Abstract
Bilingual Education in the Northern Territory of Australia is in the middle of a mid-life crisis. It has always been a controversial and
political issue, but despite formal policy allowing for its continued use, support theoretically and practically for its implementation
is waning. There is also confusion as to which bilingual ‘model’ is supported by best-practice research. Working from a realist
framework, research was conducted with the small, very remote, homeland community at Gäwa on Elcho Island to ascertain their
philosophies and priorities around schooling and traditional language transmission. However, the most significant factor concerned
the commitment to utilise the existing methodology of the Warramiri Yolŋu themselves who live on and own the land of Gäwa and
beyond. Such an approach raised issues concerning multilingual usage, generative and transdisciplinary research practices and
definitions of epistemic equality for genuine community consultation. This paper will outline the Yolŋu methodology utilised and
problematize its interaction with western academic approaches, including its interplay with the realist tradition. It will briefly
discuss the ‘findings’ of the research itself, to demonstrate that such a ‘Bothways’ methodology is synchronous with the issues
facing bilingual education in its broader application.
political issue, but despite formal policy allowing for its continued use, support theoretically and practically for its implementation
is waning. There is also confusion as to which bilingual ‘model’ is supported by best-practice research. Working from a realist
framework, research was conducted with the small, very remote, homeland community at Gäwa on Elcho Island to ascertain their
philosophies and priorities around schooling and traditional language transmission. However, the most significant factor concerned
the commitment to utilise the existing methodology of the Warramiri Yolŋu themselves who live on and own the land of Gäwa and
beyond. Such an approach raised issues concerning multilingual usage, generative and transdisciplinary research practices and
definitions of epistemic equality for genuine community consultation. This paper will outline the Yolŋu methodology utilised and
problematize its interaction with western academic approaches, including its interplay with the realist tradition. It will briefly
discuss the ‘findings’ of the research itself, to demonstrate that such a ‘Bothways’ methodology is synchronous with the issues
facing bilingual education in its broader application.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages | 1-15 |
Number of pages | 15 |
Publication status | Published - Oct 2017 |
Event | International Realist Conference, 2017: From promise to practice - Brisbane Duration: 24 Oct 2017 → 26 Oct 2017 https://realist2017.org/ |
Conference
Conference | International Realist Conference, 2017 |
---|---|
Period | 24/10/17 → 26/10/17 |
Internet address |