Jacey’s MET Collection

The document linked in this blog was a very interesting read. Dr. Darren Ranco, an anthropologist and member of the Penobscot Nation, worked with a team to develop the Wabanaki Youth in Science (WaYS) program. When it was first developed in 2013, WaYS was offered to teens so they could learn about STEM and environmental stewardship. The part of the document that really piqued my interest described the expansion of the program into Maine University. There are now four courses being offered that weave together western science and Indigenous science.

https://futurumcareers.com/Dr_Darren_Ranco-WHAT-IF-INDIGENOUS-SCIENCE-WERE-PART-OF-THE-SCIENCE-CURRICULUM.pdf

The Meewasin Valley Authority is a non-profit organization that cares for the South Saskatchewan River valley and natural areas in and around Saskatoon, SK. The group has recently introduced a new resource to help secondary (grades 9-12) teachers engage in place-based education with their students at one of the city’s conservation areas. I was particularly excited about this as I was involved with a bioblitz that brought elementary school children to the swale for tours, exploration, and pond-dipping activities. The swale is an interesting landscape that was once part of the river valley many years ago and is home to a number of wildlife species and even some rare prairie plants.

From the site:

‘These new digital resources create curriculum connections to a section of content in the Meewasin App called “Indigenous Connections to the Northeast Swale” as well as physical interpretive panels located at this site. They also include links to a variety of other content and have been designed to encourage teachers and students to take part in land-based activities throughout the Meewasin Valley with a focus on Treaty Outcomes, Arts Education, Social Studies, History, Indigenous Studies, Environmental Science & Health Science.’

The following paper is written from the perspective of an educator and a member of the Barren Lands Cree Nation, who grew up on the eastern shore of Reindeer Lake in Saskatchewan. It aims to provide a guide to including cultural content in science education. Throughout our readings and discussions, we have learned a lot about the value of place-based education and culturally relevant education. Although not aimed at post-secondary science classrooms, I still think the content is valuable as many of my Indigenous students come from northern Saskatchewan communities.

Michell, H. (2012). School science from the eyes of the Woodlands Cree: Using the migawap dwelling and traditional values as a guide to plot fundamental key concepts and ideas. The Canadian Journal of Native Studies, 32(2), 19-49.

I came across the video in this post while further researching my previous post. It is a talk by Dr. Myrle Ballard about the concept of Three-eyed Seeing, a framework that she developed for integration of Indigenous science, Western science, and our relations.

While searching for resources about Indigenous science, I discovered that earlier this year Environment and Climate Change Canada started an official Indigenous Science Division (ISD). Dr. Myrle Ballard, an Anishinaabe scholar at the University of Manitoba, is leading the division using the framework of Three-eyed Seeing. I am excited to see a federal ministry taking steps towards reconciliation and hopefully decolonizing the science that informs government environmental decisions.

The ISD has a beautiful logo that represents Bridging, Braiding, and Weaving. I was unable to find the information on whether or not I could post it without copyright infringement. I did find a neat option to download a QR code that should take you directly to the image, though!

This paper, which was published online just one month ago today, provides suggestions to biology instructors for including Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) into their courses.

From the abstract: “Suggestions include exploring other ways of knowing, teaching holistically, establishing a classroom culture of respect, explicitly including TEK, consulting Indigenous experts, incorporating Indigenous languages, and using other evidence-based teaching practices.” (Greenall & Bailey, 2022).

I was excited to find this resource and plan to share it with my colleagues.

Greenall, R.F., & Bailey, E.G. (2022). An instructor’s guide to including Traditional Ecological Knowledge in the undergraduate biology classroom. CBE-Life Sciences Education 21(4). https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.21-12-0340

The Living Knowledge Project is an Australian-based research project that was developed to find the most effective way to integrate indigenous knowledge into the secondary science curriculum. The page that I have linked to here is dedicated to the history of ‘both ways’ education, where students are exposed to a mixture of western and indigenous education.

https://livingknowledge.anu.edu.au/html/educators/07_bothways.htm

While following links from my previous post, I found information about a program called Connected North that uses communication technology to reach students in remote Indigenous communities. The idea is to give youth access to First Nations, Inuit, and Metis role models that can help the students understand the applications of what they learn in school and give them opportunities for meaningful connections with professionals in a variety of fields as well as students in other locations. According to the site, a majority of teachers find the program helps engage their students. I am excited to read some more about this program and see if there is the potential to use this type of technology to help my soon-to-be first year undergraduate students prepare for university.

Celebrating Indigeneity in Science

This webpage was created as the result of a virtual discussion hosted by Wilfred Laurier University on International Women’s Day in 2021. The Laurier Centre for Women in Science (WinS) welcomed indigenous women scholars to share their work and personal stories and collected the information in to a number of resources with the intent of “building a vibrant and inclusive scientific community.” I have enjoyed browsing the various resources here and thought you might too. My hope is that at least one of them will be relevant to your teaching practice. I know there are few that I will refer to in future as I teach undergraduate science labs!

I came across this recent paper in the Journal of Chemistry Education that gives an account of York University’s approach to decolonizing the undergraduate chemistry curriculum. It seems that many institutions talk about taking steps towards decolonizing courses, but I have had difficulty finding guidance of how to do this effectively in a post-secondary science department. This paper outlines some of the steps that are being taken to shift the narrative of the courses away from solely a western view of science.

In one example, instructors of a colloidal chemistry course included a discussion of ancient Egyptian codification of knowledge of papyrus. While this is a relatively small step, the instructor is acknowledging that science has been happening by peoples all over the globe for longer than the western view of science has existed.