ERIC Number: EJ1267913
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020-Jul
Pages: 21
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1443-1394
EISSN: N/A
"Maestras": Exploring Dialectical Relationships in an Aboriginal Literacy Campaign
Williamson, Frances; Durnan, Deborah; Edwards, Tannia; Waites, Mary
Australian Journal of Adult Learning, v60 n2 p149-169 Jul 2020
Previous studies have documented the personal transformation that many low literate adults undergo when they engage in literacy campaigns. In particular, research has captured how improved literacy leads to a greater willingness and capacity to speak out, or what is often referred to as voice. This paper focusses on the impact of an adult Aboriginal literacy campaign on those responsible for implementing it. Through the words of these 'maestras', we reveal how the teachers and trainers of the campaign, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, experience a similar trajectory of transformation to the literacy students. This transformation, we argue, is the result of the pedagogic relationship between students, local campaign staff and national trainers. This dialectical relationship in which teacher is learner and learner teacher is at the heart of the literacy campaign model and is part of what Giroux (1988) characterises as a radical theory of literacy and voice. We further argue that the impacts of the literacy campaign at the individual and collective levels and crucially, the sustainability of these impacts depend largely on this pedagogic relationship and the new, shared understanding of the world which results.
Descriptors: Teaching Methods, Sustainability, Literacy, Indigenous Populations, Literacy Education, Adult Literacy, Program Implementation, Teacher Attitudes, Teaching Experience, Transformative Learning, Teacher Student Relationship, Adult Education, Student Attitudes, Popular Education, Foreign Countries
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Adult Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A