Abstract

The purpose of our research is to investigate how educators’ experiences in field studies with community partners can inform an interdisciplinary educational program (STEAM- Science, Technology Education, Arts and Mathematics) based on a curriculum of place [1]. Many contributions to education have been made through non-Indigenous perspectives of place. Place-based education [2], [3] is an approach to teaching that is grounded in the context of community and environment [4], and seeks to help students, school staff, educators, scientists and other interested community members in solving community problems [5]. However, emerging research suggests that place-based education is limited because it does not critique colonial legacies in theoretical frameworks of place [6]. Indeed, many Indigenous scholars are replacing the term place with land and argue that land-based pedagogies promote the decolonization of education [7] by recognizing the intimate relationship that Indigenous peoples have with the land. One challenge with land-based pedagogies is the role non-Indigenous peoples have in this approach to the decolonization of education. Our research, in a western Canadian context, explores this tension as we come to a deeper and shared understanding of our co-responsibility within Treaty 7 relationships. Learning from place emphasizes a relationship with the land [8], something deeply respected in Indigenous communities, and something absent from much of place-based education. Our project seeks to close this gap by considering varying perspectives of place as it informs STEAM teacher education pedagogy. Through an attention to disciplinary borders, our self-study inquiry, focused on STEAM, is to build knowledge and understanding from Indigenous, interdisciplinary, and cross-sector perspectives of a curriculum of place as it relates to educational programs.

Author: Kevin O’Connor

Published in: Ireland International Conference on Education (IICE-2024)

  • Date of Conference: 28-30 October, 2024
  • DOI: 10.20533/IICE.2024.10.0012
  • ISBN: 978-1-913572-73-0
  • Conference Location: Dún Laoghaire, Ireland

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