Indigenous studies and intercultural education: the impact of a place‐based primary‐school program

The article presents a student‐impact assessment of a model two‐year place‐based intercultural approach to indigenous education. Students at Lewis & Clark Primary School in Missoula, Montana, connected face‐to‐face with tribal educators and members residing in the nearby American Indian reservation. The program’s learning outcomes included impressive gains in knowledge of Montana tribes, fewer stereotypical images, enhanced consciousness about the histories and cultures of the place in which students’ reside, heightened appreciation for and connectedness with Native Americans, and increased cultural awareness. The power of the place‐based intercultural‐education approach is that K‐5 students can acquire cultural knowledge, break stereotypes, and develop new appreciation for, and interest in, diverse peoples and issues by directly experiencing the local context in which diversity resides.