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Embedding Indigenous Perspectives in Teaching School Science

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2012

Subhashni Devi Appanna*
Affiliation:
Queensland University of Technology, Australia
*
Address for Correspondence: Subhashni Devi Appanna, School of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, Queensland University of Technology, Victoria Park Road, Kelvin Grove, Queensland, 4059, Australia. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Some Indigenous students are at risk of academic failure and science teachers have a role in salvaging these equally able students. This article firstly elucidates the research entailed in Indigenous science education in Australia and beyond. Secondly, it reviews the cultural and language barriers when learning science, faced by middle and senior year students of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent. Finally, it outlines the effective strategies that science teachers could adopt to better engage these students in learning school science. In summary, the article will highlight the need for teachers to realise the importance of crossing borders from teachers' school science culture to students' culture. This holds implications for teaching practice and teacher identity in today's classroom.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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