A Principal's Perspective on Multiliteracies in an Australian Show Community

Implications for Learning as Rural Engagement

Authors

  • Catherine Fullarton Queensland School for Travelling Show Children
  • Geoff Danaher Central Queensland University
  • Beverley Moriarty Central Queensland University
  • Patrick Alan Danaher Central Queensland University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47381/aijre.v14i2.506

Keywords:

mobile learning, multiliteracies, rural engagement, show community

Abstract

The mobile community that owns and operates 'sideshow alley' in Australia's agricultural show circuits has traditionally been marginalised in terms of formal educational provision. However, the establislunent of the Queensland School for Travelling Show Children in 2000 reflected the aspirations of show people and sympathetic educators that education for mobile groups can be enacted differently. This different educational enactment is explored through the conceptual lens of a 'multiliteracies' framework (Cope & Kalantzis, 2000), which is used to identify and value the complex and diverse forms of sense-making that the show people deploy. This paper focuses on the perspective of the Principal of the school, who was one of the interviewees in the research reported here and also the lead author of this paper. Analysis of these data indicates that formal learning that embraces and enhances multiliteracies is one significant strategy for promoting education productively - and potentially transfonnatively - in such communities.

Author Biographies

Catherine Fullarton, Queensland School for Travelling Show Children

Catherine Fnnerton has been Foundation Principal of the Queensland School for Travelling Show Children since its establislmlent in 2000. Prior to that, she was one of a group of teachers at the Brisbane School of Distance Education who worked with show children since 1989.

Geoff Danaher, Central Queensland University

Geoff Danaher is Lecturer in Contemporary Communication in the Faculty of Informatics and Communication at the Rockhampton campus of Central Queensland University, Australia. He has co-written books about Michel Foucault (Alien & Unwin, 2000) and Pierre Bourdieu (Alien & Unwin, 2002).

Beverley Moriarty, Central Queensland University

Beverley Moriarty is Senior Lecturer and Sub-dean in the Faculty of Education and Creative Arts at the Gladstone campus of Central Queensland University, Australia. She is co-editor of theme issues of the Journal of Research in Rural Education (2003) and the Queensland Journal of Educational Research (2003).

Patrick Alan Danaher, Central Queensland University

Patrick Alan Danaher is Associate Professor and Head of the Leaming, Evaluation, Innovation and Development Centre in the Division of Teaching and Learning Services at the Rockhampton campus of Central Queensland University, Australia. He has been sole and co-editor of several journal theme issues.

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Published

01-07-2004

How to Cite

Fullarton, C., Danaher, G., Moriarty, B., & Danaher, P. A. (2004). A Principal’s Perspective on Multiliteracies in an Australian Show Community: Implications for Learning as Rural Engagement. Australian and International Journal of Rural Education, 14(2), 69–81. https://doi.org/10.47381/aijre.v14i2.506

Issue

Vol. 14 No. 2 (2004): Education in Rural Australia

Section

JOURNAL PAPERS

License

Copyright (c) 2023 Catherine Fullarton, Geoff Danaher, Beverley Moriarty, Patrick Alan Danaher

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