Protest as Pedagogy: Teaching, Learning and Indigenous Environmental Movements

Abstract

Protest as Pedagogy takes the reader on critical journey through the complexities, tensions and pedagogical possibilities of teaching and learning about contemporary Indigenous environmental issues and Indigenous environmental movements. Lowan-Trudeau weaves Indigenous and Western scholarship, with experience and insights from educators and activists to explore what are complex fields of teaching, learning and inquiry. Its strengths are in the richness of the narratives, the theoretical and conceptual depth and breadth, and in the use of multiple methodolo-gies, in particular the literary tradition of ‘ métissage ’ (p. 22). Protest as Pedagogy is presented in three parts. Part one sees Lowan-Trudeau position himself culturally, geographically, politically and professional in relation to teaching, learning, activism and advocacy on Indigenous environmental issues. Section two shares insights from conversations with activists and educators through two interview-based studies of Indigenous environmental social movements. In section three Lowan-Trudeau suggests possible future directions for teaching, learning and research about Indigenous environmental issues. personal experiences, cultural and ancestral history, and Indigenous identity while narrating a ‘ critical Indigenous pedagogy of place ’ , drawing on Gruenewald/Greenwood ’ s (2003) Critical Pedagogy of Place. Bringing together insights from Indigenous and Western scholarship, and research around the world, he insightfully explores tensions and complexities involved in place-based teaching, learning and research that draw on Indigenous knowledges. He discusses the need for place-based pedagogies and critical pedagogies to address contemporary cultural and social issues such as colonisation, Indigenous displacement and environmental violence and injustices. He suggests that with skilful facilitation, approaches that embrace critical and place-based Indigenous epistemologies and ontologies might be transformative for Indigenous and non-Indigenous educators alike.