Session Information
99 ERC SES 08 H, Teachers and Social Justice
Paper Session
Contribution
Students in Indigenous societies worldwide often lack enthusiasm for traditional schooling, mainly due to the cultural clash between colonizers and Indigenous people (Battiste, 2002). In alignment with Indigenous communities in other countries, the Indigenous peoples of Taiwan have endured a history marked by both physical and symbolic violence, manifested through military subjugation, the dismantling of social structures, cultural suppression, and forceful assimilation (Sun, 2000; Pawan, 2009). This has left a legacy of colonization that fails to acknowledge or value Indigenous culture and knowledge in public education (Kawagley et al., 1998). With Taiwan's democratic transition and recent advocacy for Indigenous historical justice and transitional justice, the government has enacted several education policies such as Education Act for Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Languages Development Act, and Development of National Languages Act, safeguarding the education, language, and cultural rights of Indigenous communities. In 2019, amendments to the Education Act for Indigenous Peoples expanded its scope from Indigenous students to encompass all teachers, students, and citizens, marking the formal commencement of an “Indigenous Education for All” era.
While educational policies and regulations play a crucial role in preserving Indigenous languages and cultures and fostering reconciliation between Indigenous and Han Chinese communities, the success of policy implementation and curriculum transformation hinges on teaching and learning, as well as interactions between teachers and students. However, with the migration of Indigenous peoples from Homeland to urban and the significant increase in urban Indigenous students (Huang & Liu, 2016), coupled with the inclusion of Indigenous-related topics in the Curriculum Guidelines of 12-year Basic Education, which implemented in 2019 (Taiwan Ministry of Education, 2019), Han Chinese teachers often find Indigenous-related issues challenging to teach in classrooms with both Indigenous and Han Chinese students, posing challenges to building relationships and interactions with Indigenous students.
A substantial literature indicates that teachers’ perceptions of students influence their expectations, teacher-student interactions, and teaching method (Fang, 1996; Nespor, 1987; Pajares, 1993), thus understanding teachers’ perceptions of Indigenous students and how these perceptions may change is crucial in responding to the challenges they face. Like every human being, teachers harbor preconceived notions about members of different ethnicities, genders, social classes, etc., which are often stable and resistant to change (Tatto, 1996). While qualitative research on Han Chinese teachers’ perceptions of Indigenous students suggests that they may hold stereotypical impressions, adopt a cultural deficit perspective, and even exhibit cultural blindness(Chou, 2005, 2007), recent quantitative survey research on Han Chinese teachers’ knowledge about Indigenous students has identified discrepancies between teachers’ self-reported positive, open, and encouraging attitudes toward Indigenous students and their perceived cultural deficiencies in the students (Couch, Nesterova, & Nguyen, 2023). The authors of both researches argue that such phenomena exist due to teachers’ perceptions being shaped by the contextual environment in which they exist, and these perceptions often align with the mainstream societal views of Indigenous peoples. However, they could not explain the mechanisms through which the context influences teachers’ beliefs of Indigenous students.
Expanding on earlier studies, this research delves deeper into the influence of context on teachers' views of Indigenous students. The purpose of this study is:
- To understand teachers' perspectives, expectations, and awareness of the needs of Indigenous students from different ethnic groups
- To explore how structural contexts influence teachers’ perceptions of Indigenous students
Our study aims to enhance the practice of teachers in creating a safe learning environment and providing suitable opportunities for Indigenous students. Additionally, the research aspires to contribute to discussions on the construction of shared cultural interweaving spaces among different cultural groups.
Method
Based on the research purposes, we interviewed 11 in-service teachers to gain insights into their perceptions of, expectations of, and knowledge about Indigenous students. The participants were chosen from regular urban junior high or high schools with a low Indigenous student population (3 schools), regular urban junior high or high schools with a higher Indigenous student population (3 schools), Indigenous-focused schools (schools where Indigenous students constitute over one-third of the total student population in Indigenous areas or schools with over one hundred Indigenous students or one-third of the total student population in non-Indigenous areas) in non-Indigenous area (1 school), and Indigenous-focused schools in Indigenous areas with a majority of Indigenous students (2 schools). These schools were located in metropolitan areas and rural areas. Among the 11 interviewees, 4 were Indigenous teachers, and 7 were Han Chinese teachers. The four Indigenous teachers had diverse backgrounds, representing four out of the sixteen officially recognized Indigenous groups in Taiwan. The two researchers conducting the interviews brought distinct backgrounds to the study. One researcher, a Han Chinese from Malaysia, with Mandarin as her native language, and had taught in high school, is familiar with both Chinese culture and the educational system in Taiwan. The other researcher, an Indigenous female who grew up in her Homeland, had over 20 years of experience teaching in a regular urban junior high school in the northern metropolitan area. Despite residing in a city, she maintained close ties to both urban Indigenous communities and her Homeland. Considering the delicate social relations between Taiwan Han Chinese and Indigenous peoples, we decided the first researcher to conduct interviews with Han Chinese teachers, while the second researcher interviewed Indigenous teachers. The primary data sources were semi-structured in-depth interviews. All interviewees provided their informed consent and consented to the audio recording of the interviews. Following the verbatim transcription of the interviews, key points were summarized and provided to the interviewees for member checks. Data analysis was collaboratively conducted by both researchers. Our diverse cultural backgrounds and experiences allowed us to cross-verify our interpretations, enhancing our understanding of the perspectives of Han Chinese and Indigenous teachers. Additionally, throughout the data analysis and interpretation process, we engaged in discussions with other academic peers, which facilitated identifying biases, assumptions, and fallacies in our study.
Expected Outcomes
The study reveals that Han Chinese teachers' perceptions of Indigenous students vary depending on the proximity of the school to Indigenous communities. In schools distant from Indigenous communities, where urban Indigenous students are rare and unwilling or unable to live out their cultural identity, Han Chinese teachers often have limited exposure to the group, hindering their understanding of the diversity within urban Indigenous students which had discovered by Indigenous teachers, and thus failed to address the needs of Indigenous students. Conversely, in schools near Indigenous communities or with a high Indigenous student population, Han Chinese teachers interact frequently with Indigenous communities, and thus accumulate first-hand knowledge of Indigenous life, culture, and values. These teachers, similar to their Indigenous counterpart, effectively respond to the unique needs of Indigenous students. They even begin to adopt an Indigenous perspective, engaging in critical self-reflection through Indigenous culture and regarding it as respected learning resources. Through hybridity formed from the amalgamation of two cultures, they have carved out a third space (Bhabha, 1994), transcending the dichotomies of Han Chinese and Indigenous identities. This establishment of a third space prompts transformative shift in their praxis. In doing so, they contribute to stretched the boundaries of the constrained gaps for the preservation of Indigenous cultural heritage (Liao & Hsu, 2004). Even though the public education system is considered as “culturally insensitive, contextually irrelevant and [has an] irresponsive curriculum” (Nesterova, 2019) by Indigenous elites, this study found that non-indigenous teachers, who proactively engage with Indigenous communities and engage in critical self-reflection, may become what Freire (2000) refers to as “the converts”, and bring a glimmer of hope to the somewhat bleak educational landscape. This study suggests that teacher training should provide opportunities for teachers to have meaningful interactions and engage in cultural exchange with individuals from diverse cultures.
References
Battiste, M. (2002). Indigenous knowledge and pedagogy in First Nations education: A literature review with recommendations. Ottawa: Indian and Northern Affairs Canada. Bhabha, K. H. (1994). The location of culture. New York: Routledge. Chou, Hui-Min (2005). Educating urban Indigenous students in Taiwan: Six teachers’ perspectives. PhD Thesis, University of Maryland, College Park, MD. Chou, Hui-Min (2007). Teachers’ beliefs about teaching urban indigenous students in Taiwan. Report downloaded from https://archive.org/details/ERIC_ED495652 Couch, D., Nesterova, Y. & Nguyen, H. (2023) Examining non-Indigenous teacher perceptions of Indigenous students in Taiwan through a Strategic Relational Approach. Asia Pacific Education Review, published online (28 Feb 2023) https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-023-09830-8 Fang, Zhi-hui (1996). A review of research on teacher beliefs and practices. Educational Research, 38(1), 47-65, DOI: 10.1080/0013188960380104 Freire, P. (2000). Pedagogy of the oppressed (M. B. Ramos, Trans.). New York, NY: The Continuum. (Original work published 1968) Huang, Shu-min & Liu, Shao-Hua (2016). Discrimination and incorporation of Taiwanese indigenous Austronesian peoples. Asian Ethnicity, 17(2), 294-312. 10.1080/14631369.2015.1112726. Kawagley, A. Oscar, Norris-Tull, D., & Norris-Tull, R. (1998). The Indigenous worldview of Yupiaq culture: Its scientific nature and relevance to the practice and teaching of science. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 35(2), 133-144. Liao, Chian-Hui & Hsu, Chih-Hsing (2004). Hybridity and creativity: Another thinking and interpretation for cultural situation and education of aboriginals in Taiwan. Aboriginal Education Quarterly, 34, 81-106. Nespor, J. (1987). The role of beliefs in the practice of teaching. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 19(4), 317-328, DOI: 10.1080/0022027870190403 Nesterova, Y. (2019). Teaching Indigenous children in Taiwan: Tensions, complexities, and opportunities. Global Studies of Childhood, 9(2), 156-166. Pajeres, F. (1993). Preservice teachers’ beliefs: A focus for teacher education. Action in Teacher Education, 15(2), 45-54. Pawan, C. (2009). Indigenous language education in Taiwan. UC Berkeley: Department of Linguistics. Retrieved from https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8wm6g4cf Sun, Da-Chuan. (2000). Ethnic construction in the cracks: The language, culture and politics of Taiwan Indigenous people. Taipei, Taiwan: UNITAS Publishing. Taiwan Ministry of Education (2019). Curriculum guidelines of 12-year basic education. Tatto, M. T. (1996). Examining values and beliefs about teaching diverse students: Understanding the challenges for teacher education. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 18(2), 155-80.
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