Transforming Educator Practice Through a Culturally Responsive and Sustaining Pedagogies Rubric

While the value of culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogies in education is largely accepted, how to equip educators to integrate these pedagogies in their practice is far less understood. In this chapter, the authors discuss how teacher education faculty's understanding and implementation of culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogies were strengthened through an iterative and co-constructed process of tenet and rubric development, scaffolded implementation, peer feedback, and collaborative reflection. Drawing from four years of faculty inquiry group work in ongoing professional learning settings, the authors discuss the importance of a localized, evolving central framework which both informed practice and was grounded in praxis. The authors argue for the importance of systematic approaches, including both self-work and engagement with structural inequities, using shared understandings to affect enduring, multi-layered transformation across a large and diverse set of teacher education programs.

An exploration of ako-rich teaching practices in an English-medium mathematics classroom drawing from the voices of Year 9 and 10 students, and their parents

<p>Ako is a traditional Māori concept underpinned by the notion of reciprocity. Ako-rich teacher practices are considered important for creating culturally responsive classroom learning environments, particularly for Indigenous Māori students. The confident implementation of teacher practices that reflect ako, gleaned from information provided in policy documents and professional development programmes, has proven challenging for many English-medium teachers. To help assist adoption of teaching practices consistent with ako, this study explored ways a Pakeha teacher could demonstrate ako-rich teacher behaviour indicator elements within student–teacher and parent–teacher interactions. A mixed method ethnographic approach underpinned by sociocultural and kaupapa Māori theories was selected for this research carried out in a multiethnic junior secondary school mathematics classroom (Māori, New Zealand European/Pākehā, Asian). The sample comprised of the study teacher from a large, urban, English-medium school, one of the researcher’s Year 9 mathematics class, one of the researcher’s Year 10 mathematics class, and some students’ parents. Two data collection periods were used: the second of four 10-week school terms, over two consecutive years. Each data collection period included classroom observations, student surveys, student and parent interviews, teacher reflection, and cultural advice. Within a holistic context of ako in mathematics, characteristics of ako-rich interactions were found to fit within three aspects of teacher practice where the teacher positioned themselves as a learner who gained knowledge by researching on their own, interacting with students, and interacting with students’ parents. The notion of reciprocity within ako was realised in this model when participants were recognised as individuals who have valuable knowledge to share, contributing to the collective knowledge generated in the classroom. There is evidence that, for many students, mathematics teachers can enhance students’ engagement and enjoyment of mathematics by explicitly using ako-rich practices in the classroom. Evidence also indicates that positive parent–teacher partnerships were encouraged by ako-rich teacher practices, inside and outside of the classroom. This research has shown that by explicitly practicing ako-rich behaviours in early secondary mathematics classrooms, shared understandings developed between students and teachers facilitated positive student experiences, which were accompanied by increased student engagement and achievement. Moreover, this research has also shown that shared understandings that developed between the students’ parents and the teacher through ako-rich teacher behaviours encouraged positive and reciprocal partnerships that facilitated parents’ involvement in their children’s mathematics learning. The ako in mathematics model can be used by teachers, school leaders, and teacher educators to increase their confidence in understanding how to more authentically bring life to the rich Māori concept of ako in mathematics classrooms.</p>

An exploration of ako-rich teaching practices in an English-medium mathematics classroom drawing from the voices of Year 9 and 10 students, and their parents

<p>Ako is a traditional Māori concept underpinned by the notion of reciprocity. Ako-rich teacher practices are considered important for creating culturally responsive classroom learning environments, particularly for Indigenous Māori students. The confident implementation of teacher practices that reflect ako, gleaned from information provided in policy documents and professional development programmes, has proven challenging for many English-medium teachers. To help assist adoption of teaching practices consistent with ako, this study explored ways a Pakeha teacher could demonstrate ako-rich teacher behaviour indicator elements within student–teacher and parent–teacher interactions. A mixed method ethnographic approach underpinned by sociocultural and kaupapa Māori theories was selected for this research carried out in a multiethnic junior secondary school mathematics classroom (Māori, New Zealand European/Pākehā, Asian). The sample comprised of the study teacher from a large, urban, English-medium school, one of the researcher’s Year 9 mathematics class, one of the researcher’s Year 10 mathematics class, and some students’ parents. Two data collection periods were used: the second of four 10-week school terms, over two consecutive years. Each data collection period included classroom observations, student surveys, student and parent interviews, teacher reflection, and cultural advice. Within a holistic context of ako in mathematics, characteristics of ako-rich interactions were found to fit within three aspects of teacher practice where the teacher positioned themselves as a learner who gained knowledge by researching on their own, interacting with students, and interacting with students’ parents. The notion of reciprocity within ako was realised in this model when participants were recognised as individuals who have valuable knowledge to share, contributing to the collective knowledge generated in the classroom. There is evidence that, for many students, mathematics teachers can enhance students’ engagement and enjoyment of mathematics by explicitly using ako-rich practices in the classroom. Evidence also indicates that positive parent–teacher partnerships were encouraged by ako-rich teacher practices, inside and outside of the classroom. This research has shown that by explicitly practicing ako-rich behaviours in early secondary mathematics classrooms, shared understandings developed between students and teachers facilitated positive student experiences, which were accompanied by increased student engagement and achievement. Moreover, this research has also shown that shared understandings that developed between the students’ parents and the teacher through ako-rich teacher behaviours encouraged positive and reciprocal partnerships that facilitated parents’ involvement in their children’s mathematics learning. The ako in mathematics model can be used by teachers, school leaders, and teacher educators to increase their confidence in understanding how to more authentically bring life to the rich Māori concept of ako in mathematics classrooms.</p>

To what extent does early childhood education policy in Australia recognise and propose action on the social determinants of health and health equity?

Early childhood education (ECE) and development is internationally recognised as important to child health and wellbeing and to enabling children to become healthy productive adults. This paper analyses Australian ECE policy current in 2019. It uses the institutional framework of ideas, actors and institutions to determine the extent to which ECE policy recognises and acts on social determinants of health and health equity. We found that the policies supported integrated approaches, intersectoral collaboration and partnerships with parents and families. Evidence was important in formulating the ideas underpinning ECE policy. ECE was widely recognised as a social determinant of health, and the impacts of other social determinants of health and health equity were acknowledged. The ECE policies tended to be future-focused and not respond to social determinants that influence children and their families in the present time. The policies lacked strategies to address social determinants, or to engage with other sectors for this purpose. While some policies focused on breaking the cycle of disadvantage, they did not explore potential policy responses to pathways from intergenerational disadvantage to reduce poverty. Despite this, Australian ECE policy has achieved significant coherence, with shared understandings of the purpose and benefits of ECE.

Clinician and carer moral concerns when caring for children who tube-feed

Child healthcare can be vexed by moral concerns – this extends to the care of children who tube-feed. Children who tube-feed often receive care from family members and clinicians of various disciplines. Each brings expertise, experiences, values, and views to a situation, prioritising the child’s needs while attending to those they deem important in potentially disparate ways. Their understanding of a situation is shaped by beliefs, feelings, and perceptions. How then are key decisions made about the care of a child who tube-feeds? This article explores clinicians’ and carers’ moral concerns when caring for children who tube-feed. Interviews with clinicians ( n = 9) and carers ( n = 9) clarified three findings: first, there are often disparate beliefs about the need for tube-feeding; second, tube-feeding can evoke strong emotions; and third, it can be difficult to normalise tube-feeding. This article demonstrates how challenges can emerge when relationships between clinicians and carers diverge. Furthermore, it establishes how an ethic of care can bring different interests together to bolster the relationships required to optimise feeding care and promote health outcomes among children who tube-feed and their carers. This requires improved dialogue between and among clinicians and carers to create shared understandings of what is, what should be, and how to benefit children who tube-feed.

Imagine there’s no heaven: Imaginaries of local government austerity

This article critically analyses the management of public sector austerity. Focusing on the case of UK local government chief executives, we develop the concept of austerity imaginaries. We provide four examples of these based on extensive interviewing. Offered as a theoretical concept, austerity imaginaries involve shared understandings of the role and potential for local government during times of acute fiscal pressure. We contribute empirical knowledge about the local dynamics of austerity and contribute to critical scholarship in this field. We argue that a simple thesis of ruination and destruction can obscure the creative work involved at the front line and we advocate the value of engaging both critically and empathetically with the everyday meanings in action of public managers working in circumstances far from their choosing. At the same time, the imaginaries reveal the insidious ways in which neoliberal assumptions about the public sector appear to delimit the scope for action.

Understanding Intergroup Relations in Childhood and Adolescence

There are various theoretical approaches for understanding intergroup biases among children and adolescents. This article focuses on the social identity approach and argues that existing research will benefit by more fully considering the implications of this approach for examining intergroup relations among youngsters. These implications include (a) the importance of self-categorization, (b) the role of self-stereotyping and group identification, (c) the relevance of shared understandings and developing ingroup consensus, and (d) the importance of coordinated action for positive and negative intergroup relations. These implications of the social identity approach suggest several avenues for investigating children’s and adolescents’ intergroup relations that have not been fully appreciated in the existing literature. However, there are also limitations to the social identity approach for the developmental understanding and some of these are discussed.

From ‘sick nation’ to ‘superpower’: Anti-corruption knowledge and discourse and the construction of Indonesian national identity (1997–2019)

Anti-corruption knowledge and discourse emerged in the mid-1990s promoted by powerful international actors and organizations, mostly targeting countries in the ‘Third World’. In this paper, we seek to decolonize this knowledge and show how it influences the construction of national identity of former colonies. Our case is a country with a reputation as one of the most corrupt in the world: Indonesia. Long celebrated in the West for its economic growth and political stability, in 1997 the Asian Financial Crisis forced Indonesia to accept financial aid from the International Monetary Fund accompanied by harsh conditions that resulted in domestic turmoil. Using discourse-historical method, we trace how national identity was constructed in The Jakarta Post from 1997 through two decades of Western-influenced corruption-related reform. Our findings show how acceptance of Western anti-corruption discourse and knowledge early on contributed to highly negative internal constructions of Indonesian national identity, but over time, this gave way both to more positive self-presentations as well as greater critique and contestation of this knowledge. Moreover, alternative rationales for anti-corruption were asserted that drew from shared understandings of Islam and Indonesia’s independence. Overall, we show how this type of internationally dominant management and organizational knowledge (MOK) colonized how Indonesia was imagined but that contestation was possible, enabled by improvements in economic circumstances. We conclude by arguing that to understand the colonizing effects of MOK, it is necessary to look at the impact of management knowledge beyond the boundaries of organizations, including at the level of national identities.

Prepare or resist?: Cold War Civil Defence and Imaginaries of Nuclear War in Britain and Denmark in the 1980s

The article explores how the global Cold War conflict was made sense of and situated in local political, cultural and physical landscapes and communities during the 1980s in Britain and Denmark. Using civil defence as a prism, the article employs a comparative approach to explore variations within and between countries of how local authorities prepared or resisted the prospect of nuclear war. The article finds that two main imaginaries emerged that shaped shared understandings of society before, during and after the imagined future war: one emphasized the possibility of nuclear survival and even welfare, the other urged resistance and renounced the futility of civil defence preparations. The article argues that local actors used these imaginaries to empower themselves, to define how nuclear space was imagined and lived and to construct desirable (and undesirable) visions of the future. The imaginaries were multiscalar and interacted with developments at global and national levels, and the article sheds light on this three-way dynamic of understanding and articulating the nuclear age.

Reframing Wildfire Simulations for Understanding Complex Human–Landscape Interactions in Cross-Cultural Contexts: A Case Study from Northern Australia

An increase in the frequency of severe fire events, as well as a growing interest in wildfire mitigation strategies, has created a demand for skilled managers of landscape fire and a better community understanding of fire behaviour. While on-ground experience is essential, there is potential to substantially enhance training and community engagement with explanatory simulations. Through this work, we explore landscape fire behaviour as a complex system where understanding key behaviour characteristics is often more important and achievable than prediction. It is argued that this approach has particular value in Northern Australia, where fires burn across vast and sparsely inhabited landscapes that are largely under Indigenous ownership. Land and fire management in such complex cross-cultural contexts requires combining traditional and local knowledge with science and technology to achieve the best outcomes. We describe the workings of the model, a stochastic cellular automata fire behaviour simulation, developed through a participatory modelling approach for Northern Australia; the outputs generated; and a range of operational applications. We found that simulation assisted training and engagement through the development of an understanding of fire dynamics through visualisation, underpinned by landscape data sets, and engaging a culturally diverse set of land managers in discussions of fire management. We conclude that there is scope for a broader use of explanatory fire simulations to support development of shared understandings of fire management objectives.