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Distance Education and the Issue of Equity Online: Exploring the Perspectives of Rural Aboriginal Students

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 July 2015

Heather Gibb
Heather Gibb*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Health Studies, Charles Sturt University, Panorama Avenue, Bathurst, New South Wales, 2795, Australia
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Abstract

This paper explores Aboriginal perspectives of tertiary education “online” from rural and remote community locations in New South Wales. It does so within a frame of enquiry as to how neo-liberal educational policy reforms are impacting on equity issues in distance education “online”. Accounts from Aboriginal university students in health point to a range of tensions between changes brought about by the reform in relation to student subjectivity and university governance, and culturally preferred ways of learning for many Aboriginal people. The paper offers suggestions for how these forms of educational governance can be reconciled with educational support needs of remote Aboriginal learners.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education , Volume 35 , 2006 , pp. 21 - 29
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2006

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