Seeing the World in New (Old) Ways
Seeing the World in New (Old) Ways
Let’s Talk Science is committed to integrating Indigenous Ways of Knowing into its programs.
“Indigenous Ways of Knowing (IWK) refers to thousands-years-old ancestral knowledge that continues to evolve. IWK is based on history, observation, and a relational understanding of people and things. It’s not hierarchical – it’s cyclical, circular, community driven.”
That’s Tammy Webster, Let’s Talk Science Director of Equity, talking about integrating IWK into Let’s Talk Science’s programs and resources.
Let’s Talk Science has a strong history of collaborating with Indigenous communities. Since the 1990s, the organization has worked to understand and integrate IWK and address the unique needs of Indigenous youth and other equity-deserving communities. Recently, the organization took further steps on the long path to reconciliation, including completing a formal Indigenous Strategy and integrating IWK throughout programming.
Webster, a band member of Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg, explains that Indigenous knowledge is relational and qualitative. It looks at the whole environment and all the interactions that take place within it.
Her colleague Lindsay Shaw, Let’s Talk Science Program Development Manager, Professional Learning, adds, “Indigenous Ways of Knowing are an opportunity to live in the unknown and to investigate it in a very different way, through storytelling, culture, and all the senses.”
The value of Western science has long been recognized and has produced remarkable results over hundreds of years. Now, Webster says, Indigenous science is also recognized and valued. Combining the two perspectives can be transformative, she says, opening students to new ways of seeing the world and solving problems. “We need both approaches to work together. For example, climate change is a crisis and we’re going to need innovative, out-of-the-box thinkers to find solutions. That comes by learning what else is out there.” Shaw agrees. “At Let’s Talk Science we want to ensure that students walk away understanding that there are multiple ways to approach an idea, a concept, or a problem.”
Incorporating IWK has special benefits for every student. There is evidence that Indigenous youth are often disengaged from STEM, have lower educational attainment levels and are at higher risk of mental health challenges. Let’s Talk Science programs help counter that trend by making STEM education more culturally relevant. For example, volunteers from the University of Ottawa and Carleton University have been doing outreach in schools in Moose Factory and other remote Indigenous communities for over a decade. They have developed several activities rooted in Indigenous culture, such as making snare traps and testing them for effectiveness, fish net tying, studying ice break-up, and exploring moose anatomy to improve the efficiency of hunting.
In addition to the Ottawa outreach program, Let’s Talk Science takes Indigenous knowledge back to all Canadian students. Elders and knowledge keepers advise on resource development and participate in professional learning webinars.
During a recent Let’s Talk Science LIVE STEM broadcast, teachers and their students could virtually journey inside an Indigenous community. They learned about the interconnectedness of all things from culture teacher Norlaine Greyeyes. Following the lesson, they walked alongside students from kihiw waciston school (Muskeg Lake Cree Nation) as they explored the outdoors and learned directly from the land.
Shaw says she and her colleagues work hard to develop long-term relationships with knowledge keepers and communities. “It’s not just the one-time contributions,” she says. “When you maintain partnerships over time and become comfortable with one another, people are more open to providing honest feedback, and more invested in the work.”
Educators are responding positively to new materials that integrate IWK. “There’s a huge appetite for the sessions we’ve developed,” Shaw says. “It’s something teachers want to do and are struggling to know how to do it, so the resources are welcome.”
For Shaw, IWK is part of the bigger picture. “Our ultimate goal is to create an education system that really focuses on the students we serve,” she says. “Indigenous Ways of Knowing bring in conceptual, cross-curricular learning that puts students at the center. This is an opportunity to change the system itself.”
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