Learning requires exploration of one‘s identity
One of the great things about technology education is it can be very open to students exploring design and new skills through discovering and expressing their identity. If a projects design and scope is created to allow safe opportunities for students to explore their identities, a higher level of student engagement and learning may be reached.
Exploring Indigenous identity
To build on the community and identity focus, there should be room made for students, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to explore Indigenous technologies. Indigenous technology has many roles in technology education curriculum, such as addressing misconceptions and misunderstandings about Indigenous people, connecting teaching and learning to home and community, restoring and affirming Indigenous identity and culture, creating collaboration between Indigenous and non-Indigenous learners, and recognizing Indigenous technologies contribution to the economy and society (Gumbo, 2015). When technologies, processes, and technology education curriculum are explored in differing contexts and cultural views there exists a high potential to discover the values hidden in their design (Seemann, 2009). These insights of a technologies maker and user lead to explain why some technologies ultimately fail and others have a great impact. By opening projects up for learners with a community-based focus, educators offer students a unique opportunity to better connect with themselves, local technologies, businesses, parents, Elders, the land, and the community at large to discover their needs and the social expectations expected of them, all aspects contributing to one’s identity.
Exploring non-Indigenous identity
The above process can also be utilized in the same manner to explore non-Indigenous student’s identities, histories, and connections. Opening the design process and projects to all types of backgrounds and ways of thinking can effectively create a culturally responsive pedagogy, allowing students to find confidence in their identity and discover others points of views.