ECER 2026 attends to the conditions that produce educational knowledge, and how such knowledge is able to make sense of, and react to, the global ‘poly-crisis’. A starting point for our symposium is the assumption that, in the face of the poly-crisis, Western (educational) knowledge is increasingly confronted with its own limitations, which often leads to an interest in other types of knowledge, especially Indigenous knowledges, and a desire to learn from them.

Indigenous theorists are wary of this desire and, along with postcolonial theorists, remind that modern/Western systems of knowledge are rooted in hegemonic and universalist assumptions that can make ‘learning from’ other knowledges politically and epistemologically problematic (e.g. Smith 2021; Spivak 1988).

In the realm of European educational studies, a legitimate desire to learn from Indigenous knowledges always carries the danger of “academic exploitation” (Owen 2008) One may ask whether it makes sense to attempt to transfer specifically local (i.e. Indigenous) knowledge to completely different contexts, and whether this is possible without repeating a colonial gesture—the ‘taking’ of others’ knowledge for the benefit of the takers.

The question of the (Western) desire for Indigenous knowleges poses several problems for Western educators interested in teaching (about) Indigenous knowledges. Do we learn from them? About them? Can we teach others’ knowledges? Some have pointed to the danger posed by non-Indigenous educators romanticising Indigenous theories, or ‘including’ them, or mis-understanding their ontological roots, or employing them to overcome feelings of guilt (e.g. Jones & Jenkins 2008; Hoskins & Jones, 2022, 2024).

The challenges associated with the relationship between Indigenous knowledge and non-Indigenous scholars, teachers and learners, are linked to questions of relationships, identity and solidarity. The challenges are always ontological, and relational and political. With these in mind, we consider the positive possibilities in the relationship.

In this symposium, the problematic and potentially productive aspects of a desire to learn from Indigenous knowledge will be discussed from different viewpoints. Te Kawehau Hoskins, an Indigenous Māori scholar and university leader from Aotearoa New Zealand, asks what it might take for non-Indigenous teachers and scholars to engage properly with Indigenous knowledges. Alison Jones, a New Zealand non-Indigenous (‘Pākehā’) educator and scholar with a long history in engagement with Indigenous students and researchers reflects on building relationships with oneself and with others in the context of a settler colonial country struggling with its history.Ingvill Bjørnstad Åberg and Bettina Fritzsche, education scholars from Norway and Germany respectively, discuss the consequences of a desire to learn from Indigenous knowledge and to build fruitful relationships in the context of European educational studies. Torjer Olsen, who teaches in the Master's degree program in Indigenous studies at the Arctic University of Norway will be the discussant.

Central questions discussed in the symposium will be:

• What does the relevance of establishing relationships (between people, ancestors, places, ideas, events, objects, culture and language) in Indigenous ontologies mean for a desire to establish connections between Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars and what are conditions for productive collective educational, social and theoretical projects in this context?
• What is the significance of relationality and place for European educators looking to engage authentically with Indigenous knowledges?
• How can a desire to learn from Indigenous knowledge in the context of European educational studies be described and legitimated?
• What are problematic aspects of this desire, to what extent is such learning possible and what are its ethical conditions?

Jones, A., Jenkins, K. (2008): Rethinking collaboration: Working the Indigene-Colonizer hyphen. In: N. K. Denzin, Y. S. Lincoln, & L. T. Smith (Eds.) Handbook of critical and Indigenous methodologies. Los Angeles: Sage, pp. 471-486. Owen, S. (2008): The Appropriation of Native American Spirituality. London: Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd. Smith, L. T. (2021): Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples. London: Zed Books. Spivak, G. Ch. (1988): 'Can the Subaltern Speak?', in Nelson, C. & Grossberg, L. (Hrsg.): Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture. University of Illinois Press: Urbana, pp. 271-313.