Welcome to the first part of our series on decolonizing education. In the introduction post about this topic, we mentioned the First Peoples Principles of Learning. Today we’re going to go into that more, starting with the first principle, which states: “Learning ultimately supports the well-being of the self, the family, the community, the land, the spirits, and the ancestors.”
A fantastic article by Indigenous educator Jo-Anne Chrona gives detailed insight into the pedagogical theory of constructivist learning, and how it ties into this first principle. But let’s break this down and simplify it a bit.
Fundamentally what this principle says is that learning can and should benefit and respect everyone. It’s not simply a student gaining knowledge and skills for themselves; they are gaining knowledge and skills that also benefit their family, the members of their community (such as their nation), and the land on which they learn. Knowledge doesn’t come out of thin air, so when learning, it is important to respect where that knowledge and those skills come from: all those that came before to pass it down through generations.
This contrasts to a colonialist approach which centers on the individual. Knowledge is granted to the learner without concern of how knowledge may be used to benefit or harm others or the world around them, and there is no obligation to use that knowledge at all. For example, think about how often “progress” is used as a justification for something like climate change.
Indigenous-centered education, however, does not rely on any single “teacher.” By bringing in Elders, Indigenous education workers, and other community leaders, such as this project by the BC Teachers Federation did, the classroom becomes the community, putting learning into the context of being for everyone, not just the individual learner. You also gain different perspectives from different educators, instead of relying on a single teacher. Think about a field trip you’ve been on, or a guest speaker that came to your classroom. Did they teach you anything new about a subject your teacher had already shared with your class?
Thanks for reading, and we hope you’ll join us for the next topic in this series where we will talk about the second principle of learning: learning is holistic.
Author: Lexa, ITMP Blog Coordinator
Image credits: Wix Media
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