Against the Tide: Indigenous Knowledge and Education for Humanization

Power brokers and their market economies enforce education on a global level. According to the United Nations, the effects of global neoliberal capitalism cause human rights violations in all parts of the world, yet democratic countries scoff at these findings (Pogge, 2002 & 2005). People of the world continue to believe that tying minoritized students to existing structures and ensuring enculturation is the best possible outcome for all involved (Suárez-Orozco & Suárez-Orozco, 2015). That is, minoritized children are educated to ensure first-world countries produce a minimally educated and willing labor force. In this paper we argue the following: 1) power relations among global economies lead to displacement and migration (nothing new), and 2) an alternative lens for ameliorating these conditions: Indigenous knowledge as a counterpoint to power relations; toward recreating an egalitarian and socially just society

Beyond the Invisible Barriers of the Classroom: iEngage and Civic Praxis

Research literature suggests students need to engage in actual civic experiences; however, in most cases, teachers feel unwilling or unable to facilitate experiences beyond the formal classroom setting. In this project, we sought to understand the relationship between social studies teachers’ civic ideology, pedagogical approaches, and instructional decision-making through their engagement in an action civics camp. The project is part of a more significant effort to help critically minded teachers engage in more activist praxis by moving past the often-limiting ideological barriers of the classroom. By activist praxis, we refer to the ways a teacher’s ideology informs pedagogy related to the ways they are able and willing to extend civic engagement into the material and social world. Activist praxis is part of a teacher’s continual engagement in efforts to create the conditions for a more just and equitable public sphere