Zane Ma Rhea

Partnership for improving outcomes in Indigenous education: relationship or business?

This paper examines the Australian government’s Indigenous policy by interrogating the concept of partnership between governments and Indigenous communities through three examples. Increasingly, the Australian federal government is focusing attention on the poor literacy and numeracy outcomes for Indigenous children in remote and very remote locations. The three examples examined in this paper occurred between 2002 and 2007 during the development of the government’s policies about partnership accountability. A case study methodological approach evolved into a policy ethnography which was adopted to investigate the central question examined in this paper about the strengths and limitations of partnering as a policy concept. The strongest theme to arise from analysis was that parents and caregivers, and indeed their broader families and communities, had a distinctly different expectation of partnership to that of the government policy. Drawing on social exchange theories, the differences identified were concerned with the asymmetry and reciprocity. Indigenous communities are asserting the right to negotiated agreements that are accountable ‘both ways’ and governments seem to be more focussed on a ‘one way’ process of making Indigenous people accountable for education failure.This paper examines the Australian government’s Indigenous policy by interrogating the concept of partnership between governments and Indigenous communities through three examples. Increasingly, the Australian federal government is focusing attention on the poor literacy and numeracy outcomes for Indigenous children in remote and very remote locations. The three examples examined in this paper occurred between 2002 and 2007 during the development of the government’s policies about partnership accountability. A case study methodological approach evolved into a policy ethnography which was adopted to investigate the central question examined in this paper about the strengths and limitations of partnering as a policy concept. The strongest theme to arise from analysis was that parents and caregivers, and indeed their broader families and communities, had a distinctly different expectation of partnership to that of the government policy. Drawing on social exchange theories, the differences identified were con...

Leading and Managing Indigenous Education in the Postcolonial World

In Leading and Managing Indigenous Education in the Postcolonial World, Zane Ma Rhea (2015) critically discusses educational leadership, educational management, and Indigenous education in the postcolonial world. The purpose of this book is to provide a critical, multiperspectival, and system level analysis of education services to Indigenous people by drawing attention to these academic fields in postcolonial Australia. In the multiperspectival approach, Ma Rhea provides in detail how and where these changes need to take place to engage Indigenous people in education. In system level analysis, Ma Rhea argues that mainstream education systems in Australia require changes need to be made at all levels to support Indigenous education. She critically analyses international Indigenous rights, social exchange, and complex adaptive system theories and highlights the Australian context. The author describes partnerships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people as social exchanges. With complex adaptive theory, the scholar explains how present education systems in Australia fail to engage Indigenous people because of colonial practice and power that exist in postcolonial Australia. She brings these theories into her discussion to argue that administrators, leaders, and managers of Indigenous education initiatives need to enhance their understanding of an Indigenist perspective. Ma Rhea emphasizes the rights-based approach in Indigenous education as a means of recognizing and honouring Indigenous people’s economic, linguistic, and cultural rights in the postcolonial education system. There are five parts with 11 chapters in this book. However, my review does not follow a linear examination of each chapter. Rather, I provide a brief summary, explore key concepts, and critically examine the implications. I also state why this book is important for anyone interested in Indigenous education, and identify the shortfalls of the text.

Buddhist Wisdom and Modernization: Finding the Balance in Globalized Thailand

This paper examines the relationship between wisdom and knowledge under globalization and the potential in Thailand to balance old knowledge traditions, Buddhist and rural, with new Thai and imported knowledge. It investigates the Theravadan Buddhist approach to the cultivation of wisdom and, in parallel, the engagement of the Kingdom of Thailand in its bringing of modern knowledge and capitalist economic practices into Thailand, and its efforts to find balance between the old and the new. Consideration of the findings has facilitated the development of a theoretical understanding of how old and new knowledge regimes co-exist in Thailand. The findings suggest that there has been a shift in understanding of panjaathaangloog (worldly wisdom) and the various types of knowledge that supports it, from being strongly shaped by the religious framework of Buddhism to becoming a secular framework supported by a secular Thai education system and an unmediated influx of imported knowledge. The challenge for Thai people is how to negotiate such a shift. The pressing concern is that these newer understandings are, as yet, ‘unsettled’ as reliable signposts to enlightenment and to becoming a wise person, and the knowledge of the old pathway is in danger of being forgotten. Este artículo examina la relación entre la sabiduría y el conocimiento bajo la globalización y el potencial en Tailandia para equilibrar las tradiciones del conocimiento antiguo, budista y rural, con el nuevo e importado conocimiento tailandés. Investiga el enfoque budista Theravadan al cultivo de la sabiduría y paralelamente, el compromiso del reino de Tailandia para traer el conocimiento moderno y las prácticas económicas capitalistas a Tailandia, y sus esfuerzos para encontrar el equilibrio entre lo antiguo y lo nuevo. La consideración de los hallazgos ha facilitado el desarrollo de un entendimiento teórico, de cómo los regímenes del conocimiento antiguo y nuevo coexisten en Tailandia. Los hallazgos de que allí se ha dado un cambio en el entendimiento del panjaathaangloog (sabiduría mundana) y de varios tipos de conocimiento que lo soportan, de haber sido fuertemente configurados por el marco religioso del budismo, para llegar a un marco secular soportado por un sistema de educación secular de Tailandia y una entrada de conocimiento importado. El reto para la gente tailandesa es cómo negociar semejante cambio. La mayor preocupación es que estos nuevos entendimientos, por ahora, están ‘indeterminados’ como punto de referencia confiable para el esclarecimiento y para llegar a ser una persona sabia y el conocimiento de la senda antigua está en peligro de pasar al olvido. 本文检讨全球化下的智慧和知识之间的关系，即在泰国的旧的知识传统，即佛教的和乡村的，平衡新的泰国的和进口的知识的潜在努力。我们调查智慧开发的Theravadan 佛教方式，并平行地研究泰国引进现代知识和资本主义的经济实践 ，以及其寻求旧的和新的之间的平衡的努力。本文的发现有助于在理论上理解泰国新旧知识规制的共生，已经有一种理解panjaathaangloog （智慧），加强各种支持其的知识类型的转向，原来这些知识主要是由宗教性的佛教框架塑造的，现在则变成了由世俗的泰国教育体系以及不可阻挡的外来知识来支撑。对泰国人民的挑战是如何中和这种转变。迫切的关切是，如果一个人要变成智者的话，这些相对来说新的理解“不容分说”（unsettled）被认为对启蒙来说是可靠的知识，而那些旧的获取知识的方式则陷入了被遗忘的危险之中。 이 글은 불교와 농촌의 오래된 지식을 새로운 타이 지식과 수입된 지식과 균형을 맞추기 위하여 세계화 하에서의 지혜와 지식과 타이에서의 잠재된 지혜와 지식 간의 관계를 검토한다. 이 글은 지혜를 교육시키는 테라바단 불교식 접근과 그와 병행하여 현대 지식과 자본주의적 경제적 활동을 타이로 들여오기 위한 타이 왕국의 관여 그리고 신구를 조화시키기 위한 노력을 밝힌다. 이 글에서 발견된 것은 타이에서 오래된 지식과 새로운 지식 체계가 어떻게 공존하는지에 대한 이론적 이해의 발전을 촉진시킨다. 발견은 불교의 종교 틀에서 강하게 영향을 받은 지혜에서 세속적인 타이 교육 그리고 매개되지 않고 바로 들어온 수입된 지식에 의해서 지지된 세속적 틀로 바뀐 판야탄글루그(세속적 지식)의 이해에서 그리고 그것을 지지하는 다양한 지식체계에서 변화가 있었다는 것을 제시한다. 타이 사람들이 직면한 도전은 이러한 변화를 어떻게 조정하는가 하는 것이다. 현안은 이러한 새로운 이해가 계몽을 하고 현명한 사람이 되는데 아직 신뢰할만한 이정표로 자리를 잡지 못했고 오래된 방식의 지식은 잊혀질 위험에 놓여 있다는 것이다. Статья рассматривает взаимосвязь между мудростью и знаниями в глобализации и потенциалом Таиланда в сбалансировании старых традиций и знаний, буддийского и сельского, нового Тай и импортных знаний. Она исследует буддийский подход к культивированию мудрости - тхераваду и, параллельно, участие Королевства Таиланд в привлечении современных знаний и капиталистической экономической практики в страну, и его усилия в поиске баланса между старым и новым. Рассмотрение результатов способствовало развитию теоретического понимания того, как в Таиланде сосуществуют старые и новые режимы знаний. Полученные данные свидетельствуют о том, что произошел сдвиг в понимании panjaathaangloog (житейская(мирская) мудрость) и различных видах знаний, которые ее поддерживают: от формирования строгих религиозных рамок буддизма к становлению светского государства, поддерживаемого светской системой образования, и непосредственному притоку импортных знаний. Задача тайского народа состоит в том, чтобы понять как вести переговоры о таких изменениях. Актуальной проблемой является то, что эти договоренности новые, пока еще «неурегулированны» как надежные указатели к просветлению и становлению мудрого человека, и знание о старых путях в опасности быть забытым.This paper examines the relationship between wisdom and knowledge under globalization and the potential in Thailand to balance old knowledge traditions, Buddhist and rural, with new Thai and imported knowledge. It investigates the Theravadan Buddhist approach to the cultivation of wisdom and, in parallel, the engagement of the Kingdom of Thailand in its bringing of modern knowledge and capitalist economic practices into Thailand, and its efforts to find balance between the old and the new. Consideration of the findings has facilitated the development of a theoretical understanding of how old and new knowledge regimes co-exist in Thailand. The findings suggest that there has been a shift in understanding of panjaathaangloog (worldly wisdom) and the various types of knowledge that supports it, from being strongly shaped by the religious framework of Buddhism to becoming a secular framework supported by a secular Thai education system and an unmediated influx of imported knowledge. The challenge for Thai peo...

Towards an Indigenist, Gaian Pedagogy of Food: Deimperializing Foodscapes in the Classroom.

ABSTRACT This study takes food as its scape to propose an Indigenist, Gaian pedagogy and asks what food studies might reveal ecopedagogically for approaches to teaching about Indigenous matters in the context of environmental education and its research. Drawing on empirical research about food and Indigenous-settler relations in Australia, and through analysis of data amassed from student assignments on food sources conducted over a six- year period, I find that there is resistance to taking an Indigenist approach to critical, place-based education (PBE) even as Indigenous scholarship argues for its urgent need. Even more muted is the recognition of Gaian understanding of the need to preserve the languages of “Scapes” to help with this work.This study takes food as its scape to propose an Indigenist, Gaian pedagogy and asks what food studies might reveal ecopedagogically for approaches to teaching about Indigenous matters in the conte...

Indigenising international education in business

This paper examines some of the issues associated with and the possibilities of incorporating Indigenous perspectives into courses on international business. Studies in the area of international education in business have a responsibility towards developing in management students an understanding of the international frameworks that protect the rights of Indigenous peoples. In order to develop effective business partnerships with Indigenous people students training in business schools require an understanding of business ethic, cross‐cultural and leadership skills. This paper provides a framework that can strengthen students’ abilities to develop sustainable partnerships in securing an economic future for all communities on this planet.

Alien tutelage: on generalizability and contextualization in leadership development

There has been sustained argument for contextualization of leadership development, none more so than when working with Indigenous and other marginalized peoples. Leadership development programmes are predominantly conducted by ‘outsider’ educationalists and consultants and the question of contextualization, of how much or how little, is a decision that is ultimately made in classrooms around the world under conditions of alien tutelage. Employing an autoethnographic approach, the article examines three examples of leadership development programmes in order to think about generalization and/or contextualization. Overall, this study finds that arguments for and against ‘generalizability’ and ‘contextualization’ might depend more on the skill and experience of the teacher rather than the corpus of knowledge over which so many battles are fought. It suggests that the potential embedded in generalizable programmes can be realized if there is sufficient pedagogic engagement and space created by culturally competent teachers and facilitators for local testing of generalized knowledge claims for their adaptation: personally, organizationally, nationally and globally. It also finds that the people and outcome focus aspects of leadership development seem to be more influenced by culture than other aspects such as personal leadership style preference that would appear to transcend ethic cultural background.There has been sustained argument for contextualization of leadership development, none more so than when working with Indigenous and other marginalized peoples. Leadership development programmes are predominantly conducted by ‘outsider’ educationalists and consultants and the question of contextualization, of how much or how little, is a decision that is ultimately made in classrooms around the world under conditions of alien tutelage. Employing an autoethnographic approach, the article examines three examples of leadership development programmes in order to think about generalization and/or contextualization. Overall, this study finds that arguments for and against ‘generalizability’ and ‘contextualization’ might depend more on the skill and experience of the teacher rather than the corpus of knowledge over which so many battles are fought. It suggests that the potential embedded in generalizable programmes can be realized if there is sufficient pedagogic engagement and space created by culturally compe...

Globalization, Food and Social Identities in the Asia Pacific Region: Edited by James Farrar

This collection of sixteen online papers epitomizes the collision of Arjun Appadurai and Immanuel Wallerstein with Iron Chef. Both eclectic and familiar, the works capture the rich pastiche of food traces that have become the modern, global, foodways of fast capitalism. Centered in Japan, and the outcome of a symposium on “Globalization, Food and Social Identities in the Pacific Region” held at Sophia University on February 2009, the project invites the reader to its smorgasbord of tasty, bite-sized entrées. This is not your full-blown sit-down dinner cum feast, à la the traditional “book,” but rather it allows the reader to move among the papers, downloading, tasting, and digesting according to interest and pleasure. The collection marks the importance of the Asia-Pacific region as a global, historically central, commercial hub, and seeks to establish the co-evolution of food studies and global studies, arguing successfully that food is an excellent subject by which to interrogate the complexities of globalization. Each food examined provides rich local history, is highly context-specific, and engages with its movement through national consumption and distribution networks and into the global trading and culinary systems, collectively creating a unified framework of understanding. The theoretical reach of the collection is broad, crossing cultural sociology, urban studies, and food studies to examine social, national, and increasingly complex interconnected national food identities. Unlike those critics of globalization who warn of the homogenizing impact of American food products (fast food and processed industrialized foods), decrying the seduction of the global palate by CocaCola and McDonald’s, these papers describe the nuanced emergence of globally aware, local food practices that are creative, formative, and to some degree signal a change in the global culinary tipping point towards Asia. The collection is sectioned into three parts. The first focuses on particular foods and examines a range of issues around the concept of “local” food. The second examines food in a global perspective through a number of eclectic examples. The third section is well described by one of the contributors, Rossella Ceccarini, as an examination of the glocalization of foreign culinary products. Food is one of Appadurai’s “things” that has moved with nomads and traders around the globe for centuries. The “origins” of a particular food are often lost, and over centuries their

Alod Pedagogy in Land and Water Education

This concluding chapter theorizes the implication for land and water education if the allodial principle is taken as a foundational pedagogical approach and the ideas to be found in pedagogical content knowing about land and water. It examines how we humans might move forward from our colonially inherited, unsustainable impasse, to consider land and water from four pedagogical standpoints. I examine these as possible conceptual departure points for specialist environmental, Indigenous, and legal academics, teacher educators, and teachers: knowledge-based, place-based, and responsibility-focused approaches to land and water education. The final section will return to alod pedagogy as a critical title-based approach that is intrinsically embedded in relationality and interdependence.

Educating About Enclosures and Common Lands and Waterways

This chapter undertakes a close examination of the progression of human understanding of land and water through the processes of enclosure. Enclosures are now considered a key element in the transition of England from a feudal to a modern agricultural and industrial society. The idea of enclosure relies on the development of a concept of property rights held not in common but by the individual. Enclosures are the key idea around which much colonial legal and administrative logic then developed. For educators, it is critical that we understand the implications of enclosures on contemporary pedagogical approaches to teaching about land and water, particularly in places that were colonized under English law.

Teaching About Where Property Law Meets Customary Law

This chapter moves from how we educate about enclosures in England and more broadly across the European continent to examining how we teach about the more recent colonial period has shaped colonial legal structures that justified enclosure of the lands and waterways of colonized peoples. Despite the allodial principle being ignored and rendered almost meaningless in the latter period of English colonization of lands such as Australia, the conceptual potential of the allodial principle provides an important opportunity for rethinking land and water. This chapter will focus on the interdependent and relational space where English, and then Australian, property law meets Indigenous customary law enabling educators to provide pedagogical leadership into a transitional postcoloniality under the conditions of globalization.