Indigenous Perspectives

 As if Indigenous Knowledge and Communities Mattered: Transformative Education in First Nations Communities in Canada

Jessica Ball’s article comes to me like a breath of fresh air on a hot summer’s day.

Fundamentally, this article is about socio-cultural recovery, capacity-building, and healing after years of practices such as the “Indian Residential Schools” program whose aim it was to negate the legitimacy of Indigenous values, culture, traditions, and language. Claiming to serve the best interests of Canada’s Aboriginal People, this experience in residential schools was detrimental to the First Nations of Canada because of the program’s intent to subjugate and undermine Aboriginal children’s identity. Moreover, mainstream training curricula offered to Indigenous students and dispensed by instructors of European origin was not in line with Indigenous philosophy, thinking, culture, etc., thus “[shattering] Indigenous students’ sense of cultural pride and seriously [challenging] their confidence in the validity of the cultural knowledge that they bring to the training.” (Ball, 2004, p. 457) Bearing no relevance or connection to the Indigenous students’ lives and culture, mainstream curriculum is seen as colonizing and systematizing – an approach that does not consider the fact that there exists some 605 distinct First Nations groups in Canada (p. 458). In fact, because of the very diverse social ecologies within Canada’s Aboriginal People, even a pan-Aboriginal approach to teaching is seen as inappropriate, as every First Nation has its own history, traditions, dialect, and so forth. It is further explained that educational practices/discourses employed in schools were so subjugating and oppressive that Indigenous people who were exposed to them lost in self-esteem, self-confidence and agency to the point of making the transmission of Indigenous knowledge, values, and culture to their own children extremely challenging. It’s as if education intended to neutralize Aboriginal People. 

In light of these events, the author discusses the importance of introducing an innovative non colonizing teaching and learning approach for the First Nations of Canada, known as the Generative Curriculum Model. Community-based, this curriculum model builds not only on the involvement of Elders for the transmission of indigenous knowledge and traditions, but also on partnerships with post-secondary establishments in Canada whose mainstream curriculum unsurprisingly bring Eurowestern practices and ideologies to the table. Indigenous students are then encouraged to identify, debate and evaluate Western ideas and decide what is more fitting for them and their community. The beauty of this pioneering educational approach is that, as Indigenous students learn more about their community from their own community, they gain in agency and are then able to take the future into their hands and give back to the community. Indeed, as Indigenous students deepen their knowledge and know-how, they will be able to transmit this precious heritage to their own children and other students for generations to come. And in turn, through education, First Nations will feel empowered to “plan, operate, and monitor programs for [but not only for] children and youth that are consistent with cultural values and that enhance positive cultural and community identity.” (p. 455) By taking their future and that of their community into their hands, First Nations of Canada will further gain in their ability to heal, regenerate, and move forward.

At this point, I would also like to spend a few words on the immensely gainful/rewarding nature of the Generative Curriculum Model. Simply put, its importance lies in the fact that this model involves the “safe and supportive” (p. 460) co-creation of knowledge emerging from the judicious blending of both the First Nations and Eurowestern traditions. This approach also allows First Nations of Canada to reclaim/regain competence/capacity in all aspects of their life, including health, education, social services, etc.

This article perfectly reflects my conception of what is an extremely valid and innovative approach to teaching and learning, as relevance and authenticity is interwoven into the experience. As Jessica Ball states, the teaching and learning of non relevant knowledge is synonymous with “filling an empty vessel” (p. 473) and I couldn’t agree with this more. In fact, one of the reasons that I am so keen about Culturally Relevant or Responsive Pedagogy (CRP) stems precisely from this notion of relevance. In my view, the Generative Curriculum Model (GCM) is akin to Gloria Ladson Billings’ CRP in terms of scope and agency-building. Now, to be clear, neither model is new, but, in my view, both remain highly innovative and correspond to the crying needs of our increasingly multiethnic society that is also seeking to find its voice. I also believe that these models could borrow from each other to reach similar objectives, explicitly the acquisition of significant knowledge and skills to fittingly become an integral part of society, however that may be defined. As an aside, I would say that experiential or authentic learning (E/AL) is also somewhat acquainted with the two educational models noted above, in that E/AL also focuses on making the learning meaningful and impactful for students. 

At the heart of all these approaches, I see the fostering of open-mindedness, meaningful communication and of critical, creative, and collaborative thinking skills. These, in my view, are the essential qualities and skills needed for becoming an active and integral part of this brave new world.

My question to the author: Do you believe that Culturally Relevant Pedagogy, as advocated by Gloria Ladson Billings, could also be a useful approach for the First Nations of Canada? Was it in any way a model for the Generative Curriculum Model? And what are your thoughts about experiential or authentic learning?

REFERENCE

Ball, J. (2004). As If Indigenous Knowledge and Communities Mattered: Transformative Education in First Nations Communities in Canada. American Indian Quarterly, 28(3/4), 454–479. https://doi.org/10.1353/aiq.2004.0090

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Applying Indigenizing Principles of Decolonizing Methodologies in University Classrooms

It needs to be said: I am pleasantly surprised by the articles that I have read on decolonization in Canadian schools and universities, as it allowed me to understand that something, somewhere is evolving notwithstanding the difficulties that First Nations of Canada experienced and must still experience in the process. Because it takes courage, endurance, determination, and infinite patience to tolerate and then combat domination and all its damaging aspects on the psyche, the body and soul. One of the problems, of course, are the mass media that only ever make headlines with stories relating to residential schools, drug addiction, incarceration, and the likes. I have also come to the realization that I should not count on Eurowestern mainstream mass media to deliver stories of optimism on decolonization, courage and respect with regards to Canada’s Aboriginal People. If anyone can suggest an authoritative font for such literature, please let me know. I need to check this out.

As with Jessica Ball’s article discussed above, Louie et al. address the need for Indigenization and decolonization in post-secondary education in Canada as a means of countering and ending centuries of alienation and marginalization of Canada’s First Nations. With this in mind, the authors of this article build on the Twenty-Five Indigenous Projects developed by Linda Tuhiwai Smith, a Māori scholar and author of Decolonizing Methodologies and aim to demonstrate that Smith’s research-based principles can be adopted in/adapted to the educational arena as “inspirational principles for reimagining our pedagogy within university courses,” (p. 18) Indeed, the authors endeavour to demonstrate the undeniable parallel that exists between research’s capacity to generate new knowledge and education’s efforts to disseminate same (p. 21). Among Smith’s “Twenty-Five Indigenous Projects” that, for the purpose of this case study, Louie et al. have renamed “Indigenous Principles”, we find terms such as claiming, remembering, revitalizing, reading, naming, protecting, negotiating, and democratizing – all words that I see as connected to the notion of healing which is not explicitly mentioned here; all principles that can serve as effective educational approaches.

There are certainly a number of elements that I see as novel or innovative in this article, the first being that the authors Louie et al. have adopted a protocol that reframes Smith’s research-based work into their own practice as Indigenous educators and faculty members at the Werklund School of Education (University of Calgary). In so doing, Louie, Ottmann, Hanson and Poitras-Pratt demonstrate how they creatively used Smith’s research framework to work through this case study.

As an example, the principles of remembering, claiming, and connecting are the focus of Jacqueline Ottmann’s segment. The first thing I observe is how an in-class exercise on “claiming” and “connecting” creatively uses very basic/simple questions to draw out the more complex notions of identity and leadership in the students. It is interesting and even important to note the simplicity of the questions: “Who am I? Where do I come from? Where am I going? What are my responsibilities” (p. 24) What I learn here is that to work (as in teach and learn) profoundly and creatively on such complex issues, it does not need to be complicated, but it does require time to ponder. It is no wonder that this exercise for Grade 7-8 students became a major research project that lasted an entire year. In the throes of this experiment, the students also connected with their Elders and to be able to ask them far-reaching and respectful questions, students had to learn the “traditional Elder protocol” (p. 24) and put it into practice. This class project also included interviewing the Elders and other eminent members of the community, it included the transcription of these conversations and theme extraction (p. 24). Now, in my view this is a very creative way of reawakening traditional knowledge and culture in the students and it is also an incredible way for them to gain in agency and self-esteem. To reap so much with such simple but profound questions is to me simply mind-boggling. To reap so much in an innovative and creative way that does not call on digital technologies in our day and age is simply revolutionary!

One other example of innovative pedagogy emerges from Dustin Louie’s segment on negotiating. He states that an exercise in decolonization that he proposes in his classroom has to do with grading a student’s written submission in a collaborative fashion. In other words, a grade is not assigned by the educator at the onset, but the student must first present the merits of her/his submission and negotiate the grade accordingly. Again, this protocol is innovative, but not new, as it is used time and again when modeling to think critically and collaboratively. What I mostly appreciate though is the fact that in this case and context, the students who must negotiate their grade with their instructor also learn through this process the abyssal differences that exist between an Indigenous model of negotiation and a Western one. The Indigenous model being constructed on relationship-building while the Western model focuses on competing. Furthermore, as Smith states in Decolonizing Methodologies and I am in full agreement, “the protocols and rituals of negotiation are the most important elements of meaningful interactions. The outcome of the negotiation, the grade, is actually the least important in the long-term implication of pedagogy,” (Smith, 2012 as cited in Louie et al., p. 25). Or as motivational gurus state today in colloquial terms: “the destination is not as important as the journey.”

Essentially, by presenting this case study produced collaboratively by the four authors, we are witness to a good number and a wide variety of creative/innovative approaches to decolonization in education. And once again I care to underline that these innovative practices do not emerge from the virtual/digital realm. But they are anchored in real-life situations, like sharing or discussing or listening, that only need to be humbly practiced to be perfected.

In closing, I would like to stress that, as I see it, decolonizing and indigenizing initiatives in the educational arena are/should be as enriching for the non-Indigenous students as it is for the Indigenous students. Thanks to these initiatives, Indigenous students will feel that they are respected in their schools and communities, while non-Indigenous students will (I hope) have learned the importance of respecting and accepting other cultures, other traditions openly and trustingly.

I recognize that the road to equity, justice and well-being for the First Nations of Canada has been and is still long and lined with obstacles, but one fascinating example on this topic that I will hold dear forever stems from Jessica Ball’s article. She states: “And what we hear now from the students who are at a fourth-year level, working on their degrees, is that they are influencing the mainstream classroom and modeling how to critique concepts, bring in culturally based knowledge, and start creating new forms of knowledge” (Ball, 2004, p. 473). All this takes much determination to keep taking those baby steps forward while closely monitoring when the time will be right to move forward taking longer proud strides. Man must live in hope. A lesson learned with Bourn’s a Pedagogy of Hope.

My question to the author: Where do you think we are at with the decolonization and indigenization of Canadian classrooms and in Canadian society, in general? Do you sense that significant progress has been made?

REFERENCES

Ball, J. (2004). As If Indigenous Knowledge and Communities Mattered: Transformative Education in First Nations Communities in Canada. American Indian Quarterly, 28(3/4), 454–479. https://doi.org/10.1353/aiq.2004.0090

Louie, D. W. (2017). Applying Indigenizing Principles of Decolonizing Methodologies in University Classrooms. Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 47(3), 16–33. https://doi.org/10.7202/1043236ar