About

IKA consists of CIES members, members of indigenous communities, and practitioners who want to dialogue about ways to develop alternative knowledge and how these knowledge interact with and transform the academy. At CIES annual meetings, IKA will examine the implications of indigenous/alternative ways of knowing for transforming:

​

• the curriculum and instruction in the academy

• knowledge spheres and structures in the academy

• relationships between the academy and communities and

• Higher education for the public good

​

IKA aims to transform the "Academy through Alternative Ways of Knowing and Doing. The overarching rationale for this Special Interest Group (SIG)Indigenous Knowledge and the Academy is to establish a forum whose long term goal is to transform the academy and to engage its members and members of CIES through discussions that promote the study of alternative educational thought at institutions of higher education in the USA and internationally. By transformation, we mean the sort of change that (1) alters the culture of an institution by changing underlying assumptions and overt institutional behaviors, processes, and structures; (2) is deep and pervasive, affecting the whole institution; (3) is intentional, and (4) occurs over time.

​

There is a need to explore this area of interest in order to connect theory and practices. There is a growing interest in CIES to explore alternate educational thought, indigenous knowledge, or non-western epistemologies and how they impact formal, informal, and non-formal education, educators, and other academic enterprises. IKA provides interested individuals who come together annually to form a forum and venue to study emerging trends, share experiences, and concrete approaches to address some of the salient issues in this area of study.