Decolonising dominant knowledge constructions in the education of immigrant youth in Canada

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the dominant knowledge construction in Canadian public schools. Using the grounded theory approach, thirty-six Chinese Canadian youths and young adults were interviewed in Alberta. Drawing on critical, anticolonial and Bourdieusian perspectives, I argue that some teachers’ racialised habitus and biased knowledge constructions devalued the indigenous knowledges that immigrant youth bring to the classroom. Moreover, they reproduced anti-immigrant discourses and reinforced racial hierarchies in Canadian society. As a consequence, they negatively affect the identity construction of immigrant descendants and undermine their attempts to negotiate a sense of belonging in Canada. I argue that decolonising dominant knowledge constructions requires challenging teachers’ racialised habitus in teaching and their interactions with immigrant students.     

The Pebble in the Pond: Children's constructions of power,politics and democratic citizenship

A civics and citizenship education curriculum is currently being developed for all levels of Australian schools in an attempt to prepare young people for effective participation in the complex, evolving society of Australia in the 21st century. Clearly children should be encouraged to explore issues to do with power and politics and it is important to include factual information about the structures and processes of government in any curriculum materials. However, this paper argues that children's lived experience as members of families, schools and the wider society provide understandings that must be taken into account if we wish them to really appreciate the principles and purposes that underpin democratic practices. This qualitative study investigates the perceptions of 27 children, between 5 and 12 years of age, in relation to their constructions of power and politics. It uses a developmental framework to understand the children's talk and to chart the increasing complexity of their concepts.     

Post-16 Education,Semi-dependent Youth and the Privatisation of Inter-age Transfers: Re-theorising youth transition

This paper critically reviews historical and contemporary debates around the study of youth transitions and social change in the sociology of education and elsewhere. It argues that current accounts of recent social change of the 'post' variety tend to both over state and simplify the character of these changes. The paper suggests that it is more appropriate to think of change in terms of the reconfiguration of relationships between 'inflexibility' and 'flexibility', independence and dependency, and the public and the private. Substantively, these things can be studied through the 'intergenerational transfer' of 'assets' of various kinds within kin networks. On this basis, the paper argues for a shift away from a narrower focus upon parents that has been the basis for some recent useful and relevant work on educational decision-making in sociology of education in the UK. These issues about decision-making are related to the developing debate around Rational Action Theory and culturalist vs structural approaches. It is suggested that recent work in the areas of stratification and class formation theory would prove of value to these, and other, concerns in the sociology of education.     

Global norms and local politics: uses and abuses of education gender quotas in Tajikistan

In Central Asia, the post‐Soviet transformation period has been accompanied by significant economic and social costs, including the widening of the gender gaps in politics, economy and the social sphere. Tajikistan, which receives the largest amount of international aid and has the worst record of gender inequity in Central Asia, has quickly responded to the worsening situation by introducing quotas favoring female representation in politics, labor market and education. This article examines the context within which international gender equity norms were introduced in the 1990s as well as the factors that account for the variation in implementation of these policies. By using the case study of Tajikistan, this article suggests that the introduction of policies favoring female participation in political, economic and social life has largely depended on the transfer of international discourses on gender equality, while their implementation has been halted by historical legacies, economic realities and local political factors.     

Proof constructions and evaluations

In this article, we focus on a group of 39 prospective elementary (grades K-6) teachers who had rich experiences with proof, and we examine their ability to construct proofs and evaluate their own constructions. We claim that the combined “construction–evaluation” activity helps illuminate certain aspects of prospective teachers’ and presumably other individuals’ understanding of proof that tend to defy scrutiny when individuals are asked to evaluate given arguments. For example, some prospective teachers in our study provided empirical arguments to mathematical statements, while being aware that their constructions were invalid. Thus, although these constructions considered alone could have been taken as evidence of an empirical conception of proof, the additional consideration of prospective teachers’ evaluations of their own constructions overruled this interpretation and suggested a good understanding of the distinction between proofs and empirical arguments. We offer a possible account of our findings, and we discuss implications for research and instruction.     

Mental constructions and constructions of web sites: learner and teacher points of view

This research focuses on knowledge and ways in which knowledge may be constructed in the learner's mind. Specifically, it addresses the Web as a cognitive supporter for learning, organising and constructing a new domain of knowledge. In particular, the research analyses student reflection on constructing web sites. The analysis is based on an ongoing reflection of 40 prospective and in‐service teachers who took a course on educational computational environments. The students were asked to choose a complex topic and to document the process of constructing a web site that would present their chosen topic. They were to reflect upon the process with regard to their decision making, difficulties encountered, ways of thinking, considerations and insights. Student reflection is analysed from two perspectives: the first perspective examines how the task of constructing a web site contributes to student learning of complex topics, the second perspective views the students as teachers who explore how constructing a web site contributes to their understanding of learning processes.     

Problematizing the cisgendering of school washroom space: interrogating the politics of recognition of transgender and gender non-conforming youth

ABSTRACT

This paper examines how transgender and gender non-conforming youth are represented and shaped as specific subjects vis-à-vis the cisgendered problematics of the washroom space in schools. In the first part of the paper, I undertake a critical analysis of one policy-informing text on the implementation of the gender neutral washroom in schools to consider how the transgender and gender non-conforming student is constituted through specific discourses of accommodation, submission and protection that delimit their recognisability and force a potential risk of misrecognition. I also draw upon my own empirical research [Ingrey, Jennifer C. 2014. “The Public School Washroom as Heterotopia: Gendered Spatiality and Subjectification.” PhD diss., University of Western Ontario] to prioritize transgender and genderqueer voices and provide an analysis of the practice of recognition. The analysis is grounded in [Foucault, Michel. 1980. Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings, 1972–1977. Translated and edited by Colin Gordon. New York, NY: Pantheon Books; Foucault, Michel. 2000. “Afterword: The Subject and Power.” In Michel Foucault: Power, edited by James D. Faubion and Paul Rabinow, 326–348. New York, NY: The New Press] the analytics of subjectivation and pastoral power, [Butler, Judith. 2004. Undoing Gender. New York, NY: Routledge] the politics of recognition of the self, [Juang’s, Richard M. 2006. “Transgendering the Politics of Recognition.” In The Transgender Studies Reader, edited by Susan Stryker, and Stephen Whittle, 706–719. New York, NY: Routledge] transgendering of the politics of recognition, alongside [Bacchi’s, Carol. 2009. Analysing Policy: What’s the Problem Represented to Be? Pearson: Frenchs Forest, NSW] critical approach to policy analysis.     

少年强则中国强——谈功夫养生对我国青少年学生的长远影响

功夫两个字对大家来讲已是家喻户晓,耳闻目睹的。在世界各国只要提到功夫就会联想到中国。少林是我国著名的武术流派之一,其历史悠久,影响深广,是中国传统武术的一个重要组成部分。少林功夫在漫长的岁月中由中华民族无数武林高手发展流传下来,是中华民族智慧的结晶。在古代,武术用于战争。随着现代科学技术的发展,武术已经失去战争的意义,变成人们喜闻乐见的群众性养生强身健体项目,习武的人越来越多。现在的习武意义,已不仅停留在对抗性上,而是更注重以增强体魄,充沛精力,练志练胆,全面发展身心上了。     

Mental health problems of Dutch youth with hearing loss as shown on the Youth Self Report

The prevalence OF mental health problems among youth with hearing loss was assessed with an adjusted version of the Dutch rendition of the Youth Self Report, or YSR (Achenbach, 1991). The sample totaled 202 youth, aged 11-18 years, with auditory disabilities. The prevalence rates of externalizing problems, internalizing problems, and moderate to severe overall mental health problems were found to be 2-3 times higher than in a normative sample. Deaf participants scored significantly higher than hard of hearing participants in these areas. Main-streamed participants scored significantly lower than peers in schools for the deaf or for the hard of hearing. Participants with low IQ scores showed significantly more internalizing and social problems than those with moderate to high scores. The adjusted YSR is recommended for screening in schools and in mental health services for youth with hearing loss for prevention and early intervention.     

Justification enlightenment and combining constructions of knowledge

This case study deals with a solitary learner’s process of mathematical justification during her investigation of bifurcation points in dynamic systems. Her motivation to justify the bifurcation points drove the learning process. Methodologically, our analysis used the nested epistemic actions model for abstraction in context. In previous work, we have shown that the learner’s attempts at justification gave rise to several processes of knowledge construction, which develop in parallel and interact. In this paper, we analyze the interaction pattern of combining constructions and show that combining constructions indicate an enlightenment of the learner. This adds an analytic dimension to the nested epistemic actions model of abstraction in context.     

政党政治的宪政之维

政党政治与宪政的相伴相生是近现代民主政治的最突出特点,二者的关系是极其密切的.这种密切的关系不仅体现在宪政的发展为政党政治提供了宽松的政治环境,而且宪政的发展为政党政治提供了坚实的基础;不仅体现在宪政的精神就是政党政治活动的宗旨,而且还体现在宪政的原则为执政党提供了行为准则.正是从这个意义上讲,宪政就是政党政治之维.     

基础教育课程改革与教师队伍建设

基础教育新课程具有时代性、基础性、开放性、综合性等特点。新课程对教师在教育观念、知识结构、教学能力等方面提出了新的要求，必须通过加强职业道德教育、继续教育培训及教师行动研究等措施，建设一支适应课程改革需要的教师队伍。     

战乱时代的旋律与青春

<正><国宝档案>聂耳小提琴属性:乐器时期:近代藏馆:云南省博物馆我是一把小提琴。在我的同类里,我的做工并不算精良,质量也算不上上乘。和朱颜辞镜花辞树一样,时光在我身上留下的是剥落的油漆、磨损的边缘和一道道浅浅的细纹。但琴弦经历雕琢,却愈发显得光洁如新,似乎在期待着被谁托在肩头,再次流淌出岁月喑哑。