Performing Survivance: (Re)Storying STEM Education from an Indigenous Perspective

Authors

  • peter cole assistant professor university of british columbia
  • Pat O'Riley University of British Columbia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14288/ce.v8i15.186260

Keywords:

indigenous education equivalence of epistemologies ecojustice education indigenous research

Abstract

Abstract

There is a growing realization from academics, the public, and Indigenous Peoples for compelling new narratives to reshape the ‘progress narrative’ of modernity based on the classical scientific paradigm that has privileged mind over body, heart and spirit; human over more-than-human; and overlooked the worldviews and knowledges of Indigenous Peoples. The prevailing narrative has created an imbalance that impacts the ethnosphere and the biosphere. Regardless, mainstream education is uncritically promoting STEM (science-technology-engineering-mathematics) thinking, an agent of empire fueling the state-military-industrial-education complex,

This paper is a call to widen the Eurocentric and anthropocentric knowledge base of mainstream education to include as ‘equivalent’ Indigenous and other Other(ed) worldviews and epistemologies. This (re)storying of STEM is based on the teachings of my Elders and recent research with my community in British Columbia in solidarity with Indigenous communities in Peru as we work to regenerate more complex, culturally-inclusive possibilities for living together on a shared planet.

Author Biography

peter cole, assistant professor university of british columbia

I am a member of the xa'xtsa first nation of the st'at'imc tribal group in southwestern british columbia and an assistant professor in EDCP at UBC

Downloads

Published

2017-11-01

Issue

Vol. 8 No. 15 (2017)

Section

(Re)Considering STEM Education

License

Authors who publish with Critical Education agree to the following terms:

  • Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  • Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  • Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).