Teacher Builds Partnerships with Lessons from Indigenous Fellows Institutes

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Melanie Mesa Blas' students shared what they learned about climate change in Micronesia with Guam residents during a Disaster Preparedness Fair. Students' staffing of interactive booths was part of a pilot project with the Department of Agriculture, one of the organizations that partners with Blas.
Melanie Mesa Blas at the PETE 2015 Indigenous Fellows Institute in Hawaii.

At the Indigenous Fellows Institutes Melanie Mesa Blas expected to learn about ocean ecosystems and climate change, and effective STEM pedagogy. And she did.

But the unexpected lessons about building relationships are ones she has applied quite often and successfully since attending the 2013 institute in Guam and the 2015 institute in Hawaii. Both institutes were organized by the National Partnership for Environmental Technology Education (PETE) with an Advanced Technological Education grant. The professional development for science instructors of Native American and Pacific Islander students focuses on blending the perspectives of indigenous cultures with Western science knowledge.   

"Building relationships and honoring the elders I learned from National PETE and my fellows at the institute. I take that with me into my teaching and into my life and it has helped me to be the successful teacher and mom that I am today," Blas wrote in an email.

Kirk Laflin, PETE executive director, explained in an interview that among native communities it is important for educators to reach out to elders and tie science lessons to the native culture. "If you go in and teach Western science only, you are probably going to lose most of the students," he said.

Since the 2013 institute Blas has taken her science students at Simon A. Sanchez High School in Yigo, Guam, on dozens of field trips thanks to funding from organizations with which she purposefully built partnerships. She was also selected as Guam's Teacher of the Year in 2015 and by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for a 2014 Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Science. Blas has also used two, $1,000 mini grants from PETE to involve her students in interactive science programs for thousands of elementary school students.

The following are excerpts from an online interview with Blas.    

Q: What advice would you give other STEM teachers?

A: "Create partnerships ... Talk to people and ask them to work with you or help you, but know that they are limited by time, budgets, and grant requirements. Like any relationship, it needs nurturing and patience, so by doing your part of the agreement or contract it helps to create future opportunities and future projects.

"I am often asked to pilot projects within the last two years for agencies because of my success rate and because of the relationships I build and foster with people. They remember me and they talk with each other and recommend working with me because I recognize them as people and I treat them with respect. I appreciate them for the work that they do and for selecting my students and I as their partners. Last year I began making thank you cards for all of our partners with photos of our kids on their projects."  

Q: How did the 2013 Indigenous Fellows Institute in Guam on ocean ecosystems and aquaculture affect your teaching?

A: "After attending the National PETE Indigenous Fellows Institute in 2013, I now take my students on 12 to 30 extra field trips every year (not including federally funded Guardians of the Reef field trips to elementary schools) ... I realized the importance of getting students outside and experiencing our island and interacting with our resources. 

"I realize how to mutualbenefit from partnerships with my students and government agencies. I still ee how environmental agencies are looking for ways to work with students and the community and how my students can fulfill that need and learn valuable lessons and give back to the community. The partnerships I make with people as a result of the field trips, guest speakers, and presentations have empowered me to be more confident, more knowledgeable, and more experienced. This feeling of rejuvenation and inspiration helped me to plan more field trip experiences for my students and for my coworkers.

"After the summer of 2013, I shared the field trips we took during the institute to the Humatak Watershed, Fu’a Bay, and to Masso Reservoir with my science co-workers and my students. I invited guest speakers into my classroom to share their experiences, life lessons, and their projects with my students."

Q: How did the 2015 Indigenous Fellows Institute in Hawaii on climate change and its effects on indigenous communities affect your teaching?

"After the June 2015 Institute [in Hawaii], my coworker and I were inspired by the Polynesian Voyaging Society, the Botanical Garden, Fish Pond, and Taro Sustainable Garden. Seeing the pride in Hawaiian culture and how the organizations were protecting their resources for future generations and involving young kids in building the walls of the fish pond, teaching them how to navigate by the stars and sail a canoe, and growing taro and edible fruits and vegetables was exciting, educational, and inspirational. 

"The wheels in my head were turning with coming up with ways that we could do things on Guam to showcase our cultures, unite our islanders, and empower our people to protect our resources for our future generations. We decided to showcase and share the Micronesia islands and our resources to create unity amongst our people and instill a sense of pride in being Micronesian. It was so amazing to learn that the navigators of the Polynesian Voyaging Society that sailed the Hokuleia around the world, were trained by Master Navigator Papa Mau Piailug of Satawal, Yap, in Micronesia. 

"Our kids researched about the Micronesia Challenge, an agreement between some islands in Micronesia [Guam, Palau, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), and Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI)] to 'effectively conserve at least 30% of the near-shore marine resources and 20% of the terrestrial resources across Micronesia by 2020.' (themicronesiachallenge.blogspot.com) They learned about what each of these islands are doing to reach their goals of 30/20 by 2020.  They looked up traditional navigation and canoe building. They looked up birds that are found in Micronesia and which are endemic, native, and non-native. They also studied invasive species that are wreaking havoc on our islands such as the brown tree snake and the coconut rhinoceros beetle. They found out which islands will be first to be affected by climate change, and who we need to help save to prevent from being our first climate change refugees in Micronesia. 

"They looked up ways that we can lessen our carbon footprint and slow down the effects of climate change by living more sustainable lives and using less fossil fuels and using renewable energy like solar and wind energy instead.  Our students were proud to find out that our islands in Micronesia are leaders in shark protection, with Palau being the first in the world to create a shark sanctuary, CNMI was second in the world to pass a law banning the possession of shark fins, and Guam was third.  With all four states in the FSM passing laws protecting sharks, Micronesia became the Micronesia Regional Shark Sanctuary, 'the area of protected shark habitat across the contiguous area is larger than the size of the European Union.'(pewtrusts.org)  Students learned about ocean acidification, sea turtle protection, and traditional fishing methods.

"Simon A. Sanchez High School students did their research online, read articles, and asked their elders for advice to put their projects together to showcase Micronesia resources and culture and to help educate about climate change and what we can do about it. From these efforts, 4,502 people learned about Micronesia and climate change. Among those were 4,093 [Guam Department of Education] students, 109 teachers, and 300 people of all ages from the community. We were able to do all of this because of the inspiration from the guest speakers, field trips, and presentations from these institutes." 

Categories:
  • culture
  • education
  • environment
  • science
From:
    ATE Impacts

Last Edited: July 11th, 2016 at 12:21pm by Madeline Patton

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