WHOSE HISTORY

Whose History is a project working, in part, to better understand how Indigenous perspectives are represented in K-12 classrooms. As an interdisciplinary team of Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers, educators, designers, and community leaders, we seek to tackle the pressing issues of inequity embedded in social studies education. Specifically, we are examining teachers’, students’, and Tribal members’ perspectives on whether and from whose perspective Indigenous history and existence is taught in 4th-6th grade social studies, where American Indian history is first required in Utah.

Our specific goal in this work is to lay the foundation for reimagining how social studies is taught by first seeking to understand the situated experiences of Indigenous students, local Tribes, and 4th-6th grade teachers. Our work will identify current and ideal curriculum and pedagogical strategies for teaching social studies and develop a framework for how to support teachers and local Tribes to partner together to bridge the gap. Our long-term goal is to develop practice and policy that disrupts current colonial narratives in social studies by interrupting stereotypes and shifting toward narratives that are culturally sustaining/revitalizing for local Tribal Peoples and Indigenous students.