Identity Learning,culture shock and border crossing into effective teaching in indigenous science education

ABSTRACT: Teachers of science, particularly those who teach indigenous students, often find themselves teaching across two cultural borders (Aikenhead, 1996, 1997): a border between school science and everyday life which indigenous students may share with their non-indigenous peers, and a border between western science and their indigenous knowledge and worldviews. This paper focuses on the ability of teachers to also cross these borders to enable them to educate their indigenous students. It makes use of a theory of identity learning developed by Geijsel and Meijers (2005) and supported by others such as Pillsbury and Shields (1999) which focus on teachers working in border situations, particularly at the western/indigenous border. It considers the identity learning through culture shock experienced by teachers living and working in indigenous communities and how this translates to them becoming border workers.