This article explores First Nations (Native American) science education from a cultural perspective Science is recognized as a subculture of Western culture Scientific and Aboriginal ideas about nature are contrasted Learning science is viewed as culture acquisition that requires First Nations students to cross a cultural border from their everyday world into the subculture of science The pathway toward the cross-cultural education explored in the ar- ticle is: (1) founded on empirical studies in educational anthropology; (2) directed by the goals of First Nations people themselves; (3) illuminated by a reconceptualization of science teach- ing as cultural transmission; (4) guided by a cross-cultural STS science and technology cur- riculum; and (5) grounded in various types of content knowledge (common sense, technology, and science) for the purpose of practical action such as economic development, environmental responsibility, and cultural survival Cross-cultural instruction requires teachers to identify cultural border crossings for students and to facilitate those border crossings by playing the role of tour guide, travel agent, or culture broker, while sustaining the validity of students' own culturally constructed ways of knowing © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc Sci Ed 81:217 - 238, 1997

Toward a First Nations Cross-Cultural Science and Technology Curriculum.

In reflecting upon two qualitative research projects incorporating an Indigenous methodology, this article focuses on the use of the conversational method as a means for gathering knowledge through story. The article first provides a theoretical discussion which illustrates that for the conversational method to be identified as an Indigenous research method it must flow from an Indigenous paradigm. The article then moves to an exploration of the conversational method in action and offers reflections on the significance of researcher-in-relation and the inter- relationship between this method, ethics and care.

https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/fpcfr/2010-v5-n1-fpcfr05263/1069060ar.pdf

Conversation Method in Indigenous Research

The article addresses issues of social power and privilege experienced by Aboriginal students in science classrooms. First, I present a rationale for a cross-cultural science education dedicated to all students making personal meaning out of their science classrooms. Then I describe a practical research and development project, “Rekindling Traditions: Cross-Cultural Science & Technology Units,” that modestly illustrates cross-cultural science teaching for years 6–11, in which Western and Aboriginal sciences are integrated. This integration is discussed in terms of the “Rekindling Traditions” units, including the assessment of students.

Integrating Western and Aboriginal Sciences: Cross-Cultural Science Teaching

The current development towards ‘science for all’ in all parts of the globe necessitates that consideration be given to how pupils move between their everyday life‐world and the world of school science, how pupils deal with cognitive conflicts between those two worlds, and what this means for effective teaching of science. This paper reviews a new cognitive explanation‐‐collateral learning theory‐‐for how pupils cope with disparate worldviews mediated by transcending cultural borders between their everyday culture and the culture of science. The assistance that most pupils receive when they attempt to negotiate these cultural borders will influence their success at science. A new pedagogy is proposed in which teachers assume a role of culture broker in the classroom to achieve culturally sensitive curriculum and assessment.

Transcending Cultural Borders: Implications for Science Teaching

/pdf/cultural-aspects-of-learning-science-106l9brrb1.pdf

Cultural Aspects of Learning Science

Introduction Eastern Door: Reconceptualizing First Nations Education 1. Towards a Redefinition of Indian Education 2. Peacekeeping Actions at Home: A Medicine Wheel Model for a Peacekeeping Pedagogy 3. Redefining Science Education for Aboriginal Students Southern Door: Connecting with and Maintaining Our Relations 4. Aboriginal Epistemology 5. Quaslametko and Yetko: Two Grandmother Models for Contemporary Native Education Pedagogy 6. Language and Cultural Content in Native Education 7. Learning Processes and Teaching Roles in Native Education: Cultural Base and Cultural Brokerage Western Door: Meeting the Challenge of Incoherence 8. A Major Challenge for the Education System: Aboriginal Retention and Dropout 9. Teacher Education and Aboriginal Opposition 10. The Challenge for Universities 11. Non-Native Teachers Teaching in Native Communities Northern Door: Transforming First Nations Education 12. Treaties and Indian Education 13. Taking Control: Contradiction and First Nations Adult Education 14. Locally Developed Native Studies Curriculum: An Historical and Philosophical Rationale 15. The Sacred Circle: An Aboriginal Approach to Healing Education at an Urban High School Bibliography of First Nations Pedagogy Contributors Index

First Nations Education in Canada: The Circle Unfolds

The West Beyond the West: A History of British Columbia

Indian Education in Canada. Volume 1: The Legacy

Indian Education in Canada

Canada has become increasingly urban. More and more people choose to live in cities and towns. Under a fifth did so in 1871, according to the first census to be held after Canada was formed in 1867. The proportion surpassed a third by 1901, was over half by 1951, and reached 80 percent by 2001.2 Urbanization has not benefited Canadians in equal measure. The most adversely affected have been indigenous peoples. Two reasons intersect: first, the reserves confining those deemed to be status Indians are scattered across the country, meaning lives are increasingly isolated from a fairly concentrated urban mainstream; and second, the handful of reserves in more densely populated areas early on became coveted by newcomers, who sought to wrest them away by licit or illicit means. The pressure became so great that in 1911 the federal government passed legislation making it possible to do so. This article focuses on the second of these two reasons. The city we know as Vancouver is a relatively late creation, originating in 1886 as the western terminus of the transcontinental rail line. Until then, Burrard Inlet, on whose south shore Vancouver sits, was home to a handful of newcomers alongside Squamish and Musqueam peoples who used the area’s resources for sustenance. A hundred and twenty years later, apart from the hidden-away Musqueam Reserve, that indigenous presence has disappeared.

/pdf/erasing-indigenous-indigeneity-in-vancouver-502tu1lwko.pdf

Jean Barman

Papers

First Nations Education in Canada: The Circle Unfolds

The West Beyond the West: A History of British Columbia

Indian Education in Canada. Volume 1: The Legacy

Indian Education in Canada

Erasing Indigenous Indigeneity in Vancouver