Page 279 - Cultural Studies of Science Education

19 Deconstructing Chinn and Hana’ike: Pedagogy Through an Indigenous Lens 253

tolerance, experience, listening to natural and spiritual worlds, and social interac-
tion. Therefore, I view this contextual and personal facet of Indigenous knowledge
as a sensitive area of inquiry, and caution that discussing it out of context may be
intrusive or disrespectful to Indigenous cultures. David’s case study echoes this
concern when it suggested that utilizing traditional knowledges of Elders may create
a venue for cultural appropriation or possibilities for modification.
One way that is a respectful approach to thinking about Indigenous knowledge
and ways of being and doing is by removing one’s self from a cross-cultural or
multicultural lens to a different way of thinking. Abandoning Indigenous education
from a western paradigm would mean enveloping a worldview that comes from
within Indigenous cultures, such as what is termed in anthropology as emic approach.

One such worldview is described by contemporary Indigenous researchers as
Indigenous standpoint pedagogy.
My approach to teaching teachers in the university is based on an Indigenous
pedagogy that places education in the context of culture, values, relationship, and
historical realities. It is this understanding of teaching and learning that provides
me with the foundation of what Philips, Whatman, Hart, and Winslett (2005) have
termed “Indigenous Standpoint Pedagogy” (ISP), which is described as being the
“inherently political, reformative, relational, and deeply personal approach that is
located in the chaos of colonial and cultural interfaces” (p. 7). ISP fundamentally
identifies and embeds Indigenous community participation in the development and
teaching of Indigenous perspectives, or standpoints, and is a multifaceted process.
It is mainly concerned with Native perspectives in education, not as an alternative
to western approaches but as a legitimate form of education in and of itself. For
example, I bring this perspective to my work as an academic by virtue of my iden-
tity as a Yellowknife Dene woman and my desire to work from an Indigenous
perspective in all aspects of my teaching methods and goals. What this means in
practice is that I value multiple perspectives on learning and teaching in my interac-
tion with students and coworkers, such as linear and nonlinear thinking, differing
time orientation, holistic approaches and dualism, and community-based and indi-
vidual focused connection. The foundation to this pedagogical approach lies in
relationship, as this is the center of success for meaningful communication with
students and coworkers. “Yet only through communication can human life hold
meaning” (Freire 1970/2003, p. 61).
Indigenous postsecondary research and education are a fact of life in Canada and
other traditional Indigenous territories worldwide, such as David’s Native Hawaiian
community – yet how do we define these from a specific cultural perspective?
Likely we would be doing so from a unique perspective that was different across
and sometimes within cultures. Chinn and Hana’ike echo this point when they sug-
gest that teachers need more than concrete toolkits; they require exposure to
collaborative, culturally responsive, community and place-based learning that per-
mit teachers to address and reconcile the clashes and continuities between western
and Native systems of knowledge. The dominant western paradigm of education as
practiced in most settings is not one of cooperative knowing and learning, rather it
is a model of objectivity and competition. An Indigenous paradigm of education is