Paper 1: Both-ways: the philosophy

Ober, Robyn and Bat, Melodie (2007) Paper 1: Both-ways: the philosophy. Ngoonjook: Journal of Australian Indigenous issues (31). pp. 64-86. ISSN 1039-8236

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Abstract

This paper will present to you the philosophy of teaching and learning
at Batchelor Institute—the both-ways philosophy. We have written this
paper to share with you our understandings of both-ways as a real,
living and growing philosophy of practice. It is our intention to provide
an explanation and starting point for those new to this approach, but
also to contribute to the current revitalisation of the philosophy within
Batchelor Institute. And of course, as is the nature of both-ways, we
have written this paper as part of our own continuing reflection and
evaluation of our teaching and learning. ‘It is important for the dialogue
to continue and for the scholarship to be continued in order to develop
the body of knowledge in this regard. It is essential for this conversation
and the resulting changes/approaches to be embedded within the
philosophical approach at Batchelor Institute’ (Fraser 2006, p.7) .
To introduce the concept of both-ways, we will use a story to illustrate
a real life example of ‘living the philosophy’ and discuss some of the
complex human interactions within that story. We have called this
our ‘kapati’ (cup of tea) story. We will then present a short overview
of the historical development of the both-ways philosophy and
practice, drawing on the work of the many people before us who
have contributed to the development and the theorising around this
philosophy. This leads us to the present day and how we conceptualise
the both-ways philosophy in the now. We use a diagram to represent
the learning journeys that we all undertake at Batchelor and from that
diagram, elicit three principles of practice that we are proposing as the
foundation principles of the both-ways practice. We conclude the paper
with some of the new questions that we see are beginning to confront
us in the education sectors and as the information age moves rapidly
toward an electronic world.

Item Type: Article
Keywords: Both-ways philosophy Indigenous education Bi-lingual and bi-cultural education
Field of Research (2008): 20 Language, Communication and Culture > 2002 Cultural Studies > 200201 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Studies
20 Language, Communication and Culture > 2002 Cultural Studies > 200209 Multicultural, Intercultural and Cross-cultural Studies
20 Language, Communication and Culture > 2003 Language Studies > 200303 English as a Second Language
Subjects: L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB2361 Curriculum
Date Deposited: 20 Aug 2009 12:11
Last Modified: 18 Nov 2020 02:22
URI: https://eprints.batchelor.edu.au/id/eprint/100

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