In the last 20 years there has been a significant amount of research done on the topic of culturally relevant and culturally responsive pedagogy (Brown-Jeffy & Cooper, 2011; Gay, 2000; Ladson-Billings, 1995; Lipman, 1995; Maina, 1997). The purpose of my research was to learn what factors influence and inform teachers’ decisions to choose or not choose Aboriginal children’s literature for their classroom libraries and/or instructional purposes. In this study I conducted semi-structured interviews with six teachers in six different northern Manitoba schools, performed a classroom library audit in each of the six classrooms, and distributed a division-wide questionnaire. Findings suggest that even though teachers believe using Aboriginal children’s literature is important, it is not manifesting itself in the purchase and use of Aboriginal children’s literature in their classrooms. This study concludes by confirming the work of McPherson (2009) which suggests that teachers’ decision making processes are a reflection of their level of cultural responsiveness / October 2016

This thesis investigates the development and implementation of health promotion strategies and methods in remote Aboriginal communities via the Kimberley Aboriginal Health Promotion Project (KAHPP), a project funded under a grant from the Commonwealth Department of Health and Family Services and conducted by the School of Public Health at Curtin University of Technology. The aim of the project was to investigate the effectiveness of health promotion strategies and methods in remote Aboriginal communities and to develop structures for implementing effective Aboriginal health promotion programs.There were three main research components in this study: an assessment of health indicators; an assessment of the intervention impact; and an assessment of the media component of the intervention. The research methodology included the development of a culturally appropriate survey instrument and the conduct of cross-sectional surveys of three remote Aboriginal communities with differing historical circumstances in the Kimberley region. The questionnaire and field study methods were piloted in 1990 and the main study conducted in 1991 1[superscript].A health promotion intervention was conducted based on an approach originally developed in the Northern Territory 2[superscript]. The intervention employed community development and mass media strategies. Community members nominated health issues that they wished to address, from which 'storyboards' were created for health promotion advertisements to appear on remote television on a paid schedule 3[superscript]. Representative random samples of adult males and females from three remote Aboriginal communities were surveyed according to a range of attitudinal and behavioural health indicators. A post-test survey assessed media reach and impact and pre-post surveys assessed relevant changes in the communities.The cross-sectional survey ++ / of health indicators found differences between communities in terms of self-assessed health and risk behaviours. These are discussed in terms of the historical differences between communities and with respect to each community's current situation. Respondents from all communities rated environmental factors as important in their contribution to health, and generally more so than individual lifestyle behaviours.The study demonstrated that television has the potential to reach the vast majority of Aboriginal people in remote communities in the Kimberley. There was some indication that participation in the development of advertisements was associated with higher recognition and more positive assessments of that advertisement. No significant differences in selected indicators of community 'empowerment' were detected following the intervention.The thesis methodology has contributed to the development of a set of guidelines for the conduct of survey research in remote Aboriginal communities, 4[superscript] and has guided the formation of Aboriginal health promotion units in Western Australia and elsewhere.1. Spark R, Binns C, Laughlin D, Spooner C, Donovan RJ. Aboriginal people's perceptions of their own and their community's health: results of a pilot study. Health Promotion Journal of Australia 1992; 2(2):60-61.2. Spark R, Mills P. Promoting Aboriginal health on television in the Northern Territory: a bicultural approach. Drug Education Journal of Australia 1988; 2 (3):191-198.3. Spark R, Donovan RJ, Howat P. Promoting health and preventing injury in remote Aboriginal communities: a case study. Health Promotion Journal of Australia 1991; 1(2):10-16.4. Donovan RJ, Spark. R. Towards guidelines for conducting survey research in remote Aboriginal communities. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 1997; 21:89-94.

This thesis examines the relationship between art and place, and challenges conventional readings of the paintings of the late Aboriginal Anmatyerr elder Emily Kame Kngwarray of Australia and Canadian/American modernist artist Agnes Martin. In the case of Kngwarray, connections between body, ground and canvas are extensively explored through stories told to the author by Emily???s countrywomen at Utopia in the Northern Territory. In the case of Agnes Martin, these relationships are explored through personal interview with the artist in Taos, New Mexico, and by phenomenological readings of her paintings. The methodology is based on analysis of narrative, interview material, existing critical literature and the artists??? paintings. The haptic and embodiment emerge as strong themes, but the artists??? use of repetition provides fertile ground to question wholly aesthetic or cultural readings of their paintings. The thesis demonstrates the significance of historical and psychological denial and erasure, as well as transgenerational legacies in the artists??? work. A close examination is made of the artists??? use of surface shimmer in their paintings and the effects of it on the beholder. The implications of being mesmerized by shimmer, especially in the case of Aboriginal paintings, bring up ethical questions about cultural difference and the shadow side of art in its capacity for complicity, denial, appropriation and commodification. This thesis challenges the ocularcentric tradition of seeing the land and art, and examines what occurs when a painting is viewed on the walls of a gallery. It addresses Eurocentric readings of Aboriginal art and looks at the power of the aesthetic gaze that eliminates cultural difference. Differences between space and place are explored through an investigation of the phenomenology of perception, the haptic, embodiment and ???presentness???. Place affiliation and the effects of displacement are examined to discover what is often taken for granted: the ground beneath our feet. Art can express belonging and relationship with far-reaching cultural, political, psychological and environmental implications, but only if denial and loss of place are acknowledged.

Abstract not available

This thesis is a seminal in-depth study of how non-indigenous writers and illustrators construct Aboriginal childhood in children's fiction from 1841-1998 and focuses not only on what these say about Aboriginal childhood but also what they neglect to say, what they gloss over and what they elide. This study probes not only the construction of aboriginal childhood in children's fiction, but explores the slippage between the lived and imagined experiences which inform the textual and illustrative images of non-Aboriginal writers. This study further contends that neo-colonial variations on the themes informing these images remain part of Australian children's fiction. Aboriginal childhood has played a limited but telling role in Australian children's literature. The very lack of attention to Aboriginal children in Australian children's fiction - white silence - is resonant with denial and self-justification. Although it concentrates on constructions of aboriginal childhood in white Australian children's fiction, this study highlights the role that racial imagery can play in any society, past or present by securing the unwitting allegiance of the young to values and institutions threatened by the forces of change. By examining the image of the Other through four broad thematic bands or myths - the Aboriginal child as the primitive; the identification of the marginalised and as the assimilated and noting the essential similarities that circulate among the chosen texts, this study attempts to reveal how pervasive and controlling the logic of racial and national superiority continues to be. By exploring the dissemination of images of Aboriginal childhood in this way, this study argues that long-lived distortions and misconceptions will become clearer / Doctor of Philosophy (Literature)

This thesis is located within the social and political context of Indigenous education within Australia. Indigenous people continue to experience unacceptable levels of disadvantage and social marginalisation. The struggle for indigenous students individually and collectively lies in being able to determine a direction which is productive and non-assimilationist – which offers possibilities of social and economic transformation, equal opportunities and cultural integrity and self-determination. The challenge for teachers within the constraints of the academy is to develop strategies that are genuinely transformative, empowering and contribute to decolonisation and positive social change. This thesis explores how the construction of two theoretical propositions – the Indigenous Community Management and Development (ICMD) practitioner and the Indigenous/non-Indigenous Interface – are decolonising and transformative strategies. It investigates how these theoretical constructs and associated discourses are incorporated into the Centre’s policy processes, curriculum and pedagogy to influence and interact with the everyday lives of students in their work and communities and the wider social institutions. It charts how a group of Indigenous and non-Indigenous staff interact with these propositions and different ideas and discourses interrupting, re-visioning, reformulating and integrating these to form the basis for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous futures in Australia. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Aboriginal Australians have some of the world�s highest rates of rheumatic fever. Two approaches to reducing the burden of rheumatic fever are discussed in this thesis. The B cell antigen D8/17 has a strong association with rheumatic heart disease and may be a universal marker of inherited susceptibility to rheumatic fever. Identifying a population at increased risk of rheumatic fever provides an opportunity to focus primary prevention measures. In part one of the thesis I evaluate the accuracy of D8/17 as a marker of past rheumatic fever amongst Australians from the Northern Territory. D8/17 levels were measured and compared in patients with acute rheumatic fever, rheumatic heart disease or past rheumatic fever, first-degree relatives and healthy, unrelated controls. The mean percentage of B cells positive for D8/17 was 83.7%, 38.9%, 20.2% and 11.6% respectively. The difference between the groups was significant (p-value less than 0.0001). A receiver operator curve analysis indicated that 22.1% of B cells positive for D8/17 was the most accurate cut-off to distinguish patients with acute or past rheumatic fever from healthy subjects. These results indicated that the B cell antigen D8/17 is an accurate marker of past rheumatic fever in Aboriginal Australians and could be a helpful addition to the Jones Criteria for strengthening or excluding a diagnosis of acute rheumatic fever. The intermediate levels of D8/17 expression in the relatives of index cases supports the hypothesis that D8/17 is a marker of an inherited susceptibility to rheumatic fever, although prospective trials are required to provide conclusive proof of this hypothesis. Non-compliance with secondary prophylaxis was suspected to be the cause of increasing rates of rheumatic fever in the Top End. In part two of the thesis I discuss the �problem of compliance� with respect to Aboriginal patients, and investigate the factors that affected the delivery and uptake of prophylaxis for rheumatic fever in an Aboriginal community. Patients, relatives and health practitioners were interviewed on the topic of the care of patients with rheumatic heart disease. The data were analysed using the principles of grounded theory. The main finding was the desire for more personalised care and support for patients with rheumatic heart disease from the community clinic, rather than simple medical care. These ideas crystallised through two Yolngu terms to describe care: djaka (to physically care for) and gungayun (to encourage). Thus even from the outset there was divergence in the focus of the �consumer�- holistic care - and that of the health-care professional/ researcher � improving the rate of secondary prophylaxis coverage. With regards to service provision, a significant reason for failure to receive secondary prophylaxis was the differing approaches of urban and community health services, patient mobility, and a differing understanding of the responsibilities of patients and health service providers in the different settings. Other factors pertaining to service provision, such as staff motivation, administrative issues and program coordination affected the uptake of secondary prophylaxis to a lesser extent. With regards to treatment uptake, individual patient factors inhibiting uptake of treatment were apparent in some cases, but treatment refusal was rare. Pain was not found to be a deterrent. No simple relationship was found between treatment compliance and biomedical knowledge of the disease. There was no simple relationship between patient passivity and sense of responsibility that guaranteed compliance. This study demonstrated that the failure to achieve good uptake of prophylaxis for rheumatic fever related as much to factors of service provision as patient factors and that providing holistic care within a familiar and supportive framework is important to Yolngu patients. However, there are real difficulties for health services as they are currently structured to meet the expectations of patients and families.

[No Abstract]

The aborigines were an indispensable element composed of Taiwan¡¦s diverse society. They also represented the crucial cultural features in the development of Taiwan¡¦s civilization. Based on the mechanism of ¡§New Partner Relationship,¡¨ the government has aimed to promote the aborigine-oriented policy and encouraged the sustainable development of aboriginal tribes since the political party rotation. The government announced the implementation of Basic Law for Native Peoples to retrieve aboriginal languages and cultural education, promote the scheme of the sustainable development of aboriginal tribes, enhance the progress and development of the aboriginal societies, and reposition aborigines¡¦ role and status in Taiwan¡¦s society. While the researcher served as the principal in Sandi Elementary School, in order to follow the government¡¦s policy and reach the expectation of the aboriginal groups, the researcher integrated Nine-Year-Integrated Curriculum and applied multiple methods to promote aboriginal school-based curriculum; In this way, the researcher hoped to help aborigines appreciate the culture from learning and to inspire their affections. It also hoped to reach the goal of aborigines¡¦ self-recognition and self-affirmation. Although the aboriginal education had been improved by lots of policies, it could not be comprehensively administered at schools to fulfill effective performance. The present study was based on the processes and effects of the promotion in Sandi Elementary School and adopted the literature review to search for appropriate strategies for promoting the aboriginal school-based curriculum at this school. The researcher also interviewed the teachers with practical experience in promoting aboriginal education and collected and cross-validated data of aboriginal education from various aspects. The study has three purposes : 1. To explore the experience of the aboriginal school in promoting identity education. 2. To explore the relationship between aboriginal school education and traditional education. 3. To provide suggestions for future policies, implementation, and studies of aboriginal identity education. Results of the study indicate: 1. In Nine-Year Integrated Curriculum, the school can effectively design aborigine-based curriculum. 2. The development of local education can significantly broaden students¡¦ vision, promote their performances, and cultivate their sense of self-recognition and respect of others. 3. The educators with the vision of promoting multi-cultures could easily transform the knowledge and become the promoters of multicultural curriculum. 4. Parents¡¦ support and appropriate application of human resources in the community could solve the problem of the insufficiency in qualified teachers of cultural curriculum and also promote the handing down of aboriginal cultures at the school in various aspects. 5. The aboriginal education requires not only fundamental innovation but also educational administrative organizations¡¦ cooperation in policies. 6. The authority aboriginal education of should hold contests related with aboriginal cultures in the multicultural directions to encourage the school to promote aboriginal cultures in the multidimensional way.

In its annual report, "How Are We Doing?", British Columbia's Ministry of Education assesses Aboriginal students' participation and graduation rates, both of which have been consistently below those of non-Aboriginal students. In addressing the question, "How are we doing?", this thesis examines the visual images and representations of Aboriginal peoples in British Columbia's secondary Social Studies textbooks as well as the Aboriginal programs offered in the Surrey School District. The implications affect both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students as the study hopes to encourage and improve cross-cultural responsiveness between and among them and to promote public discourse in the education for and of Aboriginal peoples. Negative portrayals and representations of Aboriginal peoples were common in textbooks of the past as documented by various studies. In reviewing the Surrey School District's currently recommended Social Studies textbooks, four main concerns continue to exist and persist: Aboriginal peoples continue to be marginalized, essentialized, seen as a problem, and decontextualized. However, one of the ministry's approved courses, BC First Nations Studies 12, attempts to address these inequities. Its recommended textbook is based on Aboriginal knowledge and epistemology, empowering and giving voice to Aboriginal peoples. Through the interviews of eight educators who assist Aboriginal students in the Surrey School District, this study offers some of their insights to improve student "success". Aboriginal students need to accept and embrace their identity, not only to build their self-esteem but also to honour their own cultures. Educators need to redefine "success" beyond academic achievement to include Aboriginal knowledge and epistemology within their teaching and evaluating practices and become more cognizant of and sensitive to the challenges and triumphs of their students, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal. Universities need to re-address the training of future educators to include Aboriginal issues in order for them to gain greater historical understanding and, in turn, empathy and compassion. These practical initiatives reflect the progress and movement in addressing the challenges and hopes of Aboriginal peoples in their journey toward real self-determination and decolonization.