On the borders of Pedagogy: Implementing a critical pedagogy for students on the Thai Burma Border

Author: Jen Couch

Australian Catholic University

Edition: Volume 57, Number 1, April 2017

Summary: This article uses an auto-ethnographic approach to explore the reflections and insights that occurred during my teaching of a subject in adolescent development on the Thai Burma border. This paper adopts a relatively descriptive style to a personal reflection of teaching on the border and how it transformed the way I teach and made me look at the pedagogy that underpins my teaching practice. I found a lack of congruence between the pedagogical theories that are espoused and how I could apply these to a border setting. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to explore some of the ways I began to develop a Thai Burma classroom praxis that drew on the theoretical underpinnings of a humanising critical pedagogy.

Keywords: refugee, Burmese, critical pedagogy, transformation, collaboration

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This article is part of AJAL, Volume 57_1. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.

Community education and youth mentoring: how to build good practice?

Author/s: Robyn Broadbent and Theo Papadopoulos

Edition: Volume 49, Number 2, July 2009

Summary: 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 mentoring and community building. Their specific objectives are to:

  • coordinate effective regional delivery of new and existing mentoring programs and related activities
  • identify, document and share best practice mentoring models
  • strengthen community partnerships and collaboration, and the capacity and skills delivery of mentoring programs
  • develop cross-sectoral and whole-of-community approaches to mentoring.

The aim of the evaluation was to determine the effectiveness of the RCPs in achieving these objectives, including the monitoring of program outcomes and strategic partnerships supporting these  projects. This paper reports on some of the key findings of that evaluation.

Keywords: mentoring, capacity building, whole of community approach, partnerships, collaboration

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This article is part of AJAL, Volume 49_2. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.

 

 

 

Communities of practice in a voluntary youth organisation: reaching for the sky and building social capital

Author/s: Bill Chan and Tom Short

Edition: Volume 51, Special edition, December 2011

Summary: The study is situated within a national youth organisation called the Australian Air League Inc (Air League). We examine the recent progress of the Air League in South Australia, starting as a loose network of volunteers Continue reading “Communities of practice in a voluntary youth organisation: reaching for the sky and building social capital”