Inclusive Excellence; this initiative was developed by the Association of American Colleges and Universities (the AAC&U) and seeks to expand the scope and reach of DEI efforts across American campuses. See Williams, Berger, and McClendon (2005) for more details.
Published in Chapter:
Dimensions of Culturally-Intensive STEM Education: Looking to the Source
Jonathan Baker (Chaminade University of Honolulu, USA), Kahoaliʻi Keahi (Chaminade University of Honolulu, USA), Jolene Tarnay Cogbill (Chaminade University of Honolulu, USA), Chrystie Naeole (Chaminade University of Honolulu, USA), Gail Grabowsky (Chaminade University of Honolulu, USA), RaeDeen Keahiolalo (Chaminade University of Honolulu, USA), Alex J. Stokes (Chaminade University of Honolulu, USA & University of Hawai`i at Mānoa, USA), and Helen Turner (Chaminade University of Honolulu, USA)
Copyright: © 2022
|Pages: 20
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-7736-3.ch009
Abstract
Disenfranchisement of indigenous Pacific voices from STEM limits self-determination and the development of Pacific-led solutions to regional challenges. To counteract this trend, Chaminade University's Inclusive Excellence program delivers culturally-sustaining STEM education focused on sense of belonging and family/community engagement. It seeks to authentically enculturate curriculum, pedagogy, and practice to privilege and separate Western and indigenous epistemologies and to provide deeply immersive non-academic support. This chapter discusses the imperatives for sustained, system-wide commitment to culture-based STEM education, theoretical and cultural frameworks guiding this paradigm, examples of IE program processes and practices, and a review of outcomes. Finally, next level challenges are considered: student experiences in structurally racist systems beyond the Pacific support bubble, tensions between providing opportunity and perpetuation of regional talent drains, and the implications of asking young scientists to balance cultural and professional identities.