NZ J Educ Stud (2016) 51:291–293 DOI 10.1007/s40841-016-0055-y BOOK REVIEW
Angus Macfarlane, Sonja Macfarlane and Melinda Webber (eds.): Sociocultural Realities: Exploring New Horizons University of Canterbury Press, Christchurch, NZ, 2015, 224 pp, ISBN: 978-1-927145-72-2RRP, NZ$45 (softcover) Jenny Ritchie1 Received: 25 August 2016 / Accepted: 13 September 2016 / Published online: 19 September 2016 Ó New Zealand Association for Research in Education 2016
This edited collection provides an overview of sociocultural theory, drawing from a range of contextual positions and offering the expertise of a wide range of contributing scholars. The preface states that as convenors of courses which aim to prepare teachers to effectively support students from culturally diverse backgrounds, the editors identified the need for a text that provides the appropriate background for this purpose. They describe their intended audience as beginning and experienced teachers, special education advisors, psychologists, university lecturers and paraprofessionals from all levels of the education sector. They aim to bring research to life by providing examples of applications of sociocultural theory within different educational settings, characterising sociocultural theory as privileging the sharing of power, knowledge, space and educational success. Whilst the impact of sociocultural theorists continues to filter into research and pedagogical approaches, this is the first book (to my knowledge) that provides a comprehensive application within a range of pedagogical settings, and with a strong focus on the New Zealand context. This is an important contribution as the particular applications and explanations provided enable the reader to access a nuanced and sophisticated understanding of sociocultural theory. The first chapter includes an initial comprehensive review of ‘Sociocultural Foundations’ outlining key concepts from the literature pertaining to sociocultural theory in education. The pragmatic utility of sociocultural theory is contextualised further with reference to the education field in Aotearoa (New Zealand) and the role of sociocultural theory in supporting the inclusion of perspectives and pedagogies of Ma¯ori in Aotearoa, and of Indigenous peoples’ more generally. For example, attention is given to Indigenous pedagogical theorists such as Makereti/Maggie Papakura, who were contemporaries of Vygotsky, the Russian psychologist who is & Jenny Ritchie
[email protected] 1
Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand
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widely recognised as the ‘father’ of sociocultural theory. This juxtaposition of ‘western’ alongside te ao Ma¯ori onto-epistemologies is a strength of this book, as is its particular application to the context of education in Aotearoa. Readers will find useful the illustrative lists of intercultural strategies (p. 44) and enactment of Ma¯ori values (p. 45) that deserve to be respected and preserved. Chapter One concludes by suggesting that all education can be seen as sociocultural. I would go further, and suggest that all education should be critiqued from a sociocultural theoretical perspective. A brief overview cannot do justice to the richness of the content contained within this book. However, by way of illustration, some highlights of other chapters’ content include: Wally Penetito’s discussion of dialogic relations as a prerequisite for an ethic of responsibility (Chapter 2); a ‘braided rivers’ metaphor for dualepistemological transformation, based in a discussion of the application of Barbara Rogoff’s sociocultural theorising in relation to the need to re-value the cultural capital of Ma¯ori (Chapter 3); the application of key Ma¯ori values such as whanaungatanga, manaakitanga and rangatiratanga in narrative assessment of an adolescent with particular learning needs (Chapter 4); the challenges and struggles of early childhood teachers in delivering the sociocultural expectations of the New Zealand early childhood curriculum, Te Wha¯riki, in an increasingly ethnically diverse sector (Chapter 5); application of core Ma¯ori values within a primary school setting resulting in enhanced cultural identity and educational success—as Ma¯ori— as per the expectations of the government’s Ma¯ori Education Strategy, Ka Hikitia (Chapter 6); an application of the notion of ‘architectures of practice’ in relation to sociocultural theorising, applied to the middle-school years (Chapter 7); an examination of the connection between cultural identity and educational success for Ma¯ori secondary students (Chapter 8); and sociocultural messages arising from positioning Ma¯ori and Pa¯keha¯ as treaty partners (Chapter 10). Two chapters draw from other international contexts: Chapter Nine discusses factors enabling the success of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander doctoral students, and Chapter Eleven draws on the work of Sarah Ahmed, as well as Cook Island Ma¯ori legends and Indigenous epistemologies, to theorise that generosity, compassion and humility can serve as dispositions that may support Indigenous scholars in surviving the oppression of Eurocentric western institutions. The book is well-researched, written and edited, and each chapter is followed by a comprehensive list of references. The authors of each chapter clearly demonstrate their expertise and knowledge in their application of sociocultural theoretical understandings to their chosen milieu. Many of the chapters contain visual diagrams that provide overviews of the inter-relationship between key ideas being discussed. There is also a five page glossary of Ma¯ori terms and a comprehensive index at the end of the book. In Aotearoa, educators are required to acknowledge and incorporate taonga katoa, such as ma¯tauranga Ma¯ori and pedagogies of ako (reciprocity in teaching and learning) in accord with Te Tiriti o Waitangi obligations, yet in my experience, many educators (at all levels of the education system) struggle to move beyond token acknowledgement of te ao Ma¯ori. We have been so well schooled in our western traditions that moving beyond a reliance on these can be difficult even for
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those of us who espouse a commitment to transcend the constraints of monocultural lenses. As Angus Macfarlane states in Chapter Two, this dilemma ‘requires educators to move into the dynamic interface, a central space that is not only complex, but challenges people’s understanding’ (p. 43). The explication and applications of sociocultural theory outlined in this book provide illustration of ways in which educators can proceed beyond recolonizing narratives, to enable the expression of the tino rangatiratanga that was promised to Ma¯ori in Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Such pedagogies also hold promise for addressing the ongoing issue of Ma¯ori educational under achievement that continues to be a blight on our education system. The examples of this book will also offer inspiration and hope to Indigenous educators and academics engaged in similar processes of decolonisation elsewhere in the world.
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