Indigenous Education Research Articles

RMRM 2021

The American Chemical Society’s Southern Arizona Local Section will host the Rocky Mountain Regional Meeting (RMRM) Oct. 20–23 virtually and in person in Tucson, Arizona. The theme, “Diverse Chemistry in a Diverse Region,” is woven throughout the program. Full meeting details are available at rmrm2021.com. Technical program. The technical program consists of 17 oral sessions and two poster sessions. Sessions include “Química,” a session showcasing scientists presenting in Spanish. “Indigenous Ways of Knowing, Indigenous Education, and Chemistry” will explore the knowledge of the Native populations of the Southwest. “Black Chemists towards a Brighter Future” is a collaboration with the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers. Other technical sessions will include “Inorganic Chemistry Research and Teaching: A Symposium in Honor of Dennis L. Lichtenberger,” “Polyoxazolines in Industry,” “Polymers and Materials,” and “Energy: Solar, Batteries and Beyond.” The poster sessions will feature mostly in-person presentations; however,

Educating hypocrisy: private–public partnerships and management of multicultural projects in Taiwan

ABSTRACT The years following the end of martial law and the democratization of Taiwan have been marked by sizable political and social reform. In the interests of increasing social participation and decreasing direct state control of economic and social development programs, public–private partnerships (PPP) have been emphasized as the primary means to provide public services. Through an investigation into the functioning of a landmark project in the newest wave of educational reform orientated toward the localization and indigenization of elementary school educational materials, this paper will investigate the role that private entities have taken in the provision of education services. The extent that the privatization of education services serves to meet the goals and standards of Indigenous education will be discussed using a theoretical framework developed through the application of Tribal Critical Race Theory and Culturally Responsive Schooling. Semi-structured interviews with administrators, teachers, artists, and editors tasked with developing Indigenous centered learning materials problematize and question the procedural norms, conflicts of interest, and structural bias exacerbated by the increased presence of private entities. Through the experiences and counter narratives of participants, the issues of local alienation, limited consultation, and restricted Indigenous participation are revealed to be core issues in promoting Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination, tackling racism, and engaging with Indigenous epistemologies. This rare evaluation of the means by which multicultural education projects are realized by market-based forces acts to highlight the obstacles and practical limitations of PPP in the provision of essential public services in Indigenous areas.

Identities of Resignation: Threats to Indigenous Languages from Neoliberal Linguistic and Educational Practices

ABSTRACT We suggest that while Indigenous languages are threatened by capitalist and neoliberal encroachments, responses from applied linguists in the academy can be misguided. To make our argument, we must first define neoliberalism, and examine how the broader neoliberal discourses of choice, competition and the free market have percolated and distilled into local Indigenous language contexts, impacting languages, cultures and identities. We ask ourselves what identities are currently available, adopted and valorized by and for Indigenous language speakers, and how positions like Indigenous language speaker, academic/linguist, activist and teacher are altering in response to available neoliberal subject positions? We suggest that neoliberal discursive regimes position Indigenous peoples who do not speak their heritage languages as “victims needing recognition and redress.” The result is that they have become trapped in colonizer ideologies viewing Indigenous peoples as unfit to govern themselves. Colonized now by neoliberalism, Indigenous language speakers forced to live within neoliberal regimes must adopt identities of resignation, meaning engaged in a permanent struggle to accommodate themselves to the world. Instead, we posit that their positions are better framed and respected as identities of refusal, everyday actions of refusing enclosure.

“Las Del Istmo Son Muy Cabronas”: Teaching an Indigenous Language in a Language Teaching Preparation BA Program

ABSTRACT Language teaching preparation programs in Mexico have been part of the modernity/coloniality legacy favoring so-called “modern” languages (e.g., English and French) over Indigenous languages. The alleged neoliberal benefits these languages bring and their connection to “modernized” individuals and cultures overshadows the learning of Indigenous languages, whose speakers struggle with the colonial difference, the discourse that transforms otherness into inferiority. Situated in Oaxaca, the most culturally and linguistically diverse state in Mexico, the purpose of this paper is to present the results of an ongoing, longitudinal, critical-ethnographic-action-research project that has documented the recent inclusion of the Indigenous language Diidxazá/Isthmus Zapotec as part of a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree program in language teaching. Adopting a decolonizing theoretical lens and using vignettes co-constructed from participatory classroom and extra-curricular activity observations, photographs, and video recordings, ethnographic field notes, and on-going dialogue in formal and informal debriefing sessions, this paper presents the story of Kiara, the first Diidxazá teacher in this BA program. Based on an iterative analysis of the data, this paper addresses three main themes: (a) Indigenous teachers challenging the coloniality of being; (b) (Indigenous) women repositioning themselves; and (c) reflective activism decolonizing language teaching.

Creating Indigenous Knowledge Spaces in Physics Learning Environments: Postcolonial Views and Insights from High School Physics Teachers

The study explores teachers’ perspectives on the possibility and necessity of creating indigenous knowledge spaces (IKS) in physical learning environments (PLE) for learning physics in high schools in Zimbabwe. Traditional PLE such as laboratories for learning physics are still dominated by colonized western pedagogical designs and features but can be redesigned in light of the recent debates on Indigenous Knowledge (IK) and Science integration decolonizing agenda. IKS intends to make classrooms physics more accessible and meaningful for both indigenous teachers and learners. In many African countries including Zimbabwe, educational policies indicate the need to integrate IK and IKS in the school curriculum. However, these policies do not provide guidelines on what IK to integrate, where and how to do it in the existing curriculum as well as how to create and facilitate IKS. There are limited studies on IKS and advice on how to transform current educational facilities spaces. This study therefore provides insights on how IK can be integrated in physics through the creation of IKS in the PLE. In this regard, data were gathered from 10 male and 10 female teachers using quantitative (Likert-scale questionnaires) and qualitative data (observations and interviews). The findings suggest that the existing physics PLE are limited in providing IK resources for the teachers. The teachers confirm that IKS can be created in the PLE where indigenous artefacts are incorporated, traditional homestead are modelled, etc. integrated together with existing physics laboratory and school resources. The study recommends a variety of IK resources and strategies in the creation of IKS but it will also require a team effort from teachers, community, and educational authorities in effecting the decolonizing agenda.

A Systematic Literature Review of School Science Programs Addressing indigenous Perspectives: Research Approaches and Opportunities (1999-2019)

This article is a systematic literature review of cross-cultural science education research articles published between 1999 and 2019. Programs and practices that seek to extend our understanding of implementing effective cross-cultural research are analysed. More research in elementary school contexts, particularly in rural and remote locations is recommended. Including cognitive outcomes into the data collection mix would allow for a clearer picture of student learning. Future research in the field of indigenous science education should also include culturally responsive methodologies that work in an agreed middle-ground space.

Intercultural curriculum of the Akwe Indigenous School of Tocantins from a decolonial perspective

The aim of this paper is to propose a reflection on the construction of a critical intercultural curricular proposal, by means of a decolonial perspective, for indigenous education, in particular the one which occurs at the Wakõmẽkwa School,[1] in Riozinho Kakumhu community, of a Xerente Indigenous People from Tocantins, a state in Northern Brazil. We start from the legal milestones, which regulate Indigenous School Education at the federal and state levels, and we have adopted, as a theoretical and methodological support, authors who think the indigenous school curriculum in a critical intercultural perspective, such as: Albuquerque (2014), Diniz; Coast; Diniz (2011), Muniz, (2017), and Santos (2010). From a field research, using the conversation wheel technique with indigenous teachers who work at the Wakõmẽkwa School, we have realized that it is possible to stimulate school agents to think in the decolonial perspective, in order to break with the colonized knowledge, based on a critical reorientation of citizenship, democracy, human rights, humanities, economic relations and their practices in society. [1] The Wakõmēkwa Indigenous School, of the Riozinho Kakumhu Community, located in Tocantins, was the locus of the field research.

Unfettering discussions about social justice: the role of conversational prompts in discussions about mathematics education for Indigenous students

To increase possibilities for listening respectfully to Indigenous educators, there is a need to identify conversational prompts which are used to raise alternative views of social justice about mathematics education for Indigenous students. Using Nancy Fraser’s description of abnormal social justice, an analysis was made of transcripts from round table sessions, at an Indigenous mathematics education conference. This analysis identified a number of conversational prompts that enabled shifts from normal to abnormal discussions about social justice. Normal discussions exhibited assumptions in which mathematics was valued as a Western domain of knowledge; cultural examples could be used as vehicles to teach mathematics; and decisions about education for Indigenous students should be made by external authorities. In abnormal discussions, these assumptions were queried and alternative possibilities arose. The conversational prompts, which initiated this querying, occurred in a number of ways, including the telling of stories and the asking of questions that either directly or indirectly challenged normal justice discourses about Indigenous students’ learning of mathematics. Identifying conversational prompts can assist non-Indigenous mathematics educators, who wish to be allies, to challenge their own and others’ assumptions about normal social justice issues related to mathematics education for Indigenous students.

Moving Your Body, Soul, and Heart to Share and Harvest Food

Colonialism, and its partner, racism, greatly impact Indigenous food systems across Canada elevating the rates of diet-related diseases and food insecurity. Many Indigenous communities have responded to these challenges with their own community-based, culturally appropriate food solutions, including local food production. This participatory research explores the question of traditional food education for First Nations youth through photo elicitation with five young adults employed on a community farm and interviews with twelve Elders, community food educators and Knowledge Keepers. This research provides the building blocks for food education to support a community-based, Indigenous food system and sovereignty, informed by Garden Hill First Nation Elders and youth. Interviews and participatory research established that food education should be rooted in traditional and spiritual beliefs, land-based learning and self-determination, and food policies and programs need to assess the use of technology, financial sustainability, and promote gender balance. Community desires for food education closely match the tenets of Indigenous food sovereignty. This research shows the importance of developing Indigenous food education programs that are community-based and applied.

¿Del monólogo al diálogo de saberes? Una reflexión epistemológica y pedagógica sobre la incorporación de los saberes tradicionales indígenas en la educación intercultural básica en México

Con el presente artículo propongo un análisis del concepto de diálogo de saberes en la educación intercultural. Para ello, la reflexión gira en torno a tres puntos: la dificultad teórica de hacer conciliar inclusión y diálogo; el cuestionamiento de la pertinencia de los métodos e instrumentos de la epistemología occidental para sistematizar los saberes indígenas; la crítica a la propuesta de incorporación de los saberes indígenas reflejada en los Marcos Curriculares de Educación Indígena y de la Población Migrante. Se sostiene que el sistema educativo mexicano, al encontrarse aún inmerso en una ideología sustancialmente inclusivista y homogeneizadora, está muy lejos de pasar del monólogo cultural, pedagógico y epistemológico al diálogo. Se concluye que el desafío consiste en hacer efectivo el ideal de una educación intercultural para todos y en fomentar la reflexión epistemológica para la comprensión de los saberes indígenas, con el fin de evitar aplicar procesos de sistematización erróneos para su incorporación en la escuela.

Seeing whiteness as property through Métis teachers’ K-12 stories of racism

ABSTRACT Collaboration among Indigenous Peoples and the Saskatchewan government in Canada has led to Indigenous K-12 education progress concerning First Nations and Métis peoples, the Indigenous populations whose traditional territories exist within Saskatchewan. Acknowledging such advancements, this paper is concerned with how white identified students continue to graduate with higher completion and achievement rates than Métis and First Nations students. Critical race theory (CRT) can assist with understanding how racialised statistics persist in spite of decades of government administered Indigenous education initiatives and mandates. Contributing to anti-racist informed Indigenous education scholarship, this study applies aspects of CRT scholar Cheryl Harris’s whiteness as property theory to a qualitative critical race methodological analysis of 13 Métis teachers’ K-12. stories of racism. When viewed from a CRT lens, the findings suggest Métis teachers’ experiences with racism in K-12 schools can contribute to our understanding of how to ensure democratic and racially just practices.

Centering Voices: Weaving Indigenous Perspectives in Teacher Education

The value of weaving Indigenous perspectives into the mainstream curricula of Ontario teacher education programs is gaining prominence (Bell & Brant, 2015; Nardozi, Restoule, Broad, Steele, & James, 2014; Tanaka, 2016). Since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action (2015), efforts are being made across Ontario to “educate teachers on how to integrate Indigenous knowledge and teaching methods into classrooms” (TRC #62, p. 7). Despite growing efforts within teacher preparation programs, many settler teacher candidates are still anxious (Kanu, 2011; Morcom & Freeman, 2019); they fear practicing inadvertent cultural appropriation, and/or offending or misinforming their students and colleagues. To address these concerns, we posed the research question: What impact would Indigenous guest speakers and workshop leaders have on helping Settler teacher candidates navigate Indigenous content in a culturally appropriate and respectful manner? Using an action research framework, we explored how Indigenous ways of knowing impacted the attitudes of teacher candidates in a Bachelor of Education program. The data we collected suggests that by listening to and learning from Indigenous teachings, teacher candidates can attain a deeper understanding of relationality (Wilson, 2008) as it applies to Indigenous ways ofknowing. While certain questions remained, pre-service teachers had an increased knowledge of Indigenous content, and felt more comfortable integrating Indigenous perspectives into their classroom practice.

Kei tua o te awe māpara/Beyond the mask: Māori language teaching in English-medium secondary schools in New Zealand

The New Zealand Curriculum Framework (Ministry of Education, 1993, p. 14) states that "[all] who learn te reo Māori help to secure its future as a living, dynamic, and rich language". However, I will argue here that appearance and reality are very far apart. Close examination of the context in which teachers of the Māori language operate tells a very different story, one characterised byinadequate consultation with teachers and communities, a lack of consistency between the advice provided in the curriculum guidelines document and the resources made available to teachers, and a failure to ensure that adequate pre- and inservice training is provided. Finally, as a way forward to help strengthen policy and inform Indigenous language teachers, a reflection onlessons learnt in the New Zealand context and some useful Indigenous language strategies will be provided.

Culturally Responsive, Sustaining, and Revitalizing Pedagogies: Perspectives from Native American Education

We examine culturally relevant/responsive pedagogy (CRP) and its extensions–culturally based and culturally sustaining and revitalizing pedagogy–focusing on Native American/Indigenous education. Teasing out the roots of these pedagogies in Indigenous education systems, we follow their “footprints” in contemporary education practices. How might these models of Indigenous CRP help nurture diverse learner assets, foster students’ critical engagement with power and privilege, and (re)imagine and act for a socially just world?

Socio-cultural characteristics of the Russian Indigenous communities in the Barents region

Legal regulation of socio-cultural processes taking place in the Barents Euro-Arctic Region (BEAR) is not effective without involving indigenous communities, which is a specific population group representing the traditional ethno-cultural landscape of the region, unchanged for centuries and affected by globalization. Owing to the cross-border nature of the BEAR, socio-cultural characteristics acquire special synergetic properties determining the vectors of intergovernmental cooperation. With areas of its land making up the largest part of the BEAR, Russia seems to be the key actor in its socio-cultural development. It is difficult to estimate the progress of the unity without understanding the legal and political background of Russia in the field of indigenous issues. This paper sheds light on the policy and regulations on indigenous-related issues in Russia by examining five cases of regions which are part of the Russian Arctic Zone and the BEAR members. The authors compare the essential actions and measures the Russian Arctic regions have taken for complying with the international indigenous agenda. The paper also makes an effort to examine the potential for cooperation in the BEAR through establishing institutional, political and legal mechanisms. The conclusion arrived at is that Russia needs to take major steps to ensure progress and development of its part of the BEAR and to contribute to the BEAR development by fostering further discussion and cooperation on indigenous rights, joint decision-making, clean environment, education and native languages, peace and security.

Kanne Lobal: A conceptual framework relating education and leadership partnerships in the Marshall Islands

Kanne Lobal: A conceptual framework relating education and leadership partnerships in the Marshall Islands

It’s in the blood: theory and praxis of lifelong Indigenous education

ABSTRACT Through the voice of a Metis educator, this work addresses the foundations of an Indigenous lifelong education. Lived experiences connect with unfolding personal narrative to demonstrate the ancient flow of Indigenous knowledge, and the continuity and expression of Indigenous being. The narratives implicitly references connections and relationships between people and land as vitally necessary for Indigenous learning and the survival of Indigenous peoples as distinct and whole human individuals and collectives. The concept of ‘blood memory’ is presented as foundational to the narrative and repositions a content that might otherwise align closely with readily accessible and acknowledged renewal within Indigenous education. This work does not speak from within the theoretical canons of education and schooling as these are upheld, adhered to, and promoted by Western intellectual traditions of knowledge. It offers analytical, critical thinking derived from the lived experiences and acquired learning of an Indigenous educator. The narratives demonstrate that lifelong learning is gifted and accepted through intentional individual and collective participation within a flow of knowledge transmission and transformation grounded upon generations of ancestral research in the development, validation, sharing, practice, and renewal of praxes that support everyday living and dying.

Freire’s longevity in intercultural education: entangled histories from Colombian and Mexican higher education

ABSTRACT In this paper we comparatively analyze the transnational migration of Freirean critical pedagogy to intercultural higher education in two plurilingual indigenous regions, the Cauca department (Colombia) and the state of Veracruz (Mexico). Through a case study of the Universidad Autónoma Indígena Intercultural (UAIIN), an indigenous intercultural university created by the Consejo Regional Indígena del Cauca, in Colombia, and the Universidad Veracruzana Intercultural (UVI), an intercultural higher education initiative created inside Universidad Veracruzana, we identify a triangle of innovation that involves (1) indigenous community education, (2) Freirean popular education promoted by social movements and (3) academically inspired intercultural and plurilingual education.

Indigenous primary school teachers’ reflections of cultural pedagogy - developing positive social skills and increased student self-awareness in the modern day classroom

ABSTRACT School classrooms worldwide consist of a diversity of cultures. Teachers in these classrooms play key roles in the preparation of students not only in terms of their academic and career readiness, but also in their understanding of how to socially navigate communities. In remote areas where communities rely on their culture and social norms to guide behaviours to sustain a flourishing culture and community, non-academic life skills become part of the focus of teaching. This paper shares a portion of research investigating cultural self-perceptions of both Canadian Indigenous primary school students and their teachers. These Indigenous educators in remote communities reveal culture’s important role in teaching that impacts children’s social development. The data provides a perspective rarely investigated that shares the practices of these Indigenous teachers. Their cultural and societal expectations lead to encouraging other teachers in various global contexts to reflect on their own teaching practices, cultural identities, and non-academic life skill pedagogies.

Using Peacemaking Circles to Indigenize Tribal Child Welfare

Historical child welfare policies explicitly aimed to exterminate Indigenous culture and disrupt tribal cohesion. The remnants of these policies form the foundation for the contemporary child welfare system. These policies view the child as an isolated and interchangeable asset, over which parents enjoy property-like rights, and in which the child welfare system is incentivized to “save” children from perceived economic, cultural, and geographic ills through an adversarial process. Extended family, community members, and cultural connections have minimal voice or value. These underpinnings inform federal policies that influence all child welfare systems, including tribal child welfare systems. The result is that tribal child welfare systems perpetuate the individual, rights-centric, adversarial child welfare system that harms Indigenous families.
 Indigenous children have the right to maintain connections to their Indigenous family, tribal nation, culture, and cultural education. These rights translate into obligations the community owes to the child to ensure that these connections are robust. Tradition-based systems of dispute resolution—frequently called “peacemaking,” among other names, but which we will call “circle processes”—offer a hopeful alternative.
 Circle processes are rooted in an Indigenous worldview that perceives an issue, particularly a child welfare issue, as evidence of community imbalance that directly impacts the community, and conversely, imparts an obligation on the community to respond. Through the circle, family and community can complete their natural reciprocal relationship.
 Tribal child welfare has the potential to be a transformative system that promotes community, family, and children’s health and the self-determination and sovereignty of tribes. This Article outlines the ways in which the modern tribal child welfare system has been structured to compartmentalize families and perpetuate historical federal policies of Indian family separation. This Article then suggests that circle processes are a framework for re-Indigenizing the tribal child welfare system to not just improve outcomes (for which it has the potential to do), but to also honor the interconnected, responsibility oriented worldview of Indigenous communities. Ultimately, however, tribes should lead that re-Indigenization process, whether through a circle process framework or otherwise.