Grafemos: Design for Complexity Education Based on Maya-Kaqchikel and Western Perspectives

Abstract

Amid growing interest in the Learning Sciences in issues of ethical and axiological perspectives in educational design, this dissertation seeks to contribute to the literature on complex systems and computational modeling in K-12 education. This work Highlights Guatemala's Non-Western narratives, ethical-historical concerns, educational dignity, and traditional representational Maya practices that informed and re-shaped the design and practice of modeling technologies (computational and non-computational) for complex systems education. This work is informed and advised by the Ixkoj Ajkem Community Council, a Mayan cultural organization that protects the Mayan Weaving Art. I illustrate how teachers engaged in and designed complexity modeling activities for education, integrating traditional ways of life and knowing –while centering dignity and ethical-historical perspectives and concerns with Western practices. My findings illustrate how teachers engaged in Embodied, Computational, and Physical modeling and designed multi-modal representations of interconnectedness in understanding complex, emergent phenomena by centering their traditional and more-than-human epistemologies.