Barriers and Bridges: Indigenous Pedagogies in the Landscape of Global Competencies Education

Abstract

Global competencies have emerged as a prominent theme in educational planning to provide students with the tools required in a rapidly changing global context. The focus on the kinds of competencies that students need to address emerging challenges and uncertain futures is framed within a broader, dual focus on performance and equity. These priorities have some promise for fostering enhanced participation, creativity, understandings of other persons and their perspectives and global citizenship. However, they are often understood or enacted in narrower ways that are grounded in Western epistemologies and adopt the logic of individualism and marketization, especially in contexts with strong political pressures to address concerns about low scores in PISA and other standardized tests with ‘back to the basics’ orientation.

In this chapter, the authors discuss how these varying dynamics play out in conjunction with schooling initiatives to support Indigenous students and incorporate knowledge and understanding related to Indigenous people’s experiences and perspectives into school curricula. The authors consider ways in which Indigenous perspectives can complement the development of holistic orientations to critical global competency as well as some of the barriers to effective reforms. The authors illustrate the discussion with findings from the authors’ research on school reform to advance reconciliation and decolonization in Alberta, Canada.