Desettling History: Non-Indigenous Teachers’ Practices and Tensions Engaging Indigenous Knowledges

Abstract

Background/Context: For educators committed to unraveling racism and colonial bias in world history courses, challenges persist—particularly with Indigenous peoples and knowledges. Typical history curriculum, standards, and instructional tools misrepresent Indigenous peoples and knowledges in damaging and inaccurate ways. In cities, where Indigenous peoples and the natural world are often presumed distant, teachers may especially struggle to disrupt these patterns. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: This study explores the efforts of two experienced urban secondary teachers nominated by local Indigenous educators, asking: How do teachers craft globally-oriented history instruction that engages Indigenous knowledges in historical inquiry? Population/Participants/Subjects: Both participants were experienced social studies teachers in or near West Coast cities, in public schools with strong racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity. Julie (a white woman in her late 50s) taught in a small alternative middle school, while Teacher X (a Xicano/Latino man in his early 40s) taught in a large comprehensive high school. Research Design: This qualitative comparative case study relied on teacher interviews, class observations, and document analysis. Student and colleague interviews supported triangulation. Findings/Results: Findings indicate three teaching practices for desettling expectations (Bang et al., 2012) in historical inquiry: (1) strengthening context for Indigenous knowledges and sovereignty to counter colonial patterns of erasure; (2) using historiographical counter-narratives to show how interpretations of history are situated in colonial power relations; and (3) offering experiential and place-based learning with Indigenous knowledges beyond the classroom. Although both teachers worked to desettle expectations in these ways, only one showed consistency with centering Indigenous knowledges in observed practice. Conclusions/Recommendations: Personal resonance with relational and place-based learning appears crucial for teaching Indigenous historical perspectives meaningfully, which may prove challenging for teachers who identify as “urban” in ways perceived as distant from the natural world. Combined with the three practices above, teachers’ ongoing, reciprocal relationships with Indigenous peoples and homelands shaped their effectiveness in engaging Indigenous knowledges as valid and generative for historical inquiry, offering implications for practitioners and scholars in global historical inquiry and teacher education.

Grandmother Cedar as Educator: Teacher Learning Through Native Knowledges and Sovereignty Curriculum

“…After reading preparatory texts (Sabzalian, 2019, or Stanton, 2019), teacher participants came together by district (Elementary and Middle; K-12) at a local nation’s casino restaurant, where the first author hosted a meal. Guided by codesigners’ prompts, teachers discussed their learning, challenges, and STI teaching goals in audio-recorded conversations lasting 2–3 hours, focusing on insight as a primary learning goal (see Conrad, 2022a, for details).…”

“…Indigenous knowledges challenge typical frames of academic expertise, beyond anthropocentric, secular, and disciplinary hierarchies (Marker, Arapaho/Lummi , 2016; Rogoff et al, 2014). Understanding a Cedar tree as a relative and teacher, for example, may be incompatible with Cartesian logics and teleological thinking emphasized in mainstream schools (Bang & Vossoughi, 2016; Smith, Ngāti Awa and Ngāti Porou 2012) but important for asset-based teaching with Native knowledges (Conrad, 2022a).…”

Tensiones entre la Escuela y Familias Indígenas Mapuches

“…La escuela frente a la diversidad cultural Uno de los cuestionamientos hacia el modelo de escuela convencional guarda relación con un diseño curricular que reproduce miradas colonialistas y racistas (Conrad, 2022). Esta situación se ha observado en el norte de Rusia, donde Neustroev et al (2021) ha expresado preocupación por la falta de adecuación de las escuelas con población indígena; estos autores proponen la implementación de un enfoque educacional indígena, que incorpore la forma de vida y las actividades tradicionales de los residentes.…”

“…Más allá, las estrategias para fortalecer la educación indígena pueden ser transformadoras en la medida en que combinen esfuerzos estructurales e institucionales, aborden aspectos de la formación docente y exista una alianza entre la escuela y la comunidad (Conrad, 2022). Si bien se reconoce que el resguardo de derechos es crucial para el bienestar de la población indígena y que el Estado tiene el deber de garantizar su pleno goce, se observa un estancamiento de tales derechos en niveles mínimos, con presencia de resistencias políticas y sociales para avanzar hacia mayores grados de reconocimiento (Becerra, 2022).…”

Engaging with historically marginalized voices through blackout poetry

“…Through the investigation of humanity over the passage of time, from the earliest known civilizations to ever present current events, educators can help student develop both an appreciation of historical events and the skills necessary to apply critical thinking and interpretation to the experiences that emerge around them. Unfortunately, “Western actors, perspectives, and knowledges continue to dominate world history curriculum, standards, and texts” (Conrad, 2022, p. 4). The histories of Western societies both ancient and modern continue to be emphasized at the expense of other histories within our social studies classrooms.…”