‘I want to read this book again!’ decolonizing children’s literature to support indigenous children in reading and mathematics learning

ABSTRACT

Although children’s literature is often viewed as a means to achieve educational goals and to strengthen children’s identities, existing or ongoing literature projects devalue Indigenous identity – or, more tragically, systematically obliterate it – to the point that every narrative within postcolonial education systems is inherently harmful to children. This study was intended to decolonise children’s literature to increase children’s reading and mathematics learning. We designed and implemented a decolonised picture storybook as a complementary resource for the third graders with integrating Indigenous West Papuan culture. This collaborative work involved an Indigenous elder and teacher, a homeroom teacher, and an expert. The results of the study showed that students were immersed in the narratives of the books they were reading during reading time. Due to our emphasis on social justice-oriented approaches – familiarizing Indigenous students’ experience in this book, students began sharing analytical, intertextual, personal, transparent, and performative responses. They expressed their genuine excitement by saying, ‘I want to read this book again!’ When brain-crossing pathways took place, students gained a more thorough understanding of the mathematical concept (i.e. multiplication). It occurred as they visualized, drew, estimated, and synthesized the narrative symbols in order to make sense of what they read.

KEYWORDS:

• Children’s literature
• decolonizing
• indigenous students
• a picture storybook
• Reading
• mathematics learning

Acknowledgment

We are grateful for all participants who contributed their time and energy to this study. Furthermore, we acknowledge Indigenous West Papuan elder, school personnel, illustrator, and expert who supported us during the course of the study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Informed consent

The research team gained informed consent from all participants prior to conducting study.

Ethical approval

The research team received ethical approval from the Human Research Ethics Committees of a local university, political leaders in the local community, and educational authorities.

Data Availability Statement

Data management and coding information will be provided by the authors upon request.

Authors’ Contributions

The first author contributed to all phases of this study as corresponding author, including designing the study, collecting and analysing data, and drafting the manuscript. The second author served as a research team member, developing the study plan and instrument, collecting data, and verifying the analysis of the data.

Notes

1 Gotong royong is a well-known term that refers to traditional communal work for the Indigenous community. It can be undertaken in schools when students work together to clean their classroom or schoolyard.

Additional information

Funding

This project was generously funded by Universitas Musamus, Merauke, West Papua, Indonesia.

Notes on contributors

Murni Sianturi

Murni Sianturi is an Indigenous researcher who has worked with Indigenous communities for several years. Her research focuses on issues affecting Indigenous West Papuan students, especially in the learning of mathematics, literacy, identity and culture. Based on her experience in teaching mathematics at all school levels and a local university, her work is focused on schooling practices and Indigenous students' identities that influence their learning experiences, outcomes, cultures and identities.

Andreas Au Hurit

Andreas Au Hurit is a lecturer in the department of primary school teacher education, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Musamus University, Merauke. His research focuses on developing the pedagogical abilities of primary school teachers to improve the quality of learning in primary schools.