Indigenous Stem Education

This book explores ways in which systems of local knowledge, culture, language, and place are foundational for STEM learning in Indigenous communities. It is part of a two-volume set that addresses a growing recognition that interdisciplinary, cross-cultural and cross-hybrid learning is needed to foster scientific and cultural understandings and move STEM learning toward more just and sustainable futures for all learners. Themes of learning from elders, through practice and place-based experiences are found across cultures. Each chapter brings a uniquely Indigenous point of view to the educational transformation efforts taking place in these distinct contexts. In the second section the chapters use authentic research stories to explain many ways in which regular disciplinary policies and practices can impact Indigenous students’ participation in STEM classrooms and careers. These authors go on to discuss ways to engage learners in STEM activities that are interconnected with the contexts of their lives.

This book builds upon the range of Indigenous theory and research found in Volume I and applies these learnings to interventions in schools, communities, teacher education and professional development. It is part of a two-volume set addresses a growing recognition that interdisciplinary, cross-cultural and cross-hybrid learning is needed to foster scientific and cultural understandings and move STEM learning toward more just and sustainable futures for all learners. Authors working in Eurocentric settings of schools and colleges—whether in the continental or island United States, Canada, Thailand, Taiwan or Chuuk—utilize storytelling, place, language and experiential learning to engage students in meaningful, highly contextualized study that honors ancestral knowledge and practices. They recognize that their disciplines have been structured and colonized by Eurocentric/American frameworks that lack storied, ethical contexts developed through living sustainably in particular places. Recognizing that students seeking to enter STEM majors and careers now must be knowledgeable in multiple ways, authors describe innovative ways to immerse precollege learners as well as developing and practicing teachers in settings that intersect culture, place, heritage language, and praxis that enable Indigenous and local knowledge to become central to learning. Twenty-first century technologies of distance learning, digital story-telling, and mapping technologies now enable formerly marginalized, minoritized groups to share their worldviews and systems of knowledge.

Education is at the heart of the struggle of Aboriginal peoples to regain control over their lives as communities and nations. The promise of education is that it will instruct the people in ways to live long and well, respecting the wisdom of their ancestors and fulfilling their responsibilities in the circle of life. Aboriginal Education documents the significant gains in recent years in fulfilling this promise. It also analyzes the institutional inertia and government policies that continue to get in the way. The contributors to this book emphasize Aboriginal philosophies and priorities in teaching methods, program design, and institutional development. An introductory chapter on policy discourse since 1966 provides a context for considering important achievements and constraints in transforming Aboriginal education into an instrument of self-determination. A number of the chapters are drawn from reports and papers prepared for the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples as background to its 1996 report. They cover a broad range of subjects: educational practice from elementary to post-secondary levels; initiatives in language conservation and communications media; the development of Aboriginal institutions; and policy discourse among Aboriginal, federal, provincial, and territorial bodies. As the authors make clear, Aboriginal education continues to be practised on an intensely political terrain. While governments fund particular Aboriginal initiatives, the homogenizing pressures of a globalizing society are relentless. Political gains in negotiating self-government thus establish the context in which the distinctiveness of Aboriginal education and cultures is sustained. This book is a valuable resource for administrators, educators and students with an interest in Aboriginal issues and educational reform.

The mission of higher education in the 21st century must address the reconciliation of student learning and experiences through the lens of indigenous education and frameworks. Higher learning institutions throughout the oceanic countries have established frameworks for addressing indigeneity through the infusion of an indigenous perspectives curriculum. The incorporation of island indigenous frameworks into their respective curriculums, colleges, and universities in the oceanic countries has seen positive impact results on student learning, leading to the creation of authentic experiences in higher education landscapes. Learning and Reconciliation Through Indigenous Education in Oceania discusses ways of promoting active student learning and unique experiences through indigenous scholarship and studies among contemporary college students. It seeks to provide an understanding of the essential link between practices for incorporating island indigenous curriculum, strategies for effective student learning, and course designs which are aligned with frameworks that address indigeneity, and that place college teachers in the role of leaders for lifelong learning through indigenous scholarship and studies in Oceania. It is ideal for professors, practitioners, researchers, scholars, academicians, students, administrators, curriculum developers, and classroom designers.

Two-way Science: An Integrated Learning Program for Aboriginal Desert Schools supports remote Indigenous schools and communities to develop integrated learning programs connecting the cultural knowledge of the local community with Western science and the Australian curriculum. A Two-way Science approach promotes Indigenous leadership in education, and fosters partnerships between schools, communities, Indigenous ranger programs and scientists. This book contains curriculum-linked education activities for primary and middle school students, and background knowledge for teachers based on the desert regions of Australia.

Research in the area of teaching and learning within education is a dynamic area that continues to evolve because of new technologies, knowledge, models, and methods within formal and non-formal educational settings. It is essential to evaluate the changes that educational systems undergo as they adapt to the increasing use of the technology and the flattening of access to education from an international perspective. Redesigning Teaching, Leadership, and Indigenous Education in the 21st Century is a cutting-edge research publication that provides comprehensive research on the amalgamation of teaching and learning practices at each level of the education system. Highlighting a range of topics such as bibliometrics, indigenous studies, and professional development, this book is ideal for academicians, education professionals, administrators, curriculum developers, classroom designers, professionals, researchers, and students.