School Parent Collaborations In Indigenous Communities

Poverty. Lack of social support. Limited access to education. High risk for health problems. Indigenous communities face an inordinate number of hardships. But when children have special needs, these problems multiply exponentially, making existing difficulties considerably worse. School-Parent Collaborations in Indigenous Communities: Providing Services for Children with Disabilities begins with an in-depth overview of indigenous experience and psychology, and situates disabilities within the contexts of indigenous communities and education services. The pilot study at the core of the book, conducted among the Bedouins of southern Israel, shows this knowledge in action as special education personnel engage parents in interventions for their children. Going beyond facile concepts of cultural sensitivity, the model recasts professionals as cultural mediators between school and family. This practice-oriented information has the potential to improve not only the well-being of children and families, but of the greater community as well. Featured in the coverage: Unique characteristics of indigenous communities and children with disabilities. Psychological models of reactions to disability. Benefits of multidisciplinary teams. Factors affecting collaboration between indigenous parents of children with disabilities and school professionals. Core principles of indigenously attuned collaboration. An extended case study on collaboration between parents of children with disabilities and school professionals in a Bedouin community. School-Parent Collaborations in Indigenous Communities is a breakthrough resource for researchers, graduate students, and professionals working with special needs children in child and school psychology, international and comparative education, social work, cross-cultural psychology, public health, and educational psychology.

Written mainly by First Nations and Metis people, this book examines current issues in First Nations education.

Indigenous peoples are diverse, within and across nations. However, the Indigenous peoples have experienced colonisation processes that have undermined Indigenous young people's access to their identity, language and culture. At the same time, Indigenous children have not generally had access to the same quality of education that other children in their country have had access to. These two forces in combination have undermined the educational opportunities and outcomes of successive generations of Indigenous children and young people, at times with catastrophic effect. The six Canadian provinces and territories that participated in this study, along with New Zealand and Queensland (Australia), are actively seeking to better meet the educational needs and aspirations of Indigenous students and their families. The report seeks to identify promising strategies, policies, programmes and practices that support improved learning outcomes for Indigenous students and to build an empirical evidence base on Indigenous students in education. The study investigates four areas in Indigenous education: well-being, participation, engagement and achievement in education. These outcomes are inter-connected and mutually reinforcing, and each is essential for the success of every student.

Protecting the Promise is the first book in the Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies Series edited by Django Paris. It features a collection of short stories told in collaboration with five Native families that speak to the everyday aspects of Indigenous educational resurgence rooted in the intergenerational learning that occurs between mothers and their children. The author defines “resurgence” as the ongoing actions that recenter Indigenous realities and knowledges, while simultaneously denouncing and healing from the damaging effects of settler colonial systems. By illuminating the potential of such educational resurgence, the book counters deficit paradigms too often placed on Indigenous communities. It also demonstrates the need to include Indigenous Knowledges within the curriculum for both in-school and out-of-school settings. These engaging narratives reframe Indigenous parents as critical and compassionate educators, cultural brokers, and storytellers who are central partners in the education of their children. Book Features: A window into how and why Indigenous resurgence through (and sometimes in resistance to) education can happen.A narrative style of writing that builds accessible stories that are both relatable and connected to larger social issues.An interdisciplinary approach that has implications for pre- and in-service teachers and school administrators, as well as for the communities from which these stories originated.A teacher-friendly Afterword that offers lesson ideas for the classroom and companion questions to the short stories.

Report of research documenting, analysing and reporting on existing innovative and effective partnerships between schools and indigenous, most particularly, Aboriginal families and communities. Qualitative methods in the form of in depth interviews, in person and by telephone, were adopted for the research. Schools that were known to have successful partnerships were identified and encouraged to participate. The research was premised on the idea that people learn best from success stories and that schools would be inspired to emulate the partnership practices found to be successful in other similar schools.

This book offers a variety of effective, concrete ways to better assimilate arts therapies in the educational system. Featuring leading art therapists and the models they have honed as a result of their arts experience in education, Integrating Arts Therapies into Education discusses systemic issues and challenges related to work in the education system such as confidentiality, multidisciplinary teamwork with educators and contact with parents. Divided into two parts, the first discusses systemic issues related to work in the education system, and the second presents a series of dedicated models that can be implemented in the education system. Each chapter consists of a theoretical background, a description of the working model, a clinical example or case study and a summary. Creative arts and expressive therapy practitioners will find this guide filled with the most effective ways to approach and deliver arts therapies in a school setting.

This book is an important reference for developing collaborative programs between indigenous groups and outside experts. The author outlines the process of program design, data collection, analysis, and interpretation for formal or pilot programs. The case study materials provide useful detail for developing projects in education, economic development, social services, and health.

School improvement is at the centre of educational reform and is perceived by many as a key to social and economic advance. It contributes to determining the personal fulfilment and career paths of individual students and consequently engages the interest of parents and community members. It is an ever-present commitment of teachers and managers in schools. Policy makers and politicians at international, national and local levels devote much time and effort to their search for better schools. School improvement has also attracted the attention of researchers and scholars in many countries. They have been drawn from various disciplines and fields within the educational studies community, including psychology, sociology, history, evaluation, and studies in curriculum and assessment. There is now an established body of findings from studies conducted in many contexts. This book brings together leading experts drawn from many countries and several continents, reflecting diverse approaches to educational policy and practice, evaluation and research. Variations between countries and between local communities within countries are highlighted. The possibilities and difficulties inherent in transferring evidence from one educational system, at a number of levels, to another are clearly discussed. What emerges from the cross-national and cross-cultural evidence are several significant threads, currently under active investigation, including: school structure and management, classroom organisation, school leadership, teacher training and staff development, curriculum and assessment, community involvement, lifelong learning and special provision for students with special educational needs. "School Improvement: International Perspectives" is written for national educational policy makers, teachers and student teachers, governing bodies and parents from various levels of schooling, and university researchers and scholars.