Within an Aboriginal community in so-called Australia, conversations of education sovereignty are being held. These conversations, as part of my doctoral research, are envisioning an educational future outside of colonial-controlled schooling, an educational future grounded in Indigenous knowledges. In recognition that education has been occurring…

This paper analyses a community-based educational program involving private and public sector partners instituted in a small city in northern Tasmania. The program represents part of a state-wide initiative to challenge the persistence of structural educational disadvantage and what is understood to be an entrenched "culture" that is…

The Irish Leaving Certificate Applied (LCA) is a school-based, pre-vocational alternative to the "high stakes" established Leaving Certificate. Its origins lie in European Union funded "school to work" initiatives and it is currently taken to completion by some 5% of Irish senior cycle students. Since it was designed 20 years…

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…

In 2008, the Helen Macpherson Smith (HMS) Trust commissioned Victoria University to conduct an evaluation of the Mentoring and Capacity Building Initiative's Regional Coordination Projects (RCPs). The RCPs are founded on a model of community education and collaboration that aims to enhance cross-sectoral and whole-of-community approaches to…

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…

This article is essentially written as two linked parts. The first part considers how space, spatiality and history can contribute to understanding and "doing something about" the sustainability of rural communities. This is done by extensive reference to Soja's (1989 & 1996) space and spatial theorising and selective perspectives of…

The ascendency of neoliberal ideas in education and social policy in the 1980s and 1990s was succeeded in the new millennium by a "new" social democratic commitment with emphases on community empowerment, building social capital and a "whole of government" approach to partnering with civil society to meet community needs. In…

Building the research capacity of the vocational education and training (VET) sector is a key concern for the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER). To assist with this objective, NCVER supports an academic scholarship program, whereby VET practitioners are sponsored to undertake university study at honours', master's or…

There has been considerable interest in identifying content and structure for secondary core curriculum based on common values in Australia and other countries. The beginnings of a core curriculum not tied to traditional subjects exist in Australia, but a major obstacle is in providing local school support. (MSE)

As Federal, State and Territory governments in Australia promote greater inclusivity, schools are simultaneously being required to be more accountable for their actions. As an attempt to provide an appropriate process for schools to employ to enable them to meet both of these requirements the "Index for Inclusion" was validated for use…

A case study of Aboriginal education in Geraldton, Western Australia, looked at the cycle of low educational attainment, unemployment, and poverty; national and state programs to support Aboriginal students and parent involvement; and community attitudes toward existing programs and proposed improvement strategies. A 1-year plan is detailed for…

Case studies of local development projects in Scotland, Norway, Australia, and the United States (Minnesota) indicate that federal education programs of a "generative" nature (those linking educational improvement to other improvement efforts, emphasizing process, and stimulating grass-roots participation) are most likely to promote…