TRIBCRIT + STC: A HUMBLE APPROACH TO GEOSCIENCE EDUCATION RESEARCH (Invited Presentation)

Critical theories provide opportunities for education researchers to transform staid educational environments into more inclusive and culturally relevant spaces for learning. Tribal Critical Race Theory (TribCrit; Brayboy, 2005) is a framework that can help researchers consider many of the unique educational needs of Indigenous students. Sociotransformative constructivism (sTc; Rodriguez, 1998) imparts practical techniques for centering students (i.e. dialogic conversation, reflexivity) that can be incorporated within inclusive educational environments. GeoConnections made use of these frameworks, throughout a mixed-methods approach, to develop culturally-relevant and action-oriented educational materials for undergraduate geoscience students. Critical methods can also be used during analysis of independent qualitative and quantitative datasets to strengthen the applicability of results and uncover meaningful research questions that have not previously been prioritized. The fidelity of implementation of critical methods is paramount to achieving a holistic understanding of data that supports transformative outcomes from educational interventions that address inequity and inclusion. The transformative component is dependent on the context of the educational environment but is necessary to remain aligned with the core values that have highlighted the applicability and necessity for critical methods in physical science, including the geosciences.