Aboriginal Learning|Autochtones

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Naturalizing Indigenous Knowledge

Naturalizing Indigenous Knowledge A plethora of studies regarding Aboriginal education in Canada demonstrates that the existing education systems in Canada have largely failed the Aboriginal peoples. More than thirty years of reports, including the 1967 Hawthorne Report and the 1996 Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, agree that: Aboriginal peoples are not succeeding in the present education systems; Aboriginal students have the highest dropout rates; and, Aboriginal students consistently are at the bottom of performance scales. But, education systems in Canada have also consistently been reportedly unresponsive to the educational needs, wants, strengths, and weaknesses of Aboriginal peoples. They have largely resisted making the infrastructure, curricular, and pedagogical changes required to effectively service Aboriginal students.

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Naturalizing Indigenous Knowledge report author Dr. Leroy Little Bear recommends the introduction of Indigenous Knowledge (IK), by way of Aboriginal teachers, language and curriculum, as a way of keeping Aboriginal students in the classroom. He concludes:

  1. IK is a necessary foundation for Aboriginal education.
  2. Language is central to Indigenous knowledge.
  3. Learning from place is a foundational aspect of IK.
  4. Community involvement is necessary because IK is relationship based.
  5. The Indigenous perspective is the internal perspective of IK developed from Indigenous languages and being in place.
  6. Learning IK in schools must be consistent with customary protocols for learning and teaching.
  7. Naturalizing IK can begin to neutralize racism, colonialism, and assumptions of the inferiority of Aboriginal peoples.
  8. Aboriginal epistemology is found in theories, philosophies, histories, ceremonies, and stories as ways of knowing.
  9. Teaching IK is a pressing issue for professionals in educational institutions: they need to decolonize their education practices.
  10. Elders, knowledge keepers, and cultural workers are indispensible to the naturalization of IK.

 

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 Aboriginal Learning Knowledge Centre, The University of Saskatchewan, CCL, Canadian Council on Learning, students, institutions, Dr. Leroy Little Bear, culture, language, classrooms,  First Nations Adult and Higher Education Consortium. Le Centre du savoir sur l'apprentissage chez les Autochtones, L'Aboriginal Education Research Centre de l'Université de la Saskatchewan, étudiants autochtones, les établissements d'enseignement canadiens M. Leroy Little Bear, la culture, les langues CCA, Conseil Canadien sur l'apprentissage. By many measurements, Canadian learning institutions are failing to adapt to the needs of Aboriginal students. Naturalizing Indigenous Knowledge author Dr. Leroy Little Bear says that bringing Aboriginal culture, language and knowledge into classrooms will result in better educated Aboriginal students. À de nombreux égards, les établissements d’enseignement canadiens ne répondent pas aux besoins des étudiants autochtones. Selon M. Leroy Little Bear, auteur du rapport Naturalizing Indigenous Knowledge (en anglais seulement), l’intégration de la culture, des langues et du savoir autochtones aux programmes d’enseignement officiels contribuera à faire augmenter le taux de scolarisation des Autochtones.