Integrating Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) into Indigenous Education for Sustainability: The Development and Implementation of a Curriculum Based on Disaster Prevention for Young Children

There are differences between Western mainstream culture and traditional Indigenous culture in the way they address sustainable development. The spirit of sustainability has been emphasized and practiced by Indigenous cultures for hundreds or even thousands of years, but it is increasingly disappearing over time due to the threat of natural disasters. It is necessary to recover this practice of sustainable development from its roots in traditional Indigenous knowledge. This study considers the possibility and utility of incorporating science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) into Indigenous education for sustainability, a topic that has not been addressed by other studies. Based on a literature review, the proposed framework and content for this study focus on Indigenous disaster prevention. The specific topic was chosen to be most relevant to young Indigenous children. STEM indicators from the US next-generation science standards (NGSS) were referenced to create the proposed STEM teaching objectives, which were designed to be specifically appropriate for Indigenous curricula and teaching activities. Additionally, the cultural curriculum model was adopted to reform the Indigenous curriculum and teaching model by utilizing the transformation and social action approaches. Finally, the five-stage learning cycle was used as the framework to implement the curriculum, intertwined with the principles of the spiral curriculum, to co-construct an instructional example of Indigenous education for sustainability for future reference.