TRANS Nr. 17: 8.2. - Kevin O’Connor: Re-shaping Knowledge Flow in Indigenous Education

With the increase in land claim agreements, renegotiation of treaty rights and local control of resource development, many Indigenous communities are engaging in the use of new media and information technologies in the process of self-determination. This direct control and involvement leads to issues of preservation and sustainable development of their resources. Education becomes a major factor in this process as many Indigenous communities support the inclusion of these technologies in the students’ learning:

As I describe some best-practices of Indigenous communities to integrate knowledge production through local and global systems that involve experiential and place-based initiatives, I will be repeatedly raising three prominent questions:

The current state of Indigenous education in Canada is unacceptable (AFN, 2005). “The majority of Indigenous youth do not complete high school and rather than nurturing the individual, the present schooling experience typically erodes identity and self-worth” (Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, 1996, p. 434). The lack of Indigenous cultural knowledge and perspectives in the school curriculum has been identified as a significant factor in school failure amongst Indigenous students (Cajete, 1994; Deloria & Wildcat, 2001; Kirkness, 1998). These findings have prompted calls for an increase in research that addresses the need for incorporating Indigenous cultural knowledge and methodologies with public school curriculum, to enhance and support classroom learning for Indigenous students. Also, to discover effective ways that Indigenous and dominant-culture (English and/or French) teachers can integrate such cultural knowledge into their teachings of the regular curricula at formal schools (Barnhardt, 1999: Kanu, 2005).

The context from which this paper evolves draws from my current doctoral research being undertaken in the Department of Integrated Studies in Education at McGill University, Canada, and funded by the Canadian Council on Learning- 2006 Aboriginal Learning Research Project.

Certain alternative education practices offer solutions to some of the problems many Indigenous students face in formal educational institutions and have created positive outcomes with respect to Indigenous student needs (Grande, 2004; O’Connor, 2006). Several of these are based on the premise that we construct our own understanding of the world we live in, by reflecting on our experiences. Some authors cite the importance of teacher educators' modeling constructivist approaches that engage students in interdisciplinary exploration, collaborative activity, and field-based opportunities for experiential learning, reflection, and self-examination (Cajete, 1994; Dewey, 1938; Rogers, 1969).

Experiential education is the process of “learning by doing” which begins with the learner engaging in direct “experience” followed by reflection. Place-based education is an approach to teaching that is grounded in the context of community, both natural and social.

Experiential education is a process through which a learner constructs knowledge, skill, and value from direct experiences (Dewey, 1938). This definition embraces constructivist learning theory as well as the traditional practice of learning by doing. Experiential education is the process of actively engaging students in an experience that will have real consequences (Tyler, 1949).

“Experiential learning” can be thus defined in terms of an instructional model, which begins with the learner engaging in direct “experience” followed by reflection, discussion, analysis, and evaluation of the experience. The term “experience” is understood to represent “a fact or state of having been affected by or gained knowledge through direct observation or participation” (Merriam-Webster, 1993).

John Dewey (1938) was an early promoter of the idea of learning through direct experience, reflecting on actions, interactions and events allows us to capture them as experience. This type of learning differs from most contemporary educational approaches in that teachers first immerse students in action and then ask them to reflect on the experience. Paulo Freire (1970) built upon this theory of learning by promoting an educational praxis that included both action (experience) and reflection. He rejected much contemporary educational approaches referring to them as the “banking model” of education, in which teachers deposit knowledge into the so-called “empty” depot of the student mind. In such a setting, teachers place knowledge (including analysis and synthesis) before students. They hope students will later find ways to apply the knowledge in action.

Unfortunately, and despite the efforts of many would-be reformers, reports by researchers such as Goodlad (1984) and Sizer (1984), suggest that most teaching, particularly at the high school level, still involves the teacher as purveyor of knowledge and the student as passive recipient of it.

Place-based education has emerged from thirty years of environmental education even though the term only began to appear in educational literature over the last ten years (Knapp, 1996; Orr, 1994; Raffan 1993). However, progressive educators have promoted the concept for more than 100 years. For example, in “The School and Society” (Dewey, 1915), John Dewey advocated an experiential approach to student learning in the local environment: “Experience [outside the school] has its geographical aspect, its artistic and its literary, its scientific and its historical sides. All studies arise from aspects of the one earth and the one life lived upon it” (p. 91). Place-based education usually includes conventional outdoor education methodologies, so as to help students connect with their particular corners of the world. Proponents of place-based education often envision a role for it in achieving local ecological and cultural sustainability (Woodhouse & Knapp, 2000).

Following Dewey’s idea of “learning-by-doing,” many experiential and place-based educators believe that the kind of classroom education provided by most educational systems today fall well short of achieving a meaningful connection to either the social, cultural or material realities of the students they are hoping to teach. It is very difficult for students to engage with larger global issues and generalized truths unless they have some sort of understanding of how they might connect to their own local issues and, so to speak, more restricted truths. Therefore, our starting point is not the general and global, but the specific and local - we must respond to and address not the world but what the world already means to a particular people, from a specific community, in a distinct locale (Carnie, 2003).

The following section illustrates some present day applications of experiential and placed-based models created in response to Northern Indigenous students’ needs. The process of education is redefined as themes of community, place, Indigenous identity, and an integration of Indigenous knowledge and perspectives with current Western forms, which have been found to be successful.

Inuuqatigiit (G. o. Northwest Territories, 1996), a new curriculum document that delineates a large component of Inuit knowledge is being applied in the Territory of Nunavut. The word Inuuqatigiit means Inuit to Inuit, people to people or family to family.

Referenced as “The curriculum from the Inuit perspective”, Inuuqatigiit aims to reinforce the Inuit identity of children.

Inuuqatigiit focuses on the enhancement and enrichment of language and culture of Inuit students. It also promotes integration of the Inuit perspective with the standard school curriculum. In almost every school subject, students learn about the Inuit history, knowledge, traditions, values and beliefs. This will strengthen their education today and in the future. (G. o. Northwest Territories, 1996, p. 3)

Relationships to “People” and to the “Environment” are the two basic topics, which drive the curriculum. Activities that promote Family and Kinship, Elders, Traditional Responsibilities of Gender and Age, Medicine and Healing, Laws and Leadership, Land, Water, Ice, Sky, Weather, selected Fish, Animals and Plants are included in the curriculum protocols. This model is a telling example of how the Indigenous perspective can be included effectively into the curriculum. The concept of connectedness within the natural world is promoted as topics of “People” and “Environment” are explored as foundational aspects of the learning process. This provides context to the learning as students are able to relate their learning to their lives, community and its place in the larger global context. The focus of education is turned toward personal realization of the cultural and social conditions of their own society (Denise & Harris, 1989). Inuuqatigiit educators believe that it is very difficult for students to engage with larger global issues unless they have some sort of understanding of their own local issues. Therefore, as a starting point, the students begin with their own experiences.

Many schools in the Northwest and Nunavut Territories have adopted the label of “IQ (short for Inuuqatigiit) schools”. Through Nunavut’s “Technologies in the Schools” initiatives, students use satellite transceivers and receivers and cable boxes originally provided for distance education purposes to share their activities and insight with other schools and communities in the Territory but also on a national and global scale. Video conferencing is often used to collaborate on various experiential projects with other IQ schools in the North with regards to issues such as global warming, bird, fish and animal migration, and resource protection. This provides some key avenues for the students’ social development as they share knowledge with other participants and develop an Indigenous cognitive schema that is enabled by experiential exploration and new media technologies.

Projection devices such as the “smart board” interactive whiteboards are used to facilitate classroom instruction as land-satellite images and field guide instruction are easily shared through this multimedia tool. It is also effective as a delivery instrument for literacy instruction as it bolsters student attention to and participation in the literacy lessons.

The Experiential Education Programs supported by the Yukon Education Department were developed in 1990 and have continued to grow and attract student, parent and community interest. Now housed in their own school known as Wood Street School in the capital city of Whitehorse, students from across the Yukon Territory are participating in six experiential programs that incorporate provincially approved high school curriculum.

The experiential education programs were developed around three basic principles:

Learning styles: People learn in many different ways. For many, hands-on experiences are far more effective means of learning than lectures, readings, and visual presentations. These programs address curricular outcomes in many different ways, frequently incorporating experiential processes and media technologies. This means of addressing different individual learning styles allows many more to learn effectively.

Integration: People learn more effectively when they are able to see things in relation to other things. This principle of integration of subjects is central to instructional processes used in these programs. Such integration lends itself to the examination of real life issues and the transmission of Indigenous knowledge. Activities often use one subject as a means to understanding another subject.

Motivation: People learn far more effectively when motivated. Participation in meaningful events, studies, or enterprises involving students in a wider community is both exciting and motivating to students. Involving students in adventurous enterprises captures their emotional commitment, as does the sense that their participation will make a difference to community decisions.

The experiential programs are designed to help students develop as critical learners and engaged members of their community by reflecting upon individual and group response(s) in a variety of settings. The programs encourage each student to become a responsible citizen, with the self-confidence and skills needed to meet the many challenges facing an Indigenous person in a changing society.

Activities are organized using a range of field studies and ICTs that focus on specific program objectives. The field studies and their corresponding technologies support all aspects of the program. Field studies are complemented by detailed observations and graphic illustration, increasing students’ appreciation of the topic in a natural setting. The use of various forms of information technologies is often based on coordination with government and community organizations. These partnerships add interest to the field studies and encourage students to develop skills they would often miss in the conventional programs. During the field activities, students meet and take part in studies with community members, professionals, Elders and other students. These encounters provide students with in-depth discussions about many issues that relate to their specific program but also with respect to local community interests, social justice and world affairs.

Twenty five to thirty days of these field experiences are given over to either one trip or many shorter trips depending on the program. These trips take the Yukon students through Alberta, central British Columbia and along the British Columbia coast, Alaska and remote areas of the Yukon. Some activities include sailing, SCUBA diving, sea kayaking, skiing, biking, canoeing, forest and marine surveys, private company and government facility tours, culture camps, dramatic performances and university and college visits. The excursions are often the highlights of the program.

In these programs students are responsible for undertaking a major project and developing a comprehensive study for their fellow students. The major projects have touched upon topics such as; water quality analysis on a community lake, GPS/GIS mapping of community trails, long term thermal observations to determine appropriate northern gardening locations, traditional ecological knowledge practices in environmental assessments, fitness assessment of the entire class, development of a salt water aquarium with tidal movement, development of an alternative working model of a full suspension bike, and raising populations of arctic char in a pothole lake.

Students are encouraged to take responsibility for their learning and to work cooperatively. Computer-based communications technologies become a basis for much of the students work as they are in contact with participants across the territory, country and world. Virtual communities evolve as the students are asked to work with others as a team and be flexible and adaptable. Students are also encouraged to create online journals and generate “blogs” that promote the educational objective of a “critically engaged learner” that the program strives to achieve.

Tribal Chiefs First Nations Reserve Schools- Community Based Experiential Education Programming

This newly developed program (2005) is based on an experiential model that incorporates traditional ecological knowledge, Elders interviews, environmental studies and assessment. The educational foundation is built on local traditional and cultural knowledge, with a strong emphasis on experiential learning that incorporates new media technologies. The objectives are the following:

The Tribal Chiefs Peacekeeping Conservation Commission (TCPCC) represents the five Tribal Chiefs First Nations reserve schools on the Northern plains of the province of Alberta that are participating in this program. The population of these reserve schools consists of predominantly Cree Nation students.

The Community Based Experiential Education program focuses on the use of experiential and integrated curriculum to promote contextual and applied educational initiatives that emphasize engagement and hands-on learning. It promotes an integration of some of the existing curriculum with traditional and cultural knowledge and present-day community principles. The development of an audio-visual record and map pertaining to traditional use practices, movements, co-operative arrangements, historical events and spiritual well-being as recounted by the Elders of each First Nation is used to extend delivery methods that integrate local cultural and community objectives with the curriculum.

The natural environment, hands-on learning and the computer-based communications technologies are used throughout all facets of the learning process. Students are engaged in cultural and community objectives through the creation of the Tribal Access website and it’s Geo-referenced Internet Map. It is a web-based GIS application that provincial stakeholders access when planning developments or otherwise conducting business within Tribal Chiefs area of Treaty Responsibility (TCATR). It is constructed from the traditional use areas of the participating TCPCC First Nations. The separate areas and their various overlaps are layered under TCATR and are integral features structuring how First Nation(s) should be contacted regarding a particular issue or project.

Technologies such as GPS/GIS and the Tribal Access website are used to facilitate the development and maintenance of data obtained from environmental assessments. It is believed that along with the Elder’s teachings and the inclusion of traditional ecological knowledge, GIS can be an important tool in helping to understand and manage the environment.

Another media technology that is being employed is the GLOBE program (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment), which is a worldwide hands-on, school-based on-line education program that was crafted to develop an awareness of one’s “Place” in the natural world. Through the use of environmental science related activities and an integration of traditional ecological knowledge, students develop an enlightened recognition of the proper relationship of self, community and global world. Teachers are trained to provide this innovative program in an adapted manner that incorporates their communities’ specific cultural and educational needs. The opportunities to make connections on a global scale are promoted as GLOBE schools across the world share knowledge and collaborate on environmental activities. These activities include environmental assessments in the fields of atmosphere, hydrology, soils, and land cover; collecting and reporting data; promoting student-centered research projects that involve local initiatives; creating maps and records that describe traditional lands and uses; and collaborating with community members, Elders, environmental monitors, other teachers and students, and scientists.

This experiential program focuses on place-based and community involvement that specifically addresses the five community schools’ culture and traditions. Opportunities to share their knowledge and increase social awareness are provided through ICTs such as the Tribal Access website, the GLOBE program, various virtual communities and on-line journals. The Sunchild E-Learning Community, a web-based distance-learning program directed at Indigenous students in Canada, is also used as it has had tremendous success in academic achievement. Teachers and students interact in real-time over the web and through video-conferencing, learning and sharing information as it applies to various educational outcomes.

There are some reoccurring characteristics with respect to the three experiential initiatives that have emerged in my research to date. They are:

I have chosen to summarize the pedagogical practices of the three northern programs identified into five Themes:

Theme One- Place-based Learning: This practice puts considerable focus on the implementation of Indigenous knowledge and methodologies in the present educational system. Place-based education is administered as it connects place with self and community. Because of the ecological and cultural lens through which place-based curricula are envisioned, these connections are all-encompassing. It is ultimately in this process that Indigenous values and participation are effectively incorporated at all levels of education. This educational initiative is based on the ideology that an Indigenous student with a strong cultural identity and a sense of Native history is the student who remains in school longer, enjoys success, and has higher aspirations in his social and economic outlook.

Theme Two- Comprehending the Development of Self/Identity through Learning Units: The identity of Indigenous peoples, whose concept of self is inextricably connected to community and place, contradicts the concept of self held by many Euro-Canadians whose identity can be summarized in an independence of the individual. The “self-as-relationship” of Indigenous people, who understand themselves as formed by their relationships with all living things, extends beyond the “self-in-relation”. These three educational programs include motivators, such as teaching Aboriginal culture and history, having Aboriginal role models, speaking a Native language, participating in local field experiences, the use of ICTs, and the presence of cultural participation. It is understood that this educational model increases achievement levels in many Aboriginal populations.

Theme Three- Technology and Learning: E-Learning programs are used to integrate cultural language learning to ensure renewal of Indigenous cultures and language. The implementation of various ICTs embraces experiential and place-based learning initiatives and supports local community values. Through the use of environmental assessment related technologies and an integration of traditional ecological knowledge, students develop an enlightened recognition of the relationship of self, community and global world. The training and experience students receive while engaged with new technologies provides a bank of knowledge and skills that the students can use for future employment opportunities. Also, the engagement in knowledge sharing through virtual communities has provided positive outcomes for Indigenous students’ social, political and cultural development.

Theme Four- Diverse Educational Systems and Learning: Critical theory is concerned with particular issues of power and justice and the ways that the economy, matters of race, class and gender ideologies, discourses, education, religion and other social institutions and cultural dynamics interact to construct the social systems that make-up our consciousness (Kincheloe, 2003). This has tremendous impact on educators who envision a system of learning that values new possibilities for students to live well on Earth with all other life. The current framework that guides our schools is based upon colonial thought and places the learner in a recipient position, which is contrary to many Indigenous epistemologies. The three programs of study teach Indigenous students in the North to become critical learners and active participants, as it is only as dynamic participants in the world (engagement) that we can see the relevance and need to learn about it.

Theme Five- Alternative Pedagogies: In a response to the negative effects of colonization, and an attempt to heal many Indigenous peoples’ spirit, the concept of holistic education has been included as part of experiential and place-based programs found in the three communities chosen. Holistic education is a traditional practice that was used by all people in educating the young before formal education displaced such practices. It can be best described as a pedagogical approach to educating that develops the whole child: intellectually, spiritually, emotionally, and physically. Holistic education is not new to many Indigenous people and is compatible with traditional tenets of Indigenous peoples’ conceptualizations of well-being and good life.

An evaluation of the three northern programs reveals that inclusion of Indigenous knowledge can be made within the pedagogical methods, and that a complementary rather than antagonistic relationship results between the Indigenous and Western science fields. Some examples are: the activities of local Indigenous peoples in each seasonal cycle; how animals, fish and insects are important in the lives of Indigenous peoples; demonstrating the special significance of celestial objects for Indigenous peoples; and how Indigenous views of the interconnectedness of the environment are reflected in resource stewardship.

These three programs are appropriate examples of how including diverse knowledge sources and traditions, especially highlighting marginalized ideas and ways of knowing, could point the way to curriculum review and transformation (Ismail & Cazden, 2005). It is aligned with Pinar’s (1988) reconceptionalist approach to curriculum theory, which promotes a development of curriculum on the basis of the students’ specific historical, political and cultural contexts, supporting the notion that it may be particularly useful in the area of Indigenous education.

Many Indigenous scholars (Cajete, 1994; Deloria & Wildcat, 2001; Hanohano, 1999) write how teachers must be prepared so Western paradigms can coexist with Indigenous worldviews about life’s complex interconnections among peoples and with nature. They focus especially on the need to relate to one’s local community and geography, an approach to learning often referred to as “place-based education”. The associated educators of these three northern programs attempt to strengthen family and community teachings, in the belief that “book knowledge”, while having its place, should not supersede the “collective wisdom” learned through the ages and passed on to each new generation by Elders and most recently through ICTs such as the TCPCC’s audio-visual recordings in the recognition that many Elders are no longer with us to transpose such wisdom.

In summarizing the contribution that experiential and place-based processes, through the employment of ICTs and other new media technologies, have made to Indigenous education and knowledge production, four possible conclusions are suggested:

First, the practical application of theoretical knowledge is a valuable contribution to the learning process. With the implementation of appropriate ICTs students and educators develop an ability to place objects and events in a new context within their own culture as well as the culture of others.

Second, active participation developed by the immersion experience may provide motivation for recognition of environmental and social alteration and the need for new strategies for social change. This has tremendous implications for the student’s identity, who in the future may find themselves in such positions that require critical inquiry and opportunities for social justice.

Third, students develop an understanding of the interrelationship between the ecology of their community and its social framework within a global context. It is envisioned that enlightened students will respect and promote cultural variations. Experience assists students in understanding why certain social policies exist or are absent from their community. They come to realize how the society that he or she is part of expresses its values and choices compared to those of other communities and cultures.

Finally, experiential learning provides the Indigenous student with the task of being conscious about and taking responsibility for the reality of their own political and cultural awareness. This active, self-determining role is most productive outside of the formal classroom setting. It is in this very act that the central value is realized: the ability of all persons to know their potential for growth and self-awareness (Denise & Harris, 1989).

For quotation purposes:
Kevin O’Connor: Learning from Place: Re-shaping Knowledge Flow in Indigenous Education -In: TRANS. Internet-Zeitschrift für Kulturwissenschaften. No. 17/2008. WWW: http://www.inst.at/trans/17Nr/8-2/8-2_oconnor.htm

	Internet-Zeitschrift für Kulturwissenschaften	17. Nr.	Februar 2010

Sektion 8.2.	Indigenous Peoples Knowledge Society: Transformations and Challenges Sektionsleiter \| Section Chairs: Adam Fiser (University of Toronto, Canada) and Philipp Budka (University of Vienna, Austria) Dokumentation \| Documentation \| Documentation