Digital Commons Network^™

Regeneration Time: Ancient Wisdom For Planetary Wellbeing, Anne Poelina, Sandra Wooltorton, Mindy Blaise, Catrina Luz Aniere, Pierre Horwitz, Peta J. White, Stephen Muecke

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

In these regenerative times prompted by the Anthropocene, Aboriginal voices are situated to draw on ancient wisdom for local learning and to share information across the globe as ecological imperative for planetary wellbeing. In this paper, postqualitative research foregrounds the sentient nature of life as ancestral power and brings the vitality of co-becoming as our places into active engagement. It enables coloniality to surface and reveals how it sits in our places and lives, in plain sight but unnoticed because of its so-called common sense. Postqualitative research relates with ancient knowledges in foregrounding Country's animacy and presence, revealing the essence …

Voicing Derbarl Yerrigan As A Feminist Anti-Colonial Methodology, Vanessa Wintoneak, Mindy Blaise

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The paper voices Derbarl Yerrigan, a significant river in Western Australia, through three imperfect, non-innocent, and necessary river-child stories. These stories highlight the emergence of a feminist anti-colonial methodology that is attentive to settler response-abilities to Derbarl Yerrigan through situated, relational, active, and generative research methods. Voicing Derbarl Yerrigan influences the methodological practices used as part of an ongoing river-child walking inquiry that is concerned with generating climate change pedagogies in response to the global climate crises and calls for new ways of thinking and producing knowledge. In particular, the authors found that voicing as a methodology includes listening and …

'We Cannot Heal What We Will Not Face': Dismantling The Cultural Trauma And The May '98 Riots In Rani P Collaborations' Chinese Whispers, Alberta Natasia Adji, Marcella Polain

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

In May 1998, ethnic riots and widespread sexual violence occurred in several major Indonesian cities. Chinese-Indonesians were targeted and, since then, there has been an interest in feminist visual art created by Chinese-Indonesian diaspora in Australia. This article explores Chinese Whispers, a digital graphic novel by Rani Pramesti, a Chinese-Javanese-Indonesian actor and Melbourne-based performance maker, and her team of Indonesian-Australian collaborators. Applying solemn imagery, it narrates a young woman’s attempts at understanding cultural trauma that has marked both personal and public identities of Chinese-Indonesians. Imbued with black-and-white illustrations and interview transcripts, the digital graphic novel tries to answer questions …

“Just Like Breathing”: A Portrait Of An 85-Year-Old Veteran Teacher, Christina C. Gray, Geoffrey M. Lowe Dr, Peter F. Prout, Sarah Jefferson

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Through a phenomenological lens of portraiture methodology, this article explores the career experiences of a veteran acting teacher who, at the age of 85 years, remains highly passionate and dedicated to his work with younger aspiring actors. The article reveals how for this veteran teacher, his strong teacher identity characterised by a quest for challenge and a commitment to career-long professional development are significant to maintaining relevance and passion for teaching. As many countries grapple with issues surrounding the retention of veteran teachers, understanding the ways in which he maintains his passion and commitment over succumbing to stress and burn …

The Weave Of Youth Writing: Refiguring Authorship And Self-Representation In Michaela Deprince’S Collaborative Archive Of Life Narrative Texts, Alberta Natasia Adji

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Young people have to struggle in navigating the complex cultural and socio-political frameworks of production if they would like to reclaim agency and legitimacy to voice their aspirations. This article focuses on questions of authorship and self-representation in both the traditional and digital life writing texts created by and produced for Sierra-Leonean-American ballet dancer Michaela DePrince, which turns out to be highly mediated by her Jewish Caucasian adoptive mother Elaine DePrince. I argue that the manners of Michaela’s collaborative archive of life narrative projects–which bring about issues of authorship–have conformed her self-representation to particular identity frames in terms of race, …

Perceived Influence Of Value Systems On The Uptake Of Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision Among Men In Kweneng East, Botswana, Thandisizwe R. Mavundla, Fungai Mbengo, Khanyenda Bruce Ngomi

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Botswana is one of the countries in Eastern and Southern Africa significantly impacted by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). To control the spread of HIV, the government in 2009 rolled out the voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) programme as an additional HIV prevention strategy with the goal of circumcising 80% of HIV negative men by 2016. However, the country failed to achieve this goal as less than 30% of the targeted men were circumcised by 2016. A study was therefore conducted to explore and describe …

Youth Matters: Shedding Light On Displacement In Syrian Girls' Memoirs, Alberta Natasia Adji

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

In the face of war and political crisis, fleeing a country seems to be the best choice to get on with life. Among many refugee memoirs, so far young adult refugee texts have received little attention. This article analyses two young Syrian girls’ memoirs by Nujeen Mustafa and Yusra Mardini to investigate their experience of displacement. I argue that both Nujeen and Butterfly are prime specimens of young displacement memoir phenomena which act as a venue for identity negotiation. This point has much to do with their navigating the tensions between personal and collective selves to disclose their trauma and …

Reimagining The Cultural Significance Of Wetlands: From Perth’S Lost Swamps To The Beeliar Wetlands, Danielle Brady, Jeffrey Murray

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The history of Perth, Western Australia, has been characterised by the incremental loss of its wetlands. While disputes about wetlands are often framed solely in terms of the environment, they are places of cultural significance too. The extensive wetlands of central Perth, food gathering and meeting places for Noongar people are now expunged from the landscape. Urban dwellers of Perth are largely unaware that the seasonal lakes and wetlands of the centre of the city were the larders, gardens, hideouts, dumps and playgrounds of previous generations; both Noongar and Settler. The loss of social memory of these lost cultural/natural places …

Nothing Happens Here: Songs About Perth, Jon Stratton, Adam Trainer

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This essay examines Perth as portrayed through the lyrics of popular songs written by people who grew up in the city. These lyrics tend to reproduce the dominant myths about the city: that it is isolated, that it is self-satisfied, that little happens there. Perth became the focus of song lyrics during the late 1970s time of punk with titles such as 'Arsehole of the Universe' and 'Perth Is a Culture Shock'. Even the Eurogliders' 1984 hit, 'Heaven Must Be There', is based on a rejection of life in Perth. However, Perth was also home to Dave Warner, whose songs …

Creating Shared Norms In Schools - A Theoretical Approach, Maryanne Macdonald, Eyal Gringart, Jan Gray

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Whilst some improvements to Indigenous education outcomes have occurred in recent years, there remains considerable inequity in the educational experiences and long-term engagement of Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. One of the factors contributing to the challenging environment for Indigenous students is dissonance of social norms, as a result of ethnic and socioeconomic differences between teacher and student. Many hegemonic culture teachers are unaware of Standpoint Theory and the way in which normative beliefs impact on classroom interactions and student outcomes at the cultural interface. This paper draws on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TBP) to illustrate ways in which schools …

Global Measures Of Gender Empowerment: A Case Study Of Sri Lankan Export Processing Zone (Epz) Workers, Peter Hancock, Sharon Middleton

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This pape r focuses on global measures of gender empowerment released a n- nually by the UNDP and the World Economic Forum. It discusses and critiques these measures on a global level and juxtaposes this analysis against research conducted among women who work in Sri Lanka's Export Processing Zones (EPZs). Global measures of gender equality show that in Sri Lanka gender-based inequality is increasing, despite the nation dramatically improving its economy and poverty levels and meeting some of the Millennium Development Goals. To explain this contradiction, we sampled 2,304 women to explore how they experienced gender and empowerment and to …

Bringing Sexy Back: To What Extent Do Online Television Audiences Contest Fat-Shaming?, Debbie Rodan

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The latest reality program about weight loss makeover, Australian Channel Seven’s Bringing Sexy Back maintained the dominant frame of fat as bad, shameful and unsexy. Similar to other programs’ point of view, only slim bodies could claim to be healthy and sexy. Conversely the Fat Acceptance movement presents fat as beautiful, sexy, and healthy. But what did online audiences in 2014 think about Bringing Sexy Back? In this article online-viewer-generated comments are analysed to find out: a) whether audiences challenged and contested the dominant framing; and b) what phrases did they use to do this. The research task is …

Chinese Nursing Students' Culture-Related Learning Styles And Behaviours: A Discussion Paper, Carol C. Wang, Kenneth M. Greenwood

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Globalisation requires that nursing education focuses on culturally competent care. International students studying in Australia present a valuable resource for cultural learning, yet internationalisation presents opportunities and challenges for both lecturers and students. This paper explores Chinese nursing students, the single largest group of international students in Australia, their communication behaviour, patterns and learning styles at Australian universities from cultural and psychosocial perspectives. Our aim is to provide insight for educators in Western countries to better understand this particular ethnic group and help Chinese nursing students overcome learning difficulties and develop their potential learning capabilities. We further recommend coping strategies …

A Sense Of Home: A Cultural Geography Of The Leschenault Estuary District: Report, Sandra Wooltorton

Research outputs 2013

Executive Summary

In 2012, a project was implemented to determine the place-based social values of the people of the Leschenault Estuary district. The project included a historical study, a literature review, a survey with quantitative and qualitative questions, targeted community engagement (five focus groups, six individual interviews) and a photo-elicitation study with a group of high school children.

Research Question

What is history of the relationship between people and place in the Leschenault Estuary District, and what is the relationship in 2012? What were, and what are the place-based social values of the population?

Men Of Steel Or Plastic Cops: The Use Of Ethnography As A Transformative Agent, Christine Teague, David Leith

Research outputs pre 2011

The Perth urban rail system, like many other rail systems in Australia and overseas, is subject to crime and anti-social behaviour around the railway environs from a small minority of the travelling public. The transit officers, who form part of the security section of the Public Transport Authority, are the people employed to deal with these incidents, which can result in transit officers being injured. To fully understand the violence and antisocial behaviour that they deal with on a regular basis and develop strategies to reduce this risk of injury, it was necessary to enter their world. The researcher in …

Aboriginal English Genres In Perth, Ian G. Malcolm

Research outputs pre 2011

Aboriginal Australia has a unique heritage of oral literature and Aboriginal people of all ages take delight in yarning. Despite the richness and contemporary relevance of this heritage, little is known in the wider Australian society about the oral discourse skills that are taken for granted in Aboriginal communities.

Although the art of oral narrative has developed over countless generations and by medium of Indigenous languages, previous studies (Malcolm 1994a, b; Malcolm and Rochecouste 2000; Rochecouste and Malcolm 2000) have shown that it is vigorously maintained in Aboriginal English.

The lack of general awareness of the verbal art of Aboriginal …

On The Power Of Language And The Language Of Power, Ian Malcolm

Research outputs pre 2011

No abstract provided.

Socialization During Childhood On A Remote Traditionally Oriented Aboriginal Settlement, John Bucknall

Research outputs pre 2011

No abstract provided.