INDIGENOUS INNOVATIONS: CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE PEDAGOGY IN THE PACIFIC

Multicultural education can be seamlessly integrated with academic standards to effectively facilitate indigenous, place-based and culturally relevant student-identity formation, which Erikson (1968) states as the fundamental developmental task of the early adolescence period. Presenters will share multicultural curriculum such as WebQuests and lesson plans that have been created and facilitated in Hawaii and Samoa. Indigenous instructional strategies that encourage tolerance and cultural diversity will also be modeled. Qualitative action research findings, from teacher researchers that work in schools in which there are high percentages of indigenous Pacific islander students, describe positive effects on student attendance, engagement, cultural knowledge and academic behavior when culturally responsive pedagogy is integrated with Federal academic standards.

References:
[1] Erikson, E. H. (1968). Identity, youth and crisis. New York, NY: W. W. Norton Company.