Book Title: How Do I Get Started? Creating Safer Learning Environments for Indigenous Students in STEM at UBC

Book Description

This resource is meant to provide advice and resources for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) instructors on how to ‘get started’ when working to incorporate Indigenous ways of knowing, being, and doing into their curriculum and practices as a means to create safer learning environments for Indigenous students. It may also be useful for people facilitating these types of conversations in STEM departments and contexts or by anyone who may be interested in the subject. The idea to create this resource emerged from a Skylight Development Grant project that aimed to curate and create resources and professional development opportunities for UBC Science faculty members around Goal 4 of the UBC Indigenous Strategic Plan (ISP), Indigenizing Our Curriculum. When working on the project, we realized the need for a foundational resource that addresses the emergent and commonly asked questions that non-Indigenous STEM folks often pose in regard to their learning and engagement with Indigenous rights, histories, experiences, and ways of knowing, being, and doing.

We see this as a living, conversational resource to be updated over time as new questions, relationships, and resources form. The responses to the questions are informed by our conversations with Indigenous students, faculty, and staff in UBC Science, the CTLT Indigenous Initiatives team, and our colleagues in Skylight. We have organized the document into five main themes related to Western and Indigenous ways of knowing in STEM, one’s personal journey, language, land acknowledgements, and emotion and relationality. As much as possible, we have provided links and information from UBC, British Columbian, and Canadian-based resources to help people further enrich and expand their knowledge. We do not consider this a ‘clean’ or ‘perfect’ document, but one that shares perspectives, experiences, thoughts, and resources to help folks navigate these complex and nuanced topics. Creating curriculum and practices that elevate and acknowledge diverse ways of knowing and that are centered around respect, reciprocity, and relationality are not only important for Indigenous students’ learning and experiences, but for everyone.