Journal article
Problematising school space for Indigenous education: Teachers' and parents' perspectives
T Lea, A Wegner, E McRae-Williams, R Chenhall, C Holmes
Ethnography and Education | Published : 2011
Abstract
This interpretive study explores the relationship between spatial qualities and school-parent engagement in three primary schools which serve low income periurban Indigenous families in north Australia. Drawing from interviews with educators and parents, school-based observations and community fieldwork conducted over the course of two years in two different towns, we found that educators are very concerned that schools, as western institutions, present cultural and physical barriers to effective engagement; but that this view is not shared by Indigenous parents. Rather than seeing this as a simple issue of cultural difference, our analysis seeks to unravel the curious way in which the other..
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Awarded by Australian Research Council
Funding Acknowledgements
This research was supported under the Australian Research Council's Linkage project funding scheme (project number LP0882670) and is founded on a partnership with The Smith Family and the Northern Territory Department of Education and Training. Chief Investigators for the project are Tess Lea, Richard Chenhall, Catherine Holmes and Kate Senior. Our thanks go to Johanna Karam and Helen Thompson for ongoing input and assistance with the research project and to David Lamb, Martin Young and Bruce Dunn, formerly from Charles Darwin University, for their assistance with information on Katherine and education data. We are also grateful to the participating schools and parents involved in the project for their time and input into the research and regret the need for anonymity in not being able to name key individuals.