this research. Focusing on a new Physical Education Studies course in WA, the research foregrounded the concept of policy enactment and used Arnold’s framework of learning in, through and about movement as a critical frame to investigate the specific notions of integration that were embedded in the official curriculum text and expressed in pedagogical practices in schools implementing the new course. The paper reports findings from the investigation of the pedagogic meanings that four teachers gave to ‘integrated theory and practice’. The data illustrate the varied meanings teachers gave to ‘integration’ and the differences consequently arising in their curriculum planning, teaching and assessment practices associated with the new Physical Education Studies course. Analysis of the data identified opportunistic, structured and investigative ‘integrated’ pedagogies. Data associated with each approach are presented and the expression of Arnold’s dimensions within each approach explored. Discussion pursues the conditions enabling different pedagogical practices to emerge from the new Physical Education Studies course and the learning opportunities provided to students by the different pedagogical approaches. The paper presents a case for further engagement with the pedagogical expression of Arnold’s framework by curriculum developers, researchers, teacher educators and teachers.

Leveraging Learner Experience

2021 ◽  
pp. 1342-1369
Author(s):  
Raichle Farrelly ◽  
Iuliia Fakhrutdinova
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Literacy Practices ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Pedagogical Practices ◽  
Oral Traditions ◽  
Language And Literacy ◽  
Sociocultural Perspective ◽  
Adult Language Learners

This chapter builds on the pedagogical knowledge base of educators who work with refugee-background adult language learners. The chapter introduces refugee-background adults who have experienced interruptions in their formal education. The authors present a framework for pedagogical scaffolding that emerges from a sociocultural perspective on learning. An overview of research underscores the benefits of recognizing and building upon learners' strengths, lived experiences, and oral traditions. Classroom-based approaches that integrate pedagogical scaffolding into meaningful learning opportunities to enhance the language and literacy practices of adult learners are highlighted. The chapter sustains innovation and conversation among educators working with refugee-background adults, ideally in collaboration with the learners themselves, to cultivate pedagogical practices that foster learner success in the classroom and beyond.

scholarly journals Western Australia’s Remote Indigenous Communities: A Case Against Closures and a Call For New Governance

AJIL Unbound ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 109 ◽  
pp. 209-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Asta Hill
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Aboriginal People ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Indigenous Australians ◽  
New Governance ◽  
Remote Communities ◽  
Aboriginal Communities ◽  
The Government

In the late 1970s thousands of Indigenous Australians initiated a movement back to the ancestral lands they had been removed from during the assimilationist era. Less than 50 years since their return to country, Aboriginal people living in Western Australia’s (WA) remote communities are again grappling with their impending redispossession. Wa Premier Colin Barnett’s announcement late last year was panic inducing: It is a problem that I do not want and the government does not want, but it is a reality. There are something like 274 Aboriginal communities in Western Australia—I think 150 or so of those are in the Kimberley itself—and they are not viable. They are not viable and they are not sustainable . . . I am foreshadowing that a number of communities are inevitably going to close.

Working Both-Ways: Using Participatory and Standardised Methodologies with Indigenous Australians in a Study of Remote Community Safety and Wellbeing

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 30-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sue Sutton ◽  
Nathalie Baxter ◽  
Kim Grey ◽  
Judy Putt
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Study Design ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Evaluation Research ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Community Safety ◽  
Systematic Research ◽  
Indigenous Australians ◽  
Remote Communities ◽  
The People

This paper offers reflections on our experience and learning arising from implementing a study design that used evaluation research to pursue multiple benefits. The Community Safety and Wellbeing Study adopted a mixed methods approach, referred to as a ‘both-ways’ (or two-ways) research model, that addressed decision maker's needs and heard the people's voice. The study design was inspired by a both-ways learning model and attempted to address both needs together. The aim of the study was to involve local people in communities and encourage them to share their views about changes in community safety. Through systematic research it provided a voice for Indigenous Australians affected by the Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER), often called ‘the intervention’. Regardless of views about the intervention, this paper aims to share the lessons learned from conducting this study. The mixed method approach involved a community based standardised survey and qualitative data collection techniques. The study was undertaken in a representative sample of 17 NTER communities with over 1300 local residents, around five percent of the relevant population. Over 60 Indigenous people were employed in conducting the study; the majority lived in or had strong ties with remote communities in the study and around 10 had significant experience with social research projects. The research had many objectives in addition to providing evidence on outcomes on a multi-faceted and sometimes controversial government policy. Ethically the research had to have benefit for the people and communities involved. In addition, the community had to be able to see there were benefits from the research for them, not just for government. This paper documents how these objectives were achieved in relation to the methodology, content, data collection and reporting aspects of the research, and discusses what worked and what could be done differently in the future.

Teaching Beginning Teachers to ‘Think What We Are Doing’ in Indigenous Education

2014 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Kameniar ◽  
Sally Windsor ◽  
Sue Sifa
Keyword(s):  
Beginning Teachers ◽  
Teacher Candidates ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Indigenous Education ◽  
Indigenous Australians ◽  
Formal Schooling ◽  
Indigenous Australian ◽  
Hunger Games ◽  
White Middle Class ◽  
University Lecturers

Working with beginning teachers to assist them to begin to ‘think what we do’ (Arendt, 1998) in both mainstream and Indigenous education is problematic. This is particularly so because the majority of our teacher candidates, and indeed most of their university lecturers, are positioned close to the racial, social and cultural centre of Australian education. That is, teachers and teacher educators tend to be white, middle class, educationally successful, and accepting of the main premises and assumptions, purposes and values of formal schooling in Australia. This proximity to the centre can lead to an inability to question ideas and practices that, while everyday and seemingly innocuous, are frequently dangerous and destructive for those at the margins. In this article, we illustrate the normative power of hegemonic ideas by using aspects of the teen fiction The Hunger Games as an analogy for ‘thoughtless’ and unquestioning acceptance of authority. We then describe and discuss a pedagogic practice used within the Master of Teaching program at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education. The practice is designed to challenge normative understandings about Australian history, teaching Indigenous Australian students, and to encourage engagement with the German-American Jewish philosopher and political theorist Hannah Arendt's provocative question ‘What are we doing?’ (Arendt, 1998, p. 5). We conclude the article with a challenge to re-think current policies and practices in the education of Indigenous Australians.

scholarly journals What Do Indigenous Education Policy Frameworks Reveal about Commitments to Reconciliation in Canadian School Systems?

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Terry Wotherspoon ◽  
Emily Milne
Keyword(s):  
Education Policy ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Indigenous Education ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Elementary And Secondary Education ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
Institutional Structures ◽  
Indigenous Knowledge Systems ◽  
Adequate Understanding ◽  
Policy Frameworks

The national Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada has challenged governments and school boards across Canada to acknowledge and address the damaging legacies of residential schooling while ensuring that all students gain an adequate understanding of relations between Indigenous Peoples and non-Indigenous peoples. This article explores the dynamics and prospects for effective change associated with reforms in elementary and secondary education systems since the release of the Commission’s Calls to Action, focusing on the policy frameworks employed by provincial and territorial governments to guide these actions. The analysis examines critically the overt and hidden messages conveyed through discourses within policy documents and statements. The key questions we address include: What do current education policy frameworks and actions regarding Indigenous Peoples reveal about government approaches to education and settler–Indigenous relationships in Canada? To what extent is effective reconciliation possible, and how can it be accomplished in the context of institutional structures and discourses within a White settler colonial society? The findings reveal that substantial movement towards greater acknowledgement of Indigenous knowledge systems and incorporation of Indigenous content continues to be subordinated to or embedded within Western assumptions, norms, and standards. 

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