(Download) "Enhancing Opportunities for Australian Aboriginal Literacy Learners in Early Childhood Settings." by Childhood Education ~ Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Enhancing Opportunities for Australian Aboriginal Literacy Learners in Early Childhood Settings.
- Author : Childhood Education
- Release Date : January 15, 2005
- Genre: Education,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 236 KB
Description
In the context of contemporary Australian society, the education system is still failing to increase educational outcomes among the majority of Australian Aboriginal (1) learners. This is evidenced in research (see Batten, Frigo, Hughes, & McNamara, 1998; Department of Employment, Education, and Training, 1995, 1997; Ministerial Council on Education Employment Training and Youth Affairs, 2000) and in annual results from statewide testing programs. This educational dilemma has persisted despite the regular introduction of systemic initiatives and funding aimed at addressing Australian Aboriginal learners' low educational outcomes. Continued tension exists between, on the one hand, policy and suggested strategies addressing the broad context, and, on the other hand, the development of context-specific classroom practices that will enhance literacy outcomes for Australian Aboriginal learners. While various approaches can be considered, the uniqueness of the Australian experience--both in historical and contemporary contexts--requires consideration of Australian histories, cultures, and geography. In light of this, a cultural-historical approach that "assumes that individual development and disposition must be understood in (not separate from) cultural and historical context[s]" (Gutierrez & Rogoff, 2003, p. 22) provides a useful framework for discussion. The purpose of this article is to focus on how young Australian Aboriginal learners experience early childhood literacy practices. The cultural-historical perspective used by the authors considers the inequities often embedded within these practices and identifies ways in which issues of social justice and historical and cultural understanding can be emphasized to provide support for these learners that will enhance their learning opportunities. It draws on the literature of critical literacy, initially explored by Freire (1987, 1996), who believed, "Language and reality [to be] dynamically interconnected," and that "The understanding attained by critical reading of a text implies perceiving the relationship between text and context" (Freire & Macedo, 1987, p. 29). Freire recognized that "reading the world precedes reading the word and reading the word implies continually reading the world" (Freire & Macedo, 1987, p. 35).