Including indigenous knowledge in mainstream schools

 

Synthesising the systematic review of inclusion of Indigenous Knowledge into mainstream schools

The studies involved in the systematic review presented many flavours of difficulty that may encountered when including indigenous knowledge in mainstream education environments.

There are difficulties in creating a dialogue between indigenous leaders/communities and the education institutions - incompatibility of time and methods between traditional knowledge and the school systems. Indigenous knowledge cannot and should not be taught through the same techniques used in school teaching. Often what separates indigenous knowledge and mainstream/Western knowledge is not the knowledge itself but the underlying worldviews and belief systems behind what that knowledge is and how it is created (da Silva et al., 2023).

Inclusion of indigenous knowledge needs to empower indigenous communities and be included in learning for the benefit and well-being of those communities, enabling their development and the preservation of the culture. Inclusion of indigenous knowledge needs to be collaborative, with where indigenous communities have a say in what – and how – their knowledge is taught in mainstream schools. This includes the physical environments of the education.

This rings true when considering the holistic view of Mātauaranga Māori, the inter-woven and inter-connected nature of this knowledge system (Hikuroa, 2017) which is often ‘cherry-picked’ by the mainstream education system, taking a few of its aspects without reference to the wider, holistic picture. Or included in a ‘symbolic way’.

When students are exposed to different worldviews, they tend to become more aware of their own worldviews (da Silva et al, 2023). In some areas, particularly in science education, indigenous knowledge is valued, and collaborative and participatory exchanges between science and indigenous knowledge is advocated for.

However, administrations often question and do not understand the importance of indigenous knowledge to the communities they serve. Can be seen as a “threat to unity” (da Silva et al, p. 6), which rings true in Aotearoa New Zealand where this perspective is also held, where ideas of holding traditional knowledge and values alongside Pākehā/Western knowledge and values is negatively referred to as an “agenda of co-governance” (National Party, 2023, State of the Nation speech)

Teachers’ perceptions about indigenous knowledge tend to reflect a sort of ‘self-rejection’ of values, customs and language that many indigenous parents feel, that it may be an obstacle to education in the colonised system. The inclusion of indigenous knowledge was rarely emphasised in teacher education (in my own teacher education the importance of Māori knowledge and perspectives was emphasised but not guidance was really given on how to properly include this in the mainstream curriculum).

A lack of available teachers with the requisite knowledge and skills, along with the inadequacy of materials pertaining to indigenous knowledge is identified – a problem shared in Aotearoa – at my institution anyway. Drawing from the communities of their learners – families, parents sharing their knowledge at home, which learners then brought into the classroom, provided a positive experience and way to mitigate the lack of indigenous teachers in schools.

At the same time, it can be beneficial to engage indigenous communities in aspects of teaching and learning – particularly around the challenges that can arise in education spaces (truancy, bullying, non-engagement etc.). This builds the partnership and begins the development of a shared understanding of some of the difficulties teachers and learners face, and how indigenous knowledge systems can contribute to finding solutions to these challenges.

References

da  Silva, C., Pereira, F., &  Amorim, J.P., (2023) The integration of indigenous knowledge in school: a systematic review, Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, DOI: 10.1080/03057925.2023.2184200

Hikuroa, D. (2017). Mātauranga Māori—the ūkaipō of knowledge in New Zealand, Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 47:1, 5-10, DOI: 10.1080/03036758.2016.1252407