Indigenous Knowledge and Cultural Responsiveness
Indigenous knowledge is knowledge that is unique to a culture or society. These cultures and societies have knowledge that is specific, which may include local, traditional, folk and people's knowledge. This knowledge is also passed from one generation to another, usually orally or through cultural traditions (Teaching and Learning For a Sustainable Future, 2016).
Teaching and Learning For a Sustainable Future (2016) states that many formal education systems do not cater for the personal, social, educational and learning needs for indigenous people. It has been replaced with abstract knowledge and academic ways of learning. If this continues there is a high risk that indigenous knowledge will be lost, and along with it valuable knowledge.
Cultural Responsiveness is "the ability to learn
from and relate respectfully with people of your
own culture as well as those from other cultures" (Culturally Responsive Pedagogy and Practice Module academy, n. d., pg 12).
After reading these two definitions culturally responsive pedagogy for me is defined by Gay (2002, p.106) as “using the cultural characteristics, experiences and perspectives as conduits for effective teaching”. We as teachers need to be reflect more and evaluate critically if we are meeting the cultural needs of all the students in our classrooms. How many of us can honestly say we are meeting all the cultural needs of the children in our classrooms? As a teacher I have highlighted three aspects from the cultural framework that I think I need to learn more about or do something about.
- Shifting Perspectives — I need to learn more cultural expectations, beliefs and values.
- Intercultural Communication — I need access to learning communities where ideas and feelings are shared with people from diverse cultural backgrounds.
- Multicultural Teaming — Working with a professional learning community where culture is the focus, to accomplish different tasks.
In my school the area that we are doing well is providing cultural experiences for the children. These experiences promote inclusiveness, thus allowing the children to grow a knowledge of what cultures are in our school community. We celebrate with Te Reo Maori lessons for the children. We have an established Kapa Haka group. We have celebrated other cultures with a cultural evening when each class produced a meal to share. The meal was a hangi and each classroom had to produce a dessert to share from a different culture.
An area that could be improved is that the Matauranga Maori could be inter-weaved in to the school's vision, mission, and core values. In our school's area they have commenced a Knowledge and Cultural Responsiveness Group that meets once a term, to discuss what is happening in our region in regards to cultural responsiveness. As a school we need to develop a vision, mission and core values related to Matauranga Maori so that these can be shared with this group. Then as a region the group wants to develop a core set of values, so that similar visions, and values are used region wide. Apparently as a school we are doing well but there is so much more we could be doing. At my school I wonder what our Knowledge and Cultural Responsiveness will look like at the end of the year.
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Gay,G. (2002). Preparing for culturally responsive teaching. Journal of Teacher Education, 53(2),106-116.
Teaching and Learning For a Sustainable Future, 2016. Retrieved from
http://www.unesco.org/education/tlsf/mods/theme_c/mod11.html
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