In 2023, a small team undertook a series of interviews and yarns with staff, students and families at the remote community of Yiyili in the central Kimberley. The case study formed part of a much larger study which sought to understand why attendance rates in remote Aboriginal schools have fallen over recent years, to unpack a whole raft of…

Discusses music functions and uses of musical instruments in Africa. (RK)

The meaning of independence, or freedom, in the culture of the Luba, an African ethnic group in Zaire, is inextricably linked to fundamental rights, the development of personal qualities, and the choices that the individuals make. The rights of a Luba man are based on legitimate membership in his family, his lineage, and his chiefdom. A free man…

Describes a study of how Chinese-American family and community behaviors, routines, values, and expectations affect the educational achievement of Chinese-American children. Finds that some traits, valuing effort over innate ability and parental involvement, do support academic achievement in association with certain social and economic…

Social scientists have adopted two different views on the influence of the community and home on academic achievement of lower-class and minority students. The first is the deficit perspective, or the failure-of-socialization hypothesis. The second is the difference perspective, or the cultural-discontinuity/failure-of-communication hypothesis.…