"You Can Observe a Lot by Just Watching"*: Learning from Indigenous Pedagogies
Libby Roderick, Associate Director for the Center for Advancing Faculty Excellence, University of Alaska Anchorage; Associate Editor of Start Talking: A Handbook for Engaging Difficult Dialogues in Higher Education

Date & Time: Friday, January 18; 10:00 – 11:30 AM
Location: Nau Hall, Room 101 (Auditorium)

What are the cultural assumptions that shape our classroom interactions? How do other cultures conceive of the learning process? What can we learn from indigenous pedagogies about teaching the next generation?

This session will introduce participants to a teacher development program based on Alaska Native ways of teaching and learning which focus heavily on non-verbal forms of learning. Through a series of brief exercises based on indigenous approaches participants will reflect on their current teaching practices and the ways they are culturally bound. Together we will explore how pedagogies from indigenous cultures can enliven our teaching practices and help prepare our students for the challenges of the 21st century.

Session slides (pdf)

*Yogi Berra

Sponsored by the Teaching Resource Center, the Curry School of Education, and the Office for Diversity & Equity

Libby Roderick is Associate Director for the Center for Advancing Faculty Excellence at University of Alaska Anchorage as well as the Director of the Ford Foundation-launched Difficult Dialogues initiative. She works with faculty nationally and internationally to more effectively introduce and address controversial topics in the classroom. She is the editor of Alaska Native Cultures and Issues: Responses to Frequently Asked Questions, which addresses commonly asked questions through the eyes of Alaska's indigenous citizens. She is Associate Editor of Start Talking: A Handbook for Engaging Difficult Dialogues in Higher Education, and is collaborating on a book describing Ford Foundation-sponsored efforts to introduce traditional indigenous ways of teaching and learning into higher ed classrooms. She also oversees faculty initiatives on diversity and pedagogy, sustainability, and 21st century trends in higher education at UAA.

In addition, Libby is an internationally-recognized singer/songwriter with six acclaimed recordings. Her music has been featured on CNN and CBS 60 Minutes, and in the national and international press. She conducts concerts and workshops at colleges, universities, conferences and other venues throughout North America, and her essays, poems and songs have appeared in numerous books and publications.