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Reflections on Indigenizing Science and Environmental Education by Xia Ji , Assistant Professor , Science Education
This article focuses more on my feeling and thinking about Indigenizing science and environmental education than on my actual practice . As the German poet Goethe wrote , “ To think is easy ; to act is difficult ; to act as one thinks is the most difficult of all .” ( cited in Jickling & Lotz- Sisitka , et . al ., 2006 ). So thinking would be the easier part of the Indigenization task , or so I thought . You can imagine my frustration when I realized that most students I work with in the science education area are not in the thinking stage of Indigenization . I feel that I might be pushing my agenda onto them . So , what do I understand of Indigenizing education – science and environmental education in particular ? What does Indigenizing science and environmental education mean to me ?
This wondering led me to two of the imbalances and injustices observed by Yifu Tuan ( 2011 ). One is the imbalance and injustice between the mind and the body – the mind having evolved tremendously in the last few centuries while the body remains much the same , and thus , the mind ’ s tendency to separate from and dominate the body . The other is the imbalance and injustice between the living and the dead – meaning that the living can say anything about the dead ( the past ) without fearing much consequence .
To me , Indigenizing education has the potential to restore balance and justice . Indigenous views as shared by Cree Elder Mary Lee ( Four Directions Teachings , 2013 ), and much like my own Chinese upbringing , recognize the four interdependent parts of human beings : the spiritual , the physical , the emotional , and the mental . By being open to Indigenous worldviews and by including the spiritual and the emotional aspects of our beings , we can start to restore the balance to the various aspects of being human . Indeed , as Elder Dennis Omesu shared in my ESCI 401 class , “ Education without spiritual values is lethal ; it can only bring confusion and destruction .” Second , by listening to historically marginalized and silenced peoples – in particular , the Aboriginal peoples of this place – we can hope to relearn and re-evaluate history and restore the balance between the living and the dead .
Specific to my work in the science and environmental education areas , Indigenizing education gives us a glimpse of hope to regain ecological understanding of the natural environment , which is being lost in communities around the world . There is an urgent need to conserve this knowledge and wisdom to help develop new narratives , new structures , and new practices to save the earth and its diverse life communities , and more so , to save ourselves from our greed , ignorance , and arrogance . In my teaching , I have been introducing students to “ Two-Eyed Seeing ” as the guiding principle for learning , proposed by Mi ’ Kmaw Elder Albert Marshall ( IISH , 2013 ). That is , we need to “ learn to see from one eye with the strength of Indigenous knowledges and ways of knowing and from the other eye with the strengths of western knowledges and ways of knowing , and learn to use both eyes together , for the benefit of all .” Thanks to Dr . Alec Couros , I have created an online newspaper entitled “ Indigenizing Science Ed Daily ” to share news and resources related to this “ twoeyed seeing ” practice : http :// paper . li / xiaji2 / 1355866312 .
In the past year , I have also learned other aspects of Indigenizing education which resonate with me and my philosophy of education . Indigenizing education means shifting from teaching from the head to teaching from the heart . In fact , the Chinese words ( 用心 ) for heart and mind to indicate “ paying attention to ” are the same words . Second , Indigenizing education , means to humanize education and educational experiences for all and attend to the gap — the under representation of Aboriginal students and professionals in the sciences and engineering — by
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