Co-Creating a Conceptual Model for Decolonizing Short-Term Education Abroad

• In Event: AERA Research in Progress Roundtable Session Three
  In Invited Roundtable: Research-in-Progress RT060 (Friday)

Abstract

Our study endeavors to translate decolonizing theory into practice by co-constructing a conceptual model for cross-cultural engagement with Indigenous communities abroad. This conceptual model integrates Harris and Wasilewski’s (2004) Four R’s as a guiding framework, as well as the results of our Indigenous-informed scoping review inspired by Phillips-Beck and colleagues’ (2024) methodology and dialogical conversations with the program leaders of a two-week Indigenous Knowledge Exchange (IKE) in Aotearoa (New Zealand). We hope to encourage study abroad practitioners and participants to critically examine their own “inherited epistemological baggage” (Schaefli & Godlewska, 2019, p. 232) and develop strategies for mitigating the reproduction of colonizing practices within Indigenous communities.

Authors

• Kaitlyn Sky Wernik, Montana State University

• Grace Epperson, Montana State University