ABSTRACT
This chapter reports on the nature of a 'discursive' and 'bricolage' approach to schooling that has arisen from researching the educational needs of UK Gypsy/Roma/Traveller and Indigenous Australian children. It argues that a fundamental reconstruction of curriculum is required. The continued refusal of modern education systems within major world economies to recognize and respect the knowledge and culture of marginalized families and students diminishes the quality of teaching and learning for all. As marginalised groups living within two of the world's major economies, Indigenous Australian (IA) and Gypsy Roma Traveller (GRT) children continue to experience the discrimination and indignities of racism and colonialism. The notion of discursive knowledge is enhanced through the consistent use of language in negotiating, implementing and communicating projects across the curriculum. It is specific funds of knowledge pertaining to the social, economic and productive activities of people in a local region, not 'culture' in its broadest anthropological sense, that we seek to incorporate strategically into classrooms.
