A conduit of cultural learning: holding, telling, remembering

This paper relates the story of an informed cultural design within Indigenous education, business practice, and creative arts theory as a significant language of sovereignty. The paper is descriptive of and considerate to the theory and praxis enfolded within Indigenous cultural practice and cultural sustainability as reflected through When All the Rivers Run exhibition held at a university gallery in Gippsland. This study is an analysis of praxis from the point of view of the author-researcher who is on this occasion artist, educator and curator. Cultural sustainability, economic viability and art as pedagogy intersect: in this sense, as both place-pedagogy and more generally cultural wisdom. The other juncture that is interpreted through an Indigenous perspective in this research lies within the way a large number of Indigenous artists can come together to create a contiguous story where the art narrative itself is a performative experience. Knowledge holders were from diverse places, including Niue, Tasmania, Aotearoa, Flinders Ranges, Yorta Yorta, Wiradjuri, Taungurung, Gunnai-Kurnai. Within this context, cultural exchange resonates with ancient trade routes to create learning spaces of collaboration. This process is transformative learning for those who participate in cross-cultural exchange (non-Indigenous), and important for Indigenous participants by increasing depth of community learning from cultural practitioners who are Elders and knowledge holders. This paper asserts the importance of cultural exchange and sharing of cultural knowledge through several mediums. It discusses inspirational ways that contemporary visual technologies have facilitated the sharing of traditional knowledge within the shared spaces of exhibition and as a conduit for cultural holding and telling of knowledge. Traditional craft making in practice, is more than just about the artefact of material culture, as objects become vehicles of story and environment. Visual narrative regarding connection to natural history and Country in the public domain through exhibition and gatherings, are part of a methodology incorporating traditional value systems that also embrace contemporary ways of being and doing. These uphold ancient wisdom and disseminate knowledge for the future of our cultural practices

Sharing Traditional and Contemporary Literature with Deaf Children

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Europeana communication bug: which intervention strategy for a better cooperation with creative industry?

Although Europeana as well as many GLAMs are very engaged - beside the main mission, i.e. spreading cultural heritage knowledge- in developing new strategies in order to make digital contents reusable for creative industry, these efforts have been successful just only in sporadic cases. A significant know how deficits in communication often compromises expected outcomes and impact. Indeed, what prevails is an idea of communication like an enhancement “instrument” intended on the one hand in purely economic (development) sense, on the other hand as a way for increasing and spreading knowledge. The main reference model is more or less as follows: digital objects are to be captured and/or transformed by digital technologies into sellable goods to put into circulation. Nevertheless, this approach risks neglecting the real nature of communication, and more in detail the one of digital heritage where it is strategic not so much producing objects and goods as taking part into sharing environments creation (media) by engaged communities, small or large they may be. The environments act as meeting and interchange point, and consequently as driving force of enhancing. Only in a complex context of network interaction on line accessible digital heritage contents become a strategic resource for creating environments in which their re/mediation can occur – provided that credible strategies exist, shared by stakeholders and users. This paper particularly describes a case study including proposals for an effective connection among Europeana, GLAMs and Creative Industry in the framework of Food and Drink digital heritage enhancement and promotion. Experimental experiences as the one described in this paper anyway confirm the relevance of up-to-date policies based on an adequate communication concept, on solid partnerships with enterprise and association networks, on collaborative on line environments, on effective availability at least for most of contents by increasing free licensing, and finally on grassroots content implementation involving prosumers audience, even if filtered by GLAMs

How do entrepreneurs learn and engage in an online community-of-practice? A case study approach

This paper investigates the ways in which entrepreneurs use communities of practice (CoPs) to express themselves, using narrative theory and rhetorical analysis, to gain insight into an electronic social network medium, namely, YoungEntrepreneur.com. In particular, the study focuses on CoPs themes, including why entrepreneurs engage in CoPs, what role the moderators and resident entrepreneurs can play in managing online CoPs, on communication rituals of the knowledge sharing through interactivity, and on ‘how to develop an intervention’ to maintain and stimulate entrepreneurs for engaging in an online community. Findings reveal that the topic title plays a major role in attracting people. Successful topics with successful conclusions (in terms of the original query that was answered) will not necessarily get high responses and vice versa. It is observed that the domain expert does not play a big role in keeping the discussion going. Finally, the study also discovered that entrepreneurs like to communicate in a story telling genre. A comprehensive set of engagement measurement tools are introduced to effectively measure the engagement in a virtual CoP, along with a classification to define and categorise discourse of messages in terms of content and context, which allow practitioners to understand the effectiveness of a social networking site

Coyote\u27s Tale on the Old Oregon Trail: Challenging Cultural Memory through Narrative at the Tamástslikt Cultural Institute

This essay examines the oppositional narratives presented in a Native American museum in order to explore the efficacy of narrative as both a strategy for resistance to hegemonic narratives of the settling of the West and a medium for sharing culture. The positioning of the museum visitor as co-participant in the museum’s narratives is also considered, with a particular focus on the relationships among narrator, story, and audience. Finally, the narrative of tribal life presented in the museum is evaluated for its potential as a vehicle for both cultural change and continuity

A review of daily conversations and practices at home: Exploring practices that promote early literacy in Spanish-speaking homes and home-school interactions

Coming from a low-income heritage language family, like 17% of Latino families, entails important academic risk factors related to lower scores on reading tests. Considering that it is estimated that Latino students will represent 50% of the U.S. public schools’ population by 2050, their literacy learning must be supported adequately. The purpose of this literature review is to explore, from an ecocultural perspective, early literacy practices of low-income Spanish-speaking families and analyze the nature of literacy home-school interventions implemented for this group. The literature highlights non-traditional literacy practices that are strengths of the Latino families, such as a robust oral tradition focused on social cues, children’s engagement in written household chores, and the use of the Bible to pass values. Parents have mixed beliefs regarding literacy promotion: they do not feel prepared to support their children; thus, they support teachers as experts. Three types of home-school literacy interventions were found: printed material sharing; printed material exchange; family programs. As the literature posits, interventions should consider and be based on family beliefs, culture, and strengths; otherwise, effectivity and attrition are at risk. Moreover, new research should be conducted to bridge the gap regarding the role of family actors other than the mother, as well as the differences within the Latino community and immigrant generation

Evaluating stories for diverse audiences

The issues are similar in storytelling. These students of different races, sexes, and ages had very different reactions to the story variants they studied, reactions that depended on their cultural experiences as well as their individual viewpoints. So, too, will a storytelling audience bring their own cultural perspectives to the story they hear. The creators of these variants were also responding, consciously or unconsciously, to cultural contexts for The Story of Little Black Sambo; so, too, must storytellers engage with the cultural contexts of the stories they tell.published or submitted for publicatio