Maximizing Indigenous Student Learning in the Mainstream with Language and Culture

In this paper, we explore the importance of being conscious of the needs of indigenous students within the education system in order to increase their learning process and decrease their dropout rates. Specifically, we discuss how Mayan language, culture, and ideologies affect the educational outcome of Mayan students in mainstream classes in Guatemalan schools. From this discussion, we highlight the impact that these factors have on both teacher training and the education of the indigenous student population. A simple “teaching to learn—learning to teach” model is explained which discusses the importance of multilingual and multicultural aspects of teacher training and real-life implications in the indigenous student learning process

Indigenous Students and Mathematics: Teachers' Perceptions of the role of Teacher Aides

This study examined teachers' perceptions of the role of teacher aides in mathematics classrooms in rural and remote Indigenous communities. Twelve teachers from three schools in rural and remote Queensland participated in the study. The results from the first year of the project indicated that there were differences in how these teachers worked with their teacher aides, particularly the specific roles assigned to them in the mathematics classroom, with non-Indigenous teacher aides being given greater responsibilities for student learning and Indigenous teacher aides for behavioural management. As a result of teacher aide in-service on mathematics learning, teachers' perception of the Indigenous teacher aides changed, resulting in each being given greater responsibility for student learning

Creating Your Own Symbols: Beginning Algebraic Thinking With Indigenous Students

Because mathematics education devalues Indigenous culture, Indigenous students continue to be the most mathematically disadvantaged group in Australia. Conventional wisdom with regard to Indigenous mathematics education is to utilise practical and visual teaching methods, yet the power of mathematics and the opportunities it brings for advancement lie in symbolic understanding. This paper reports on a Maths as Story Telling (MAST) teaching approach to assist Indigenous students understand algebra through creating and manipulating their own symbols for equations. It discusses effective Indigenous mathematics teaching, describes the MAST approach, analyses it in terms of Ernest’s (2005) semiotic processes, discusses its applications, and draws implications for Indigenous mathematics learning

Teaching Indigenous children : listening to and learning from indigenous teachers

This article is based on the findings of a qualitative case study that examined the professional experiences and career pathways of fifty current and former Australian Indigenous teachers. Here, we draw on data obtained from semi-structured interviews with the teachers to highlight their knowledge in three key areas: ‘Indigenous ways of knowing’, ‘Indigenous learners’ lives beyond the classroom’ and ‘Building relationships with Indigenous students and communities’. We suggest that Indigenous teachers can potentially play important roles as teacher educators and as mentors to non-Indigenous teachers and preservice teachers. We argue that it is important for schooling systems and teacher education to create and formalise opportunities for non-Indigenous teachers and preservice teachers to listen to, and learn from their Indigenous colleagues

Engaging Indigenous parents in their children’s education

This resource sheet identifies some of the key practices that have underpinned programs or practices for schools and early learning environments that have successfully engaged Indigenous parents with their children’s education. Introduction There is a considerable body of research documenting the poor student and school performance for Indigenous students. Engaging families, especially parents, in the education of their young children at home and at school is increasingly viewed as an important way to support better learning outcomes for children. This resource sheet reviews the available literature on ‘what works’ in supporting the involvement of Indigenous parents in their children’s education. In their review, Emerson et al. reported that ‘positive parental engagement in learning improves academic achievement, wellbeing and productivity’

Supply-side school improvement and the learning achievement of the poorest children in indigenous and rural schools - the case of PARE

In the past, research findings indicated that most of the differences in student learning were due to socioeconomic factors, and that, therefore, the effect of direct educational interventions to reduce learning inequality was very limited. However, the authors show that learning achievement could increase through appropriately designed, and reasonably well-implemented interventions. An examination of Mexico's PARE program reveals that an increase in learning achievement could be possible for rural, and indigenous schools. The authors'overall conclusion is that supply-side interventions can have substantial effects on the learning achievement of children in indigenous, and rural schools in poor areas. But greater attention needs to be paid to the poorest of the disadvantaged children. This positive conclusion, however, should be tempered by results of the urban sample, confirming earlier findings of the negative relationship between PARE, and student learning growth.Public Health Promotion,Teaching and Learning,Educational Sciences,Primary Education,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Teachingand Learning,Primary Education,Gender and Education,Educational Sciences,Health Monitoring&Evaluation

Indigenous Rarámuris as University Students: Challenges for Information Literacy

Our article describes the experience developing programs for Mexican indigenous students to support their admission and retention as university students. We present an analysis of national perspectives, focusing specifically on the efforts made by The Autonomous University of Chihuahua (UACH), Mexico, with indigenous Rarámuris local project through the Support Program for Indigenous Students (PAEI). In addition to providing benefits related to economics, sport activities, and physical, nutritional and psychological health, PAEI employees concrete actions linked to information literacy, such as academic support, extracurricular advising, tutoring, use of information technology, study techniques, and reading, writing, and learning models. Statistics presented not only document the progress achieved through PAEI, they identify the challenges to be faced

Maria Yosephin Widarti Lestari

In Indonesia, based on the 2003 Curriculum for Junior school, there are three languages, e.g. English, Bahasa Indonesia and indigenous languages in the group of language. It means that all three languages are taught though in fact the indigenous language is not the subject examined nationally. The government policy to place indigenous languages in education system is meant to be one of the ways to avoid it from extinction. Unfortunately, many problems arose in the teaching and learning process because of the status of the language. The research was carried out in 2 junior schools in Bandung, West Jawa, Indonesia. The schools chosen are based on the location and status in which one is a private school in town (77 students) and the other school is public/state one located in outside the city (74 students). Findings suggested that the students from public school have higher attitudes toward the use of Sundanese language and the Sundanese language learning than students from private school. It is influenced by social and educational factors internally and externally

Learning as spirituality and nurture - Pacific indigenous peoples' perspectives of lifelong learning

This paper discusses characteristics of an adult education practice for peoples in the Pacific. There is no one Pacific way as the Pacific population is diverse consisting of many cultures, languages, social structures and differing colonial experiences. For many Pacific peoples learning is holistic, is driven by cultural motivation, which is often for the benefit of their extended families(the collective)rather than personal gains or self-actualisation. Learning is constantly intervened by spiritual matters, the same being true for most aspects of Pacific peoples’ day-to-day lives. Therefore spirituality is integral to learning at all levels formal and informal

ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING THROUGH THE CULTURE OF LEARNER’S INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE

The concern on learners’ competence to communicate in English culturally has been attaining multitude attention within attention to make learner be able to communicate effectively in English as part of the international society while learners have limited conceptualization upon cultural issues. On the other hand, the indigenous language(s) is also threatened by the improvement of interests and practices of learning English. Learners, along with the language policy in education, tend to move aside or to give less attention onto the indigenous languages and give more to English. Departed from the purpose of improving learners’ cultural understanding in English and at the same time to encourage the existence of indigenous language, this paper presents language cultural background of English compared with Javanese and Sasak Languages by employing contrastive analysis and ethnography study