INST 301 - Assign 1

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Dec 6, 2023

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1 Albrecht Sydney Albrecht INST 301 Dr. Roxanne Pawlick October 16, 2022

2 Albrecht Indigenous worldview and Elements of a holistic education Indigenous ideology about the world is quite different from the mainstream ideation that many people carry. Indigenous worldviews consist of a holistic approach that is based in the knowledge that “existence consists of energy” (Little Bear 77). Indigenous worldviews see everything as animate, containing spirit, and consistently moving (Little Bear 77). Indigenous worldviews explain that the “universe is understood as consciousness that manifests in all life forms and is the basis of the principles that underlie conduct, thought, and knowledge” (Bastien 84). This ideology brings about ideas that everything is interconnected, related, and affecting everything else. Indigenous worldviews are holistic in that they see the world as a large system of connection that is in constant motion and must be looked at in entirety to see patterns. Furthermore, Indigenous world views “emphasize the process, not the product” (Little Bear 78) by recognizing constant motion that results in consistent patterns and cycles, such as the seasons that result from the continuous motion of the cosmos (Little bear 78). In essence, Indigenous worldviews aim to see the entirety of what is to be looked at and recognize causes and effects of the constant motion of everything. This worldview invokes a sense of value in wholeness. Indigenous worldviews are also involved in their ideas about education. In Indigenous education, it is the goal of the educational system to educate the whole child. In doing so, Indigenous people use a holistic education system in order to encourage the development of the physical, spiritual, emotional, and intellectual. Indigenous education does not stop, rather, it is continuous throughout the life cycle, “from infancy and early childhood to old age” (Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples 445). The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (1996) states that, “Aboriginal people see education as a process that begins before birth and continues long after formal education is over” (p. 445). Learning is done throughout the lifetime and new

3 Albrecht knowledge can always be obtained, similarly, knowledge can always be shared and passed on to others. Furthermore, another goal of Indigenous education is to find or create balance. The interconnectedness of Aboriginal education can be explained by the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (1996), as it states that “lifelong learning and learning aimed to balance all dimensions of the person are intermeshed” (445). Education starts very young with both the child’s close and extended family nurturing, protecting and encouraging the development of the child as a thinking and autonomous being (Athabasca University, 2017a). Encouragement is very important as Indigenous educational ideologies aim to give children the tools they need to become self-sufficient and non-reliant on others in harmful ways. As education is a continuous process, each stage of learning has implications for the next and children often need to be seen as ready to move to the next stage or lesson. In Indigenous education, knowledge is passed on from everything. Knowledge can be gained from ancestorial stories, dreams, and interactions with nature, including insects, trees, and animals. Indigenous people gain knowledge and understanding both by quietly observing and actively participating.

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4 Albrecht The significance of Indigenous language to Indigenous education Mainstream education is failing the Indigenous community in many ways. One of the most prominent ways is the neglect of Indigenous languages in schools. Mainstream Canadian education has mainly focused on teaching languages such as English and sometimes French. This ignorance of teaching Indigenous languages is effectively destroying the language skills, culture, and sense of identity in many Indigenous students. Indigenous students who enter mainstream education at the age of 5 are often thrown through a loop when they enter the classroom. These children are thrown into a system that disregards the way they have learned to speak, read, and write, and expects them to pick up a new language that the rest of the kids have been speaking since they could talk. Studies have shown that children who are taught a new language when they have barely grasped the concepts of their first language, struggle much more than children that start their education in their first language. It is explained in the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (1996) that “well- developed fluency in the child's first language is necessary to achieve facility in reading and writing” (p. 465). By forcing these children to adopt a new language when they are still in the process of learning their first language, mainstream education is effectively ruining these children’s chances. Furthermore, Indigenous children that enter mainstream education and have to adopt a new language, struggle with cultural issues. Oftentimes, these children have only just begun to develop a sense of culture and cultural identity within the confines of their tribe, family, or community, but are left feeling confused and in-between in schools as their dominant cultural ideas are not thoroughly represented in the classroom. Furthermore, “Aboriginal people speak about language and culture in the same breath” (Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples 463),

5 Albrecht meaning that culture and language are tied into one. This integration of language in culture and culture in language makes it all the more difficult for children of aboriginal descent to feel a connection to their language or culture while in school. Finally, children from indigenous backgrounds that enter mainstream schooling and adopt a new language early on, can struggle with their identity. As children grow and develop they build a sense of their identity through relationships, knowledge, and interactions, but children in the indigenous community who spend half their time at home, surrounded by their cultural identity, and half their time at school, surrounded by uncertainty, judgements, and refusal to acknowledge their culture in a larger space, can fall between the cracks and feel a sense of shame in their identity and neglecting it as their schools have taught them to. The educational system in Canada is neglecting the needs of Indigenous students, parents, and their communities. With little to no effective resources for students to gain a more in depth understanding of their mother tongue and their cultural backgrounds, the school system is effectively failing to educate the whole child. Children in Indigenous communities that are entering the educational system of mainstream Canada, are being plagued by new information, cultures, and language which is overwhelming and instills a sense of discontinuity in themselves.

6 Albrecht References Athabasca University. (2017a). Unit 1 – Introduction to Indigenous Education. In Indigenous Studies 301 Study Guide. Retrieved from http://cwikr.lms.athabascau.ca/ Athabasca University. (2017b). Unit 2 – Indigenous Philosophy and Systems of Knowledge(s). In Indigenous Studies 301 Study Guide. Retrieved from http://cwikr.lms.athabascau.ca/ Bastien, B. (2004). Blackfoot ways of knowing: The world view of the Siksikaitsitapi . Calgary: University of Calgary Press. Pp. 77-98. Retrieved from: https://viewer.canadacommons.ca/artifacts/1867396/blackfoot-ways-of-knowing/2616418/view/? token=gAAAAABjTf- MAdQOUYQ9VFOAozuqW99LUibPHQH6ZnudZKpJ4xgNy2II8r8W3tQIYHDeWb2zHTelUR2fCDy74S 1QtIaw7m-GWv4G2u4UlzfkBu2QRsciDFDC0N2rt2GX1LQt0nXEq2OR8JkqXD8gZVbS9CHRy1INyg== Little Bear, L. (2000). Jagged world views colliding. In M. Battiste (Ed.), Reclaiming Indigenous voice and vision (pp. 77-85). Vancouver: UBC Press. Retrieved from: https://www.scribd.com/doc/126893802/Leroy-Little-Bear-Jagged-Worldviews-Colliding Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. (1996). Chapter 5: Education. In Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. Volume 3: Gathering Strength. Indian and Northern Affairs, Canada.

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