Epistemological diversity

Epistemology or theory of knowledge is a branch of philosophy that deals with the scope and nature of knowledge. However, people and populations of people hold varying beliefs about what constitutes the theory of knowledge; this is called epistemological diversity. For example the Indigenous educational system and their epistemological beliefs are different from U.S. schooling. Indigenous societies have traditionally practiced forms of “informal” education; however, “informal” doesn’t make the education any less as functional or important. It just means that their education isn’t confined to institutionalized places and times, which makes it more fully encompassing and connected. The epistemology of indigenous societies is eloquently explained in the book To Remain an Indian by K. Lomawaima and T. McCarty (which will the text that I draw my understandings about indigenous education from in the rest of this blog). They discuss the history on indigenous schooling including colonial education and its harmful impact on the education of indigenous children.

In traditional indigenous educational systems the teachers are the parents, elders and the relatives; there isn’t a classroom in a building with a teacher with written exams and other “formal” assessments. Students are educated on being physically strong, being good mothers and fathers, being leaders, and being doctors; they are taught how to “pass” survival, which is higher stake then the SAT exam. Students are also taught based on age, level of knowledge and according to clan and rank; importantly is the practice of teaching according to the student’s level of knowledge. Unfortunately, in the institutionalization of the educational system in the U.S. students are being confined to a one-dimensional education and they aren’t being taught according to their levels of knowledge but instead to the defined level of knowledge that they should be at. This, again, corresponds to epistemological diversity because the educational system in the U.S. believes that students all learn in a certain set of ways not in multiple ways, while indigenous educational systems believe that students learn in various complex and multidimensional ways which is reflected in their “informal” style of schooling.

How will understanding epistemological diversity better improve my teaching philosophies? I think that understanding and recognizing that there is epistemological diversity is important in effectively teaching a diversity student population. In the sciences, mu content area, it will be important for me to remember although students need to pass the high stakes exam they need to learn as well. Further, “formal” education isn’t the only way that people learn; students have high quality learning experiences all the time not just confined to the classroom. This kind of education needs to be incorporated into the classroom experience, for example, in science education field trips and hands-on learning activities are important in students being able to fully assimilate the information and to be able to incorporate the new knowledge into their lives.