Taiwan Indigenous Learning Day Brings Upper School Students into Story, Dialogue, and Responsibility

On Thursday, January 15, Taipei American School hosted Taiwan Indigenous Learning Day, an Upper School learning experience designed to deepen understanding of Indigenous histories, identities, and contemporary cultural expression in Taiwan. Led by Upper School Service Learning Coordinator, Darby Sinclair, the day engaged approximately 175 students in Grade 11 and 12 from eleven English, Social Sciences, and World Language classes in a full schedule of storytelling, workshops, and reflection. Ten Indigenous speakers, academics, and workshop leaders spent the day sharing their knowledge, insight, and lived experience with the TAS students. 

What began as a course-based inquiry project has grown through cross-department collaboration into a shared Upper School learning experience grounded in dialogue, humility, and respect – and a deeper understanding of Taiwan’s place in the Austronesian world. 

A Full-Day Learning Experience Across Disciplines 

Students participated in a learning arc that intentionally moved from listening to inquiry to reflection: a morning panel, three guest speaker sessions, a hands-on interactive workshop, a short documentary viewing, and an end-of-day group reflection. 

Ambitiously, no two groups had the exact same journey, with varied sessions to give each group a unique perspective. Sessions included workshops on beading, weaving, and theatre, as well as talks on topics like tourism’s impact on Indigenous communities, Plains Indigenous language revitalization, and film as a form of expression of identity. 

Students were also intentionally placed in diverse groups across courses. Group names were drawn from Indigenous language words connected to “learner” and “to learn,” reinforcing the central stance of the day: students were not there to “consume” culture, but to practice being responsible learners. 

Grounded in Place and Respect 

The morning opened with a Land Acknowledgement, recognizing that the TAS community is learning, connecting, and living on the ancestral and traditional territories of Taiwan’s first peoples. In Taipei, this includes the Ketagalan, a collective term often used for Plains Indigenous communities historically connected to the Taipei Basin.  

From the very beginning, the tone of the day emphasized that Indigenous cultures are not static, historical artifacts; they are living, evolving, and present. 

Essential Questions that Ask More of Us 

Rather than centering the day around sharing “facts,” Taiwan Indigenous Learning Day was framed around questions that asked students to think critically about responsibility, relationships, and representation, questions that continue back into students’ classes and coursework. 

These essential questions included: 

• How can we, as a school, honor Indigenous Taiwanese communities, and cultivate and maintain long-term positive relationships with the original inhabitants of this island?  
• How can the study of Indigenous Taiwanese cultures and history enhance our understanding of global issues like cultural preservation, identity, and sovereignty?  
• In cross-cultural communication, how can we appreciate differences rather than generalize?  
• In a multicultural society, how can we maintain identity while integrating into the community?  
• How has political, economic, and cultural power shaped Indigenous agency in pursuing self-determination and rights?  

Together, these questions signaled something important: this wasn’t a one-day event intended to “cover” Indigenous topics. It was a starting point, an invitation to build long-term understanding through ongoing learning. 

Stories that Complicate the Narrative 

Across sessions, students heard personal stories that challenged simplified and perhaps romanticized ideas of Indigenous identity. 

TAS Class of ‘13 Alumni and panelist, Lasingsing Futur Nalasingsingan (Tasha Ing), spoke candidly about what it felt like, growing up, to have their Indigenous identity questioned by outsiders, and how that scrutiny can create shame and silence over time. Another speaker, Rosey Peng, described what it means to recover a traditional name and family history after generations of loss and assimilation, and how reclaiming memory can become both personal and political. 

Speakers also explored how identity and language shift in modern Taiwan, especially for urban Indigenous people, who may live far from their home communities and dialects, navigating a gap between what appears in formal learning resources and what is spoken at home. 

Learning the Difference Between Curiosity and Entitlement 

A consistent message that emerged across the day was that respectful learning requires more than interest. It requires care, consent, and humility. 

Students were encouraged to approach Indigenous communities not through stereotypes or assumptions (for example, expecting a single “authentic” way Indigenous people should dress, speak, or live), but through an open and flexible mindset, recognizing that Indigenous life today includes wide diversity, modern realities, and layered histories. As Lasingsing emphasized, consent matters: when entering communities or engaging cultural practices, it is important to respect boundaries, listen when someone says “no,” and understand that cultural norms may differ from one’s own. 

Reflection that Continues Beyond the Day 

The final reflection block was intentionally structured to help students process what they heard, ask harder questions, and connect learning back to their disciplines. By design, students returned to classes having experienced different speakers and sessions, bringing multiple perspectives into shared classroom dialogue. 

Taiwan Indigenous Learning Day ultimately reinforced a core TAS commitment: learning is not only about acquiring knowledge, but about building the capacity to engage responsibly with the world, especially with histories, cultures, and communities that have too often been marginalized or misrepresented.