The languages spoken in Nigeria do not only play significant roles in the socio-political life of the country, but also help in no small measure to unify or integrate the country that is so much diverse in all spheres of life. In realizing these multiplicity of roles the languages play in the country, the Government instituted and enacted a policy…

The purpose of this paper is to add to a growing body of literature that critiques the whiteness of the organic farming movement and analyse potential ramifications of this if farmers are to be understood as educators. Given that farmers do not necessarily self-identify as educators, it is important to understand that in raising this critique,…

This article examines the historic uses of the phenomenon recently defined as "Deep Politics" to shed light on the underlying realities of the contemporary War on Terror. Deep Politics describes the multiple uses of misinformation to marshal public sentiment in directions desired by dominant political and economic forces. Facing the reality of…

One way to integrate indigenous perspectives in junior science is through links between indigenous stories of the local area and science concepts. Using local indigenous stories about landforms, a teacher of Year 8 students designed a unit on geology that catered for the diverse student population in his class. This paper reports on the…

While a number of challenges contribute to the American Indian population's disconnect from information technology (IT), the most glaring is the low number of American Indian students pursuing computer science (CS) studies--a degree essential to IT's entry into and diffusion across communities. Yet, research is scant on factors that contribute to…

This forum explores and expands on Ben-Zvi Assaraf, Eshach, Orion, and Alamour's article titled "Cultural Differences and Students' Spontaneous Models of the Water Cycle: A Case Study of Jewish and Bedouin Children in Israel" by examining how indigenous knowledge is appropriated in science classrooms; how students from indigenous…

Curriculum reforms with a focus on helping students "learn to learn" are now an established global educational phenomenon. China has been implementing such curriculum reform and this poses challenges to teachers as they need to develop new pedagogical skills and knowledge to deal with new educational demands that arise. This ethnographic…

The historical and actual marginalizations of African thought systems and knowledge constructions have been expansively responsible for the effectiveness of the dominant educational and governance systems imposed on Africa. The idea as well as the practice of these realities would conform to what Said (1993), Fanon (1967, 1968), and Memmi (1991)…

Confucianism, not only is the core of Chinese cultural educational thoughts but its influence has been identified in the West by the European scholars. And with the impact of Confucianism civilization, the theological authority in the Dark Ages wavered. The human-based ideas of Confucianism that people are the foundation of the country, the…

Reading seasons and environments has been a long-held practice for Torres Strait Islanders through their close relationships with their islands and seas. This research project worked with elders on Erub (Darnley) Island, in the eastern group of islands in the Torres Strait, to document and synthesise their knowledge of seasonal patterns and…

Method-in-use (Nunn, Describing classroom interaction in intercultural curricular research and development, University of Reading, 1996, International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching 37: 23-42, 1999) is a description of the method actually being enacted through classroom interaction in a particular context. The description is…

Persistent perceptions of deficit and conflict have characterised and constrained the history of relations between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians since contact. The success of their saturation is apparent in a continuing approach that presents the response to Aboriginal needs in terms of health and education "gaps"; "the…

This paper reports on a research study conducted in Mauritius between June and July 2009. The aim of this research was to investigate the use of Indian ancestral languages in the domestic domain by the younger generations. The data were collected in the field by means of a questionnaire and interviews from a quota sample of secondary school…

In this paper, I consider the importance of Indigenous studies programs, at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, as critical elements in enabling Indigenous Australian students to engage in the academe in ways that not only allow them to empower themselves, but, ultimately, to become effective change agents within both their own and the…

This article examines the relationship between the Earth Charter and education for sustainable development (ESD), as part of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. The areas of shared interest between the two are assessed and the invaluable nature of the Earth Charter as a resource outlining global values and principles for a…