Classrooms as Sites of Resistance and Rebuilding: Constraints and Affordances of Washington Teachers Using the Since Time Immemorial Native Education Curriculum

Abstract

This qualitative case study examines how six educators in Washington state are adopting and using the state-mandated Since Time Immemorial Native education curriculum in their teaching contexts. This research seeks to understand what constraints educators face in using the Since Time Immemorial curriculum and how those constraints may direct us to better understand ways settler colonialism continues to pervade classrooms in Washington state and the U.S. education system despite legislation and curriculum promoting the understanding of tribal sovereignty and local Indigenous communities. This case study will also seek to understand the ways that these six educators use their agency to disrupt settler colonialism in their classrooms by creating anti-colonial, land-based learning activities. An analysis of these Washington educators does not speak to the experiences of all teachers or classrooms in Washington state; however, an examination of their constraints and their anti-colonial actions provides an invitation for other teachers, education leaders, and policy makers to consider how to create greater equity through the inclusion of a decolonial curriculum that educates all students about tribal sovereignty and local tribes.