Decolonizing methodologies and indigenous knowledge: The role of culture, place and personal experience in professional development

Abstract

This study reports findings from a 10‐day professional development institute on curricular trends involving 19 secondary mathematics and science teachers and administrators from Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Korea, Philippines, the United States, and People's Republic of China. Participants explored the roles of culture, place, and personal experience in science education through writings and group discussions. Initially, Asian participants tended to view indigenous knowledge and practices more negatively than U.S. peers. After a presentation on indigenous Hawaiian practices related to place and sustainability, they evaluated indigenous practices more positively and critiqued the absence of locally relevant science and indigenous knowledge in their national curricula. They identified local issues of traffic, air, and water quality they would like to address, and developed lessons addressing prior knowledge, place, and to a lesser extent, culture. These findings suggested critical professional development employing decolonizing methodologies articulated by indigenous researchers Abbott and Smith has the potential to raise teachers' awareness of the connections among personal and place‐based experiences, cultural practices and values, and teaching and learning. An implication was the development of a framework for professional development able to shift science instruction toward meaningful, culture, place, and problem‐based learning relevant to environmental literacy and sustainability. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 44: 1247–1268, 2007

Constructing The Evolution of Social Innovation: Methodological Insights from a Multi-Case Study

“…Going forward, particularly in developing more historical case studies, we should learn from the decolonized and emancipatory methodologies approaches that are increasingly informing Indigenous scholarships (Kovach, 2015;Smith, 2013;Chinn, 2007;Louis, 2007;Michrina, 2000); we need to shift how we develop questions, approaches, and knowledge generation, ownership and mobilization. Many traditional Western forms of research marginalize Indigenous ways of knowing, and ultimately underline their intellectual legitimacy, and as Louis (2007) points out, the "conspicuous innocence" of researchers that claim not to see this power dynamic risk being shut out of Indigenous communities.…”

A Third Space Research Methodology Through the Metaphor of <i>Mokshya</i>

“…Although many decolonial researchers are using these terms equally showing the departure of the positivism, these are equally valued for the non-positivism. Chinn (2007) used a decolonizing research methodology to study the role of culture, place and personal experiences in the professional development as a mathematics and science teacher in Asia. (Bhabha, 1994).…”

Sense of Place and Science Achievement in the Place-Based Science Curriculum

“…Influenced by this kind of multiple perspectives, the dimensions of environmental education also extend and change. Therefore, place-based education is a teaching model worth respect and reference, which emphasizes learning rooted in what is local, and response to the local social and environmental issues [5]- [9]. Some scholars [10], [11] also suggest applying the rationale to improve science teaching.…”