Investigating curricular policy as a tool to dismantle the master’s house: Indian Education for All and social studies teacher education

US curricular policies frequently bolster neoliberal power structures within both pre-K to 12 schools and universities by privileging settler–colonial narratives and excluding Indigenous knowledge. However, curricular policies can also serve to enhance social reconstructionist and social justice education. In this article, we describe two case studies focused on a state-level policy—Montana’s Indian Education for All—aimed at advancing understandings about Indigenous experiences and worldviews. The first study’s findings demonstrate Indian Education for All’s potential to support practicing teachers, including teachers with limited experience working with Indigenous communities, in their efforts to confront settler-colonialism and neoliberalism within curricula. The results from our second study suggest the potential for Indian Education for All to create space for Indigenous student leadership. However, our research also provides cautionary notes about the potential for “tools,” such as Indian Education for All, to unintentionally reinforce settler-colonialism, neoliberalism, and racism, as they can create opportunities for racial microaggressions and inequitable expectations. We conclude with recommendations for teacher education programs, institutional leaders, and policymakers.

17. Thinking Outside Discipline Boundaries to Integrate Indian Education for All Across the Curriculum

The Montana Indian Education for All (IEFA) Act is an unprecedented reform effort 40 years in the making. In this paper we summarize the IEFA professional development opportunities provided to faculty at a land grant university in the western United States while highlighting a faculty member’s personal efforts to integrate IEFA in a culturally responsive manner. We explain how, instead of limiting the transmission of ideas, expanding discipline boundaries has opened a flood-gate to new information and other ‘ways of knowing’ for the faculty member and her students.