Social justice and curriculum renewal for Samoan students: an Australian case study

Abstract

This paper examines the construction of ‘socially just’ curriculum renewal initiatives for Samoan students in a low socio-economic secondary school. Basil Bernstein's concept of recontextualization is used to investigate the implementation of Queensland's Social Justice Strategy at the school level. Interview data provided by the school's first two ‘social justice coordinators’ is analysed, focussing on the categorizations of students and discourses operative within the reform initiatives. Shifts in what counted as socially just curriculum for Samoan students are documented. The focus is on the varying strength of the boundaries of cultural categories (i.e. ‘Samoan’) and on tensions over the emphasis on the cultural knowledge of community representatives and the professional knowledge of school educators. The findings make explicit implications for the distribution of discursive resources to the Samoan students and, hence, life chances in a world in which English is a tool needed by young Australians irrespective of their cultural background.