Indigenous Language Teaching and Learning: Practices in the Cou Saviki Tribal Classroom in Taiwan

Abstract

This qualitative study examines the practices and critical role of the Cou Saviki Tribal Classroom (Zōuzú shānměi bùluò jiàoshì 鄒族山美部落教室) sustaining the Cou language and culture in Taiwan. To achieve this, I employ a variety of data collection methods, including observing learning activities, collecting teaching and learning materials, photographs, and the tribal classroom's social media posts, conducting semi-structured interviews with the teacher, classroom staff, community members, and local leaders, as well as holding focus groups with students and parents. I seek to address the three research questions: (1) What are the meanings and perspectives of Cou Saviki community members and leaders hold regarding their language and cultural practices? (2) What teaching and learning practices are used in the Cou Saviki tribal classroom and community? and (3) What are the tensions and opportunities of the tribal classroom? This study is grounded in Indigenous and decolonizing theories (Smith, 2012; De Korne & Leonard, 2017) and culturally sustaining pedagogies (Paris, 2012), seeking to highlight the agency and strengths of a tribal community that have long sustained its development and remain active today. By showing community perspectives and strengths, I challenge the top-down approach that has long situated Indigenous communities as victimized subjects ignoring their own agency and practices.