When Cultures Meet in an Elementary School: Seediq, Atayal, Han Chinese, and Western Science

• In Event: Roundtable Session 54
  In Roundtable Session: Decolonizing Science Education: What Roles Do Indigenous Knowledge, Languages, Practices, and Values Play in Teaching, Learning, and Professional Development?

Abstract

The study addresses cultural complexity in Taiwan’s indigenous communities with a framework for developing a multicultural, multi-science curriculum. Under Japanese occupation (1895-1945) many indigenous tribes were forced to relocate leading to multi-tribe communities. As many indigenous science programs focus on a single tribe, an approach not always appropriate, we attempt to: 1) build a model to represent sciences from different cultures which meet in school and 2) develop teaching units that help students understand and appreciate sciences from different cultures.

Authors

• Chia-Ling Chiang, National Dong Hwa University

• Chiung-Fen I. Yen, Providence University