How does a Teacher
Incorporate Place-Based First Nations Way of Living in Nature in a Classroom to Teach High School Science in a Northern Reserve School?

Researchers: Nadeeka Obada Lekamlage, Geraldine Red Iron
Gratitude: Canoe Lake Miksew School, Canoe Lake, North West College, Meadow Lake, Transition Place Education Centre, Meadow Lake.

July 2022

Researchers: Nadeeka Obada Lekamlage and Geraldine Red Iron
Gratitude: 

This project discourses the possibilities and advantages of incorporating Indigenous knowledge in to high school science to teach in a northern Canadian high school. The educational and job achievements in science-based fields are lower in Indigenous populations compared to Caucasian or immigrant identities. This is associated with numerous reasons, including lack of resources, lack of science teachers, lack of motivation to enter the job market, and dissimilar worldviews. Indigenous knowledge framework is a noble instrument to inspire students liking science and promote choosing job categories in the essential job and demanding science-related occupations in northern Canada.

I further discuss the stewardship worldview of Indigenous people in terms of their sustainable lifestyle in the nature and how it can guide to create responsible citizens to the future world. I conclude my topic with potential implications and the importance of encouraging concepts like two-eyed seeing or multiple truths in the education process. It is important to think beyond the classroom with the help of the community to face present realities of environmental changes.