“Why didn’t I know this?”: Land education as an antidote to settler colonialism in early childhood teacher education

ABSTRACT

Settler Colonialism is marked by the permanent move of mostly European settlers into other territories that requires the ongoing displacement and/or elimination of Indigenous peoples, the enslavement and dispossession of Indigenous peoples from Africa, and the individual ownership of land for capital gain. This displacement and elimination takes place in the curriculum with an impact on what is learned and not learned in schools. To counteract this, we use land education, an educational approach where curriculum starts with Indigenous peoples and Indigenous knowledge, confronting and dismantling anti-Indigenous colonial processes. Land education is a project of imagining just and sustainable futures, but much work must be done to get there. This article shares insights on what aspects of “getting there” looks like in early childhood teacher education.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional Resources

1. Simpson, L. B. (2014). Land as pedagogy: Nishnaabeg intelligence and rebellious transformation. Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society, 3, 1–25.

This article begins with Nishnaabeg story to depict Indigenous relations with land and ways in which teaching and learning occur in intergenerational community contexts. Simpson makes clear that to reclaim Indigenous ways of knowing and being, we must break away from state education systems that are designed to advance settler colonialism through individualism.

2. Nxumalo, F. (2019). Decolonizing place in early childhood education. Routledge.

Nxumalo draws from a multi-year participatory action research project in early childhood settings to make clear the need to critically engage early childhood curriculum in relationship with land, anti-blackness, and the pervasive role of settler colonialism. The author highlights Indigenous presence and land-based pedagogies through examples of work with teachers and young children that will surely inspire others to take learning outdoors with decolonial commitments.

3. Mendoza, J., Reese, D, & Dunbar-Ortiz, R. (2019). An Indigenous peoples’ history of the United States for young people. Beacon Press.

This book, adapted from the original An Indigenous People’s History of the United States, offers a corrective account to textbooks that celebrate settler colonialism through notions of “freedom”, “liberty”, and the “land of opportunity”, but fail to recognize the humanity or existence of Indigenous peoples who come from these places and continue to thrive. Written for middle-grade and young adult readers with discussion topics, archival images, original maps, and recommended resources, the book is an excellent resource to offer curriculum content for teachers that may also be adapted for work with young children.