Indigenous Learning Research Articles

Looking to see, listening to hear, learning to understand: centring Indigenous relationality to pursue a more-than-disciplinary academy

Indigenous scholars argue that the reciprocal relationality of life should be taken more seriously in scholarship responding to environmental crisis; however, much of orthodox academia analyses the environment as a separate category through the physical and social science disciplines. This article shows how human exceptionalism, human centrism, racial discrimination, and Euro-American centric privilege interweave in academic institutions and practices, often invisibly and thus insidiously, to dismiss Indigenous scholarship and lived experiences. We explore how to meaningfully address these problematics, presenting examples from our academic practices to overturn colonial and imperial privilege. We present a more-than-disciplinary approach to undiscipline nature, knowledge, and peoples. We argue that this paradigm shift is best led by Indigenous leaders in relationality, whose expert knowledge inheritance already holds nature with society. We present an Indigenous, pedological approach, to help destabilise orthodox academic disciplinary approaches and organisational structures through foregrounding Indigenous learning and knowledge systems.

Study Habits and Learning Performance Of Grade 6 Indigenous Learners In A District

Study Habits and Learning Performance Of Grade 6 Indigenous Learners In A District

Teaching Across Culture: Insights from Teachers of Indigenous Elementary Pupils at Gigaquit, Surigao Del Norte: A Narrative Inquiry

This qualitative study delved into the experiences of Mamanwa Tribe teachers educating indigenous elementary students in Gigaquit, Surigao del Norte. Utilizing narrative inquiry and categorical-content analysis, the study highlighted two key themes: the considerable challenges faced by these teachers (such as language barriers and student absenteeism) and the strategies they employed to overcome them (including home visits and parental communication). The findings underscore the necessity for a multi-faceted approach from educational authorities to address these challenges and provide support for teachers in indigenous communities. Recommendations include increased scholarship opportunities and encouragement for indigenous learners to enter the teaching profession, thereby strengthening the ranks of indigenous educators.

Kurdish Vernacular Learning as Indigenous Knowledge: Decolonizing Ottoman Cultural and Intellectual History

This contribution explores in what ways the Kurdish experience may be called “colonial” and, by extension, what decolonizing Kurdish studies would or could amount to. Specifically, it explores whether and to what extent Kurdish vernacular learning may be qualified as “Indigenous learning” as it appears in decolonial critiques. The article suggests a genealogical approach to the epistemic dimensions of coloniality to explicate the radical historicity of knowledge and to make visible relations of domination and resistance in the field of knowledge and learning. Early modern Kurdish vernacular learning, it will be argued, was produced under the domination of Persian and Arabic, and to some extent it amounted to heresy, that is, an act of symbolic resistance. The article concludes with a brief discussion of the vernacularization of Kurdish language and learning in the seventeenth-century Ottoman Empire and in Mollah Mahmûdê Bayazîdî’s encounter with nineteenth-century Russian imperialism and Orientalism.

Place-Based Indigenous Student Mentorship: Storying the Process of the Atlantic Indigenous Mentorship Network

Introduction. Indigenous post-secondary education students bring unique insights, knowledges, and expertise into post-secondary education spaces. Yet, post-secondary education in Canada is often a site of marginalization for Indigenous students given its’ colonial underpinnings. Targeted mentorship initiatives can be a way to support Indigenous learners through their post-secondary education journeys. Purpose. This manuscript chronicles the creation and ongoing work of the Atlantic Indigenous Mentorship Network and shares insights, challenges, and goals for the network as it continues to support Indigenous students in the Atlantic region. Implications. Our network utilizes a multi-pronged mentorship approach through offering financial, learning, and mentorship opportunities guided by the voices of Indigenous students in the region. Notably, our ability to build relationships with and amongst Indigenous students is strengthened through having an Indigenous graduate student coordinating the network over more than four years. Given the diversity of Indigenous Peoples in the Atlantic, our network has and continues to capture and engage with diverse Indigenous learners in a way that pays respect to their unique knowledges and challenges through continuous consultation and engagement. Our success is demonstrated through the increase in funded students conducting Indigenous health research in the region and through feedback gathered directly from students engaged with the network. Conclusion. By sharing the story of the Atlantic Indigenous Mentorship Network, we hope that learnings and insight can be gleamed to create and continue to strengthen other mentorship initiatives directed towards supporting Indigenous students.

Un-learning and re-learning:

In this reflexive piece, the authors consider the unexpected lessons learned while undertaking a collaborative research project with their home institution’s Indigenous Learning Centre on urban berry foraging. The faculty member questions the ethics of settlers undertaking this work, even if in collaboration with an Indigenous community, alongside the promises of this work to critical food studies. The practice of urban foraging is understood as a wider metaphor for Indigenous worldview, and for different ways of being and relating. The student’s reflections weave together themes of learning outside the classroom, with family and community, and the holistic aspects of doing research.

Un-learning and re-learning:

In this reflexive piece, the authors consider the unexpected lessons learned while undertaking a collaborative research project with their home institution’s Indigenous Learning Centre on urban berry foraging. The faculty member questions the ethics of settlers undertaking this work, even if in collaboration with an Indigenous community, alongside the promises of this work to critical food studies. The practice of urban foraging is understood as a wider metaphor for Indigenous worldview, and for different ways of being and relating. The student’s reflections weave together themes of learning outside the classroom, with family and community, and the holistic aspects of doing research.

“Smooth seas never made a skilled sailor”: Indigenous students’ academic buoyancy and the locale of the learner

This article explores how academic buoyancy, a concept from the educational psychology literature, can be used to understand the experiences of Indigenous secondary students’ schooling. Academic buoyancy refers to students’ ability to overcome everyday challenges of schooling. In this project, 11 Indigenous secondary students in a remote school shared their experiences of school and how they developed a range of capabilities to overcome the everyday challenges. Factors often seen as cultural impediments for Indigenous students, such as the “shame factor”, can be viewed as agentic attempts by Indigenous students to develop new capacities, such as a strategy to deal with the fear of failure. It is through these attempts that students develop strategies to negotiate the classroom without giving up their own cultural positions. This article extends earlier research on resilience to focus on the development of academically buoyant capacities that allow students to better navigate the complexities at the locale of the remote Indigenous learner.

Creating Thirdspace: Indigenous Learning Lab to Transform a School Discipline System

Racial disproportionality in school discipline is an enduring systemic problem. This study is based on a collaboration with 14 school stakeholders: American Indian students, parents, community members, and educators at a high school in a community-driven problem-solving process called Indigenous Learning Lab (ILL). ILL members addressed the root causes of the racialized school discipline and created a new school discipline system. Using critical geography and decolonizing methodology as the theoretical and analytical framework, this study aimed to unpack the emergence of Thirdspace—a space of resistance, possibilities, and hopes—in ILL to address enduring racial disproportionality. Members challenged race-neutrality of data sense-making, mapped out dystopia, revitalized American Indian epistemology, and mapped out a real utopian vision of schooling.

Integrating four teaching and learning methods to deliver transformational social work education online

ABSTRACT As responsive social work education is about meeting the dynamic needs of learners, social work educators engage with innovative approaches that promote teaching and learning (TAL). The purpose of this article is to address the research question: Based on our experience as educators, what TAL methods can support social work and human services curriculum delivery in an online environment? Using the co-operative research method and analyzing our reflections, we proposed a model of curriculum delivery which conceptualizes the application of four methods of TAL (pedagogy, andragogy, heutagogy, and paragogy). We also illustrate how this teaching approach can promote different levels of learning (single, double, and triple- loop learning). The model is based on internationally agreed principles of social work and can incorporate non-Western and Indigenous learning processes. We argue that when educators and learners use these four methods in different combinations, it is possible to produce learning experiences that augment social work skills and knowledge development, as well as prepare learners for a multi-dimensional world of change. The implication is that there is scope in the presented model to promote transformational learning and ways of positive engagement during social disruption and dynamic change, both features in our current global environment.

A collaborative approach to develop indigenous specific parenting education

AbstractDiscrimination against Indigenous peoples is ongoing and perpetuated by systemic structures such as Eurocentric educational systems that often require learners to suppress their Indigeneity and conform to the dominant culture. Previous attempts at incorporating Indigenous cultures and values into education have often perpetuated harmful and negative stereotypes to the detriment of Indigenous learners. Parenting education courses for separating or divorcing parents are designed to support emotional wellbeing and promote positive co‐parenting relationships. While it is widely known that Indigenous worldviews vary from Western worldviews, there is little research on parenting education courses for Indigenous families and few culturally responsive programs designed for non‐dominant cultures or offered in other languages. Walking in two worlds is a reality for Indigenous peoples; needing to conform to the dominant systems in society while also honoring their teachings and ways of being. This article describes how a parenting education course for Indigenous families was created by employing the principle of collaboration with full involvement of all participants resulting in a course that bridges the gap between two different worldviews.

Transforming Online Teaching Through Relational Ways of Being

We explore the need for educators to design, implement, and assess online education for Indigenous students with intention and in a good way. As more Indigenous learners access online programs, it is essential to amplify the discussion on how post-secondary education institutions can better design educational programs and support learners through intentionally engaging in relational ways of being. Drawing from our experience delivering the Professional Project Administrator Program, we examine the significance of partnership building in enhancing cultural learning within the online space. We highlight the need for intentional faculty development initiatives and discuss the challenges that became an avenue for unlearning and educational innovation. Furthermore, we delve into the design and implementation of a holistic rubric tailored specifically to support the implementation of relational pedagogies. We hope that these learnings offer useful lessons for online teaching, emphasizing the need to foster culturally responsive environments where learners can thrive.

Lived Experiences of Teachers Handling Bajao Learners in the Context of Blended Learning: A Phenomenological Approach

This study investigates teachers' perspectives on handling Bajao learners in the context of blended learning. Phenomenological qualitative research using interviews with seven (7) faculty members from Sta. Ana District, Davao City Division, was undertaken in order to contribute teachers' voices dealing with indigenous learners while implementing distance education. In-person interviews were conducted, audiotaped, transcribed, and evaluated for recurring themes. Member checks and peer reviews were used to verify the data. Several themes emerged from the teachers’ experiences with Bajao learners. Most participants shared their perspectives on the struggles of Bajao learners. Many expressed that Bajao learners and their families were reluctant to report symptoms for fear of financial and physical health consequences. Access to digital resources was a major issue for staying on track with distance learning. Many were unable to afford or have access to their daily necessities. Family financial strain, agitation, a poor learning environment, and behavioral fatigue posed challenges for teachers. Teachers must adopt certain strategies, such as (a) alternative student assessment delivery, (b) encouraging parental support through communication and a positive approach, and (c) outsourcing and the use of personal funds to meet needs. Participants reflected on teaching ideals and expressed their preference for face-to-face delivery. The review of blended learning delivery and the enhancement of programs aimed at improving Bajao's quality of life were also observed. Therefore, we recommend that public and private institutions collaborate to create culture-based instruction for Bajao learners.

Decolonizing English language testing

AbstractTesting practices and the construct of English both serve separately and interactionally to promote activities of modernity and coloniality. Tests categorize and rank learning and knowledge in discrete, static ways. The construct of the English language through standardization and other processes upholds linguistic purism ideologies. Such concerns in both areas lead to the guiding question: What and whose purposes are being served with testing in English? In engaging with this question, the author posits that decolonizing approaches to testing and the construct of English are needed. In this article, she presents assessment practices developed within Indigenous learning contexts that can inform general approaches to assessment and language with implications for English language testing. In doing so, the article offers actions toward imaginative and creative reconfigurations of English testing according to epistemologies of communities that have confronted colonialist activities.

Computational thinking for young indigenous learners in New Zealand

Computational thinking for young indigenous learners in New Zealand

Pragmatism as basis of the integration of Indigenous knowledge systems and practices in the Philippine K-12 Indigenous Peoples Education Program: Problematizing and ways forward

I interrogate the Philippine Indigenous Peoples Education’s operational construct of culture to explicate its indigenous knowledge systems and practices (IKSP) integration into the K-12 curriculum. Pragmatism as a philosophical framework mainly guides the argument in this paper. In the first part, I introduce the old and contemporary meanings of culture and point out flaws in the IKSP integration. Literature backing the essence of IKSP integration into the school curriculum dominated by the Western knowledge system is discussed in the second part, followed by a discussion on culture and indigeneity that nuance further the IKSP integration in public education. The Philippine Indigenous Peoples Education is presented next, highlighting its definition of IPs, focus areas, support systems, and recent developments, ending with a critique. Analysis and discussion follow. The paper concludes with a challenge, especially for the education sectors, to reframe their lenses at looking at culture to build authentic relationships with indigenous communities and provide indigenous learners with an education that is need-based and culture-sensitive, one that respects their worldviews, knowledge systems, heritages, and identities, one that is truly liberating. Providing IPs an education responsive to the changing society can help them achieve a real sense of self-determination for social progress.

Ē-pī-wīcihtāsowin ahpō ē-pī-wīchisowin: non-indigenous learners in Indigenous language-learning spaces

ABSTRACT This paper contributes to ongoing conversations on the contextual differences and considerations between learning an Indigenous language as a member of an Indigenous nation or community and learning an Indigenous language as a non-Indigenous person (Albury, 2015; Berardi-Wiltshire & Bortolotto, 2022; May 2023; O’Toole, 2020; Te Huia, 2020). While we see value in considering how non-Indigenous Canadians can positively contribute to Indigenous language revitalization efforts, we also want to consider the consequences of that involvement for Indigenous Peoples who are asked to share Indigenous language learning spaces with non-Indigenous students. As a group of colleagues from different communities, all with connections to Indigenous language revitalization, we came together to consider questions such as: Are Indigenous languages for everyone or are they languages that should be learned only by Indigenous peoples? And if we accept or encourage Indigenous language learning by non-Indigenous Canadians, are there parameters that might need to be implemented? To this end, we used the Indigenous research method of conversation (Kovach, 2010) during biweekly meetings recorded on Zoom. Data consisted of meeting transcripts and web-based documents of written reflections. In our analysis of these documents, we identified three interrelated themes: 1) linguistic insecurity, 2) trauma and language learning and 3) settler dominance in Indigenous language settings. As a settler colonial country, Canada’s past and present continues to shape interactions between Indigenous Peoples and non-Indigenous Canadians in ways relevant to the topic of Indigenous language revitalization. Ultimately, we do want non-Indigenous people to learn Indigenous languages so that these languages can once again be languages of broader society (McIvor, 2012). We also recognize that Indigenous Peoples deserve to reclaim Indigenous languages in safe and trauma-free ways. Ultimately, we must work together to ensure that including non-Indigenous learners in Indigenous language programs does not cause injury to Indigenous learners. This paper offers recommendations for ways to achieve these goals.

"Fuzzy Feet and The Skunk": Connecting Western and Indigenous Theories of Development and Learning Through Story

This article looks at how Indigenous and Western perspectives on learning and development are interwoven and come into dialogue with one another to create supportive and inclusive classrooms for Indigenous (and all) students. We use a storytelling methodology to address this focus and offer a holistic approach to our analysis. Specifically, we provide a fictional story followed by an in-depth analysis to tease out how Indigenous students continue to experience racism and colonialism in schools and what theories of learning and development may offer in addressing these challenges. This article offers insight about how both practising teachers and teacher educators can build upon the wisdom of Indigenous ways of learning and Western educational practices to re-imagine inclusive classrooms that can support Indigenous (and all) learners.

Understanding Indigenous Learners’ Experiences During the First and Second Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic

This paper focuses on the experiences of Indigenous learners at Athabasca University. Having access to online education provided a sense of normalcy for students during the global pandemic while many post-secondary institutions and Indigenous communities were closed. The purpose of the research was two-fold: a) to determine the dynamics of reaching Indigenous learners and measuring their adaptability in learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, and b) to understand the effects of the pandemic on the mind, body, spirit, and social environment of Indigenous distance education learners and their families. This research included qualitative and quantitative methods, specifically, a survey, focus group, and individual interviews. We share the results of online research involving Indigenous students during the first and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. We concluded that listening to Indigenous students supported their online education while giving them an outlet to express their experiences. This research identified Indigenous student adaptations towards their spirituality in specific ways inherent to their culture given the reactions to COVID-19, their responses, and reflections.

Exotic treasures or local innovation: Gold and silver beads of han dynasty excavated from Nanyang City, Henan Province, central China

The emergence and utilization of gold beads in China were influenced by foreign civilizations and cultures, while the exploration of composite beads in China has been relatively limited compared to single-material beads. Metal foil glass beads represent a distinct type of composite beadwork popular in ancient times. This paper presents findings from a study conducted on a group of beads that were unearthed in Nanyang City, Henan Province. Theoretical calculations and CT imaging suggested that a particular class of gold beads, previously misidentified as single-material beads, actually consisted of gold foil wrapped around an inner layer of glass beads. Elemental analysis techniques such as pXRF, SEM and μ-EDXRF were used to reveal that the purity of the gold foil of the two differently shaped beads is around 95% and 98.5%, while the silver foil of the silver beads is also around 85% due to corrosion. Microscopic observation confirmed that the gold leaf was applied through foil-fusion gilding. Lead isotope analysis indicated that the gold beads originated from different sources, whereas the silver beads likely originated from the Central Plains region. Furthermore, the evidence of beadwork from Southeast Asia and South China supports the view that the gold beads may have been originally exotic but gradually adaptated through indigenous learning, allowing the creation of high-quality imitations. This study emphasizes the importance of scientific analyses for the proper determination of bead types and craftsmanship, and contributes to a better understanding of the ancient bead circulation network.