Research Proposal Presentation Abstract

Presentation Title

Considering Indigenous knowledge; a sustainable seed in early childhood education.

Student researchers

Beini Luo

Ke Xue

Luz Andrade

Yang Yang

What is your research question?

Could Indigenous knowledge promote a better relationship between students and their environment in Vancouver preschools?

Research proposal keywords or concepts

-Indigenous knowledge application

-Children sustainable worldviews

-Indigenous and non-indigenous perspectives

How would you summarize your proposed research idea?

Previous research made has suggested that Indigenous knowledge may provide the environmental balance the United Nations seek, yet it is not considered a pathway to sustainability (Yap & Watene, 2019). Thus, the study objective is to look at perspectives from Canadian Indigenous and non-indigenous preschool educators on the possible effects that this type of application could bring to their local context and hopefully incentivize future research and classroom applications.

Where is the literature gap and how does your proposed research attempt to fill that gap?

Until now, research on the application of Indigenous knowledge into classrooms has been mainly in higher education, and far too little attention has been paid to non-indigenous perspectives in modern education (Kinzel, 2020). Thus, we focus on early education in Vancouver by interviewing both, Indigenous and non-Indigenous educators on whether student's environmental worldviews could be benefited from Indigenous knowledge application.

Why is this gap worthy of research?

This is worthy of exploration as it focuses in Vancouver, the local land, as a study field providing information about the possible sustainable effects of Indigenous knowledge application in Canadian preschools. Also, since the study takes both Indigenous and non-indigenous perspectives, the research requires Indigenous active participation, providing equal acknowledgment.

What future change could this research possibly contribute to, related to sustainability?

By investigating educators' perspectives, we could incentivize future research that could lead to classroom applications affecting the sustainable worldviews of future generations. We believe that if instilling Indigenous knowledge into early childhood education improves the way they approach their environment, then that could be the basis of the future human-nature relationship.

What made your group interested in and/or what excites you about your proposed topic?

As international students, we have encountered different stories and acknowledgements about colonial settlements in Canada. As newcomers in this country, we wanted to put our piece of sand by acknowledging the problem and proposing a possible idea trying to amend colonization and the unsustainable world. If Indigenous knowledge could possibly be a sustainable pathway, then the acknowledgement of it could be a part of a decolonial and sustainable process in our now local context, Canada; which states that if starting scholars are able to propose a change about sustainability and decolonization, then the rest of the world should too.

References

Kinzel, C. (2020). Indigenous knowledge in early childhood education: Building a nest for reconciliation. Journal of Childhood Studies 45(1), 19-32. https://doi.org/10.18357/jcs00019397

Yap, M. L., & Watene, K. (2019). The sustainable development goals (SDGs) and indigenous peoples: Another missed opportunity? Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, 20(4), 451-467. https://doi.org/10.1080/19452829.2019.1574725