Practices Contributing to Changes in Teacher Actions Toward Culturally Responsive Science Teaching in Indigenous Settings in Australia, Aotearoa-New Zealand, and Canada

• In Event: Roundtable Session 11
  In Roundtable Session: Ha’akea: Learning From Our Communities

Abstract

Internationally there are concerns about the engagement and achievement in science
education of Indigenous students, including Maori in Aotearoa-New Zealand,
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander in Australia and First Nations in Canada. In this

paper we examine themes across practices that are being used to foster a responsiveness to the
learning preferences of Indigenous students in Australia, Aotearoa-New Zealand and Canada.
The paper focuses both upon the attributes of responsive teaching in these settings and the
processes that are currently being used for prompting teacher change towards a culturally
responsive pedagogy across these three different political and cultural contexts. Practices that
support teachers in teaching responsively to the learning preferences and funds of knowledge/
worldviews of the students and communities in which they are located will be presented and
contrasted. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of collaborative consideration
of practices to improve educational outcomes for Indigenous students in various settings.

Authors

• Bronwen Cowie, University of Waikato

• Brian Ellis Lewthwaite, James Cook University - Australia

• Edward Lewis Glynn, University of Waikato

• Michael Michie, Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education

• Kimberley Luanne Wilson, James Cook University - Australia

• Barbara McMillan, University of Manitoba