Integrating Cultural Knowledge in Programming Education: An Indigenous Approach

Abstract

The paper critiques the apparent inability of a colonial education system to prepare Indigenous students to take on computer science studies in post-secondary institutions, even in a jurisdiction where most Indigenous students attend government schools for part or all of their education. Given that government accreditation is a prerequisite for post-secondary studies, there is a critical need to examine how computer science is taught in secondary schools, on and off reserve, if Indigenous populations are going to be able to contribute to the development of digital media in the future.

This paper then explores an Indigenous approach to programming education, aiming to integrate programming practices with the reinforcement of cultural knowledge. By encouraging students to observe and explore animal behaviours in their surroundings, this pedagogical process uses these observations as models for code modification, creating a learning experience that parallels traditional Indigenous teaching methods.

Keywords: steering behaviours, programming learning, cultural knowledge, animal behaviours, Indigenous computing, Indigenous perspectives, Digital Divide, Indigenous digital, Indigenous design, Indigenous epistemology, Indigenous sovereignty

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How to cite

McConnell, A. (2025). Integrating Cultural Knowledge in Programming Education: An Indigenous Approach. In Proceedings of the International Symposium on Electronic Art (ISEA2025) (pp. 930–937). Seoul, Republic of Korea. https://doi.org/10.23362/KOEN2025.07.25.1.122