A new manuscript from Lisa Aguilar provides support for improving culturally responsive curricula as an important step to encourage a stronger sense of identity and decolonize educational practices.

The cultural identity manuscript was born from Aguilar’s dissertation work, where she examined the effects of an Indigenous-focused curriculum on Indigenous students' cultural identity and engagement. Aguilar and her research partners examined cultural identity with two measures: exploration and commitment. 

“We found that the Indigenous-focused curriculum had a moderate effect on students’ commitment to their cultural identity. In other words, these data suggest that the intervention had a moderate effect on the students’ level of commitment to engage in activities that influence and support their Indigenous identity (e.g., I have a strong sense of belonging to my own ethnic group),” she said.

The manuscript is intended for educators and policymakers, with the results indicating that Indigenous youth living near or on Tribal Lands benefit from culturally responsive curricula despite their closer proximity to relatives, traditional Lands and access to cultural activities.

“Often, research done with Indigenous youth is focused on those youth living in urban environments because they do not have these benefits of proximity and access,” Aguilar explained. “However, loss of cultural identity is not limited to those who live away from Tribal Lands. Tribal communities may not have a large Elder population, may be reclaiming their language, may have few language speakers, may have few knowledge holders, may not have federal recognition and resources to support growth, etc. Therefore, Indigenous students must have access to culturally responsive curricula because it impacts on their cultural identity which is critical for the sustainability of Indigenous communities.”

Aguilar plans to submit the manuscript to Child Development, a research journal, which currently has a call out for manuscript submissions for their Special Section on Highlighting Indigenous Child Development: Edges and Possibilities in State-of-the-Art Research.