Cargando…

An Instructor’s Guide to Including Traditional Ecological Knowledge in the Undergraduate Biology Classroom

Indigenous students are underrepresented in science, and the exclusion of Indigenous knowledge from Western education may be a contributor. Recently, Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers have called for a better integration of Indigenous knowledge systems into Western science. One suggestion fr...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Greenall, Rebeka F., Bailey, Elizabeth G.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: American Society for Cell Biology 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9727615/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36194506
http://dx.doi.org/10.1187/cbe.21-12-0340
_version_ 1784845062129057792
author Greenall, Rebeka F.
Bailey, Elizabeth G.
author_facet Greenall, Rebeka F.
Bailey, Elizabeth G.
author_sort Greenall, Rebeka F.
collection PubMed
description Indigenous students are underrepresented in science, and the exclusion of Indigenous knowledge from Western education may be a contributor. Recently, Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers have called for a better integration of Indigenous knowledge systems into Western science. One suggestion from the literature is to integrate Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), or the diverse intimate knowledges and practices that relate to the environment that are commonly held by Indigenous peoples around the world, into our classrooms. However, this approach can be daunting and unfamiliar for undergraduate biology instructors, and they may be hesitant to attempt to include TEK in their classrooms. In this essay, we summarize practical suggestions and caution from the literature on how to include TEK in biology courses for instructors who are interested in increasing Indigenous student belonging using this approach. Suggestions include exploring other ways of knowing, teaching holistically, establishing a classroom culture of respect, explicitly including TEK, consulting Indigenous experts, incorporating Indigenous languages, and using other evidence-based teaching practices. Implementing these practices in biology classrooms may be messy, but engaging in this difficult process is important as we strive for more inclusivity in biology education. We end the essay with suggestions for future research.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-9727615
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2022
publisher American Society for Cell Biology
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-97276152022-12-07 An Instructor’s Guide to Including Traditional Ecological Knowledge in the Undergraduate Biology Classroom Greenall, Rebeka F. Bailey, Elizabeth G. CBE Life Sci Educ General Essays and Articles Indigenous students are underrepresented in science, and the exclusion of Indigenous knowledge from Western education may be a contributor. Recently, Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers have called for a better integration of Indigenous knowledge systems into Western science. One suggestion from the literature is to integrate Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), or the diverse intimate knowledges and practices that relate to the environment that are commonly held by Indigenous peoples around the world, into our classrooms. However, this approach can be daunting and unfamiliar for undergraduate biology instructors, and they may be hesitant to attempt to include TEK in their classrooms. In this essay, we summarize practical suggestions and caution from the literature on how to include TEK in biology courses for instructors who are interested in increasing Indigenous student belonging using this approach. Suggestions include exploring other ways of knowing, teaching holistically, establishing a classroom culture of respect, explicitly including TEK, consulting Indigenous experts, incorporating Indigenous languages, and using other evidence-based teaching practices. Implementing these practices in biology classrooms may be messy, but engaging in this difficult process is important as we strive for more inclusivity in biology education. We end the essay with suggestions for future research. American Society for Cell Biology 2022 /pmc/articles/PMC9727615/ /pubmed/36194506 http://dx.doi.org/10.1187/cbe.21-12-0340 Text en © 2022 R. F. Greenall and E. G. Bailey. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2022 The American Society for Cell Biology. “ASCB®” and “The American Society for Cell Biology®” are registered trademarks of The American Society for Cell Biology. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 4.0 Unported Creative Commons License.
spellingShingle General Essays and Articles
Greenall, Rebeka F.
Bailey, Elizabeth G.
An Instructor’s Guide to Including Traditional Ecological Knowledge in the Undergraduate Biology Classroom
title An Instructor’s Guide to Including Traditional Ecological Knowledge in the Undergraduate Biology Classroom
title_full An Instructor’s Guide to Including Traditional Ecological Knowledge in the Undergraduate Biology Classroom
title_fullStr An Instructor’s Guide to Including Traditional Ecological Knowledge in the Undergraduate Biology Classroom
title_full_unstemmed An Instructor’s Guide to Including Traditional Ecological Knowledge in the Undergraduate Biology Classroom
title_short An Instructor’s Guide to Including Traditional Ecological Knowledge in the Undergraduate Biology Classroom
title_sort instructor’s guide to including traditional ecological knowledge in the undergraduate biology classroom
topic General Essays and Articles
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9727615/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36194506
http://dx.doi.org/10.1187/cbe.21-12-0340
work_keys_str_mv AT greenallrebekaf aninstructorsguidetoincludingtraditionalecologicalknowledgeintheundergraduatebiologyclassroom
AT baileyelizabethg aninstructorsguidetoincludingtraditionalecologicalknowledgeintheundergraduatebiologyclassroom
AT greenallrebekaf instructorsguidetoincludingtraditionalecologicalknowledgeintheundergraduatebiologyclassroom
AT baileyelizabethg instructorsguidetoincludingtraditionalecologicalknowledgeintheundergraduatebiologyclassroom