UNIT 1 AND 2 ESSAY RESPONSES

Assignment 1 – Essay Responses

Athabasca university

Describe an Indigenous worldview and elements that contribute to a holistic education.

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 Worldviews are quite complex; in the general sense a worldview refers to a collective of

beliefs about life on a global scale as well as the universe that are held by an individual or a

community of people. People raised within multiple cultures can hold multiple competing sets of

values and shift between them, depending on the context. Within the Indigenous community, a

worldview is relational, meaning that it finds its roots in tribal cultures and that everything and

everyone is related or connected. Little Bear (2000), further supports this notion as they state that

a worldview is rooted in culture, which is then comprised of shared philosophies, values, and

customs. While there are many different aboriginal tribes and peoples, and they are as diverse in

culture, philosophy, and custom as any other bodies of people such as Europeans, the

overarching aboriginal philosophy is very similar among the different peoples and can be

generally applied (Little Bear, 2000, p. 77). Indigenous cultures focus on a holistic understanding

of the whole that emerged from the millennium of their existence and experiences. Traditional

Western worldviews tend to be more concerned with science and concentrate on

compartmentalized knowledge and then focus on understanding the bigger, related picture. Little

bear (2000) also illustrates aboriginal philosophy as encompassing the idea that everything is

animate, imbued within it a certain spirit and always in perpetual motion. Further, all things are

considered to have energy; there is a wholeness, interrelatedness to all things. This idea of

interrelatedness is further explored by Allen Gabriel, who invites us to awaken into the

awareness of a perspective where our relatedness to each other and to the earth are essential to

our way of living (RCAP, Volume 1, 1996).

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 While there are several values and customs practiced by the various Indigenous

communities, this essay will be focusing on the certain elements that tend to manifest in a

holistic education. Holistic education is a continuous lifelong process that requires consistent

support and tends to encompass all four stages of life, that is child, youth, adult, and elders.

(RCAP, Vol. 3, 1996). It is holistic with regard to the all encompassing aspects including

intellectual, spiritual, emotional, and the physical dimensions of health and well-being. (RCAP,

Vol. 3, 1996). There are various elements that contribute to a holistic education within the

indigenous community, amongst those include sharing, honesty, and wholeness. The element of

sharing relates to the sharing of the body of knowledge from elders to children. Specifically,

storytelling is utilized to transmit customs and values from tribe elders to teach values and

customs (Little Bear, 2000). This element is foundational within a holistic education as it is what

keeps aboriginal traditions going. Little bear (2000) terms this a “shared heritage”, and there is

an emphasis on sharing each individual’s personal truth as with that truth is built the collective

body of knowledge. Little Bear (2000) states due to this shared heritage being recorded in the

minds of the members within the community, honesty is an important Aboriginal value. As

storytelling is central to holistic education, honesty is of great importance as there is a reliance

on each other to contribute to the entirety of their knowledge, and it also brings a sense of

harmony, which “sustains the strength and balance” (Little Bear, 2000, p. 79) within Aboriginal

societies. In this regard, lies “result in chaos and establish false understanding” (Little Bear,

2000, p. 80). Additionally, dishonesty will result in damage to relationships and may even tarnish

the reputation of the individual within the community, causing the other members to see that

person as “untruthful and a liar.” (Little Bear, 2000, p. 80). The value of wholeness speaks to the

wholeness of creation, and focuses on a group rather than an individual, it is manifested by the

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 Indigenous idea of a community coming together to raise a child. Little Bear (2000) illustrates

this by the interactions of children and the group as a whole – this is inclusive of family,

extended family, and others, with the notion that multiple extended families combine to form a

sort of kinship that watches over and teaches a child. "Teaching through actual experience is

done by relatives” (Little Bear, 2000, p. 81), such as the aunts teaching girls and uncles teaching

boys. These relationships tend to develop as the relative takes the responsibility of teaching the

small child and pass on their knowledge regarding culture, survival, and so forth.

Discuss the significance of Indigenous languages to Indigenous education

Language is the foundation of a culture. For indigenous societies, words are powerful

tools that hold a collective of knowledge, culture, and history that has been collected and shared

through generations. Little Bear (2000) emphasizes the importance of the aboriginal language

with regard to education, stating that it, alongside storytelling, role modeling, and learning

through experience, are the primary instruments for relaying the aboriginal education.

Indigenous education has various facets to it including the mental, physical, spiritual, and

emotional aspects of health and well-being. In comparison to traditional North American

education systems (which focus primarily on intellectual growth), Indigenous education is much

more inclusive and involves a variety of complicated concepts and rich aboriginal cultural

traditions. As such, the language that is used to convey these ideas is extremely important, as

many of the intricacies and foundational concepts within the aboriginal culture do not translate

well to English (RCAP, 1996, p. 407). The result of this is a loss in translation of theological

concepts unique and important to the aboriginal culture. In order to truly understand aboriginal

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 philosophy, culture, and values, one must know the language. As mentioned previously,

Aboriginal education is inclusive of all stages of human development, it is important to explore

how the aboriginal language manifests itself throughout the stages of development. The

childhood stage is the foundational stage of life. In this stage, children acquire and decipher

language in order to begin the education process (Cardinal & Hildebrandt, 2000, p. 416).

Through learning aboriginal language, children learn aboriginal character, and also are set up to

understand complex subjects about aboriginal history and philosophy (Cardinal & Hildebrandt,

2000, p. 420). If the child does not have a foundation in aboriginal language learning, the cultural

identity and values of the child, and a generation, are at risk of being lost.

The second stage of development in the life cycle is the youth or adolescent. This portion

of an aboriginal youth’s experience can be very confusing and difficult for them. Cardinal &

Hildebrandt (2000) posit that the youth are in a difficult position, straddling two worlds, often

caught between expectations, values, and demands of their own aboriginal heritage, as well as

the non-aboriginal world. Even if aboriginal children have a strong background in understanding

their language, culture, and traditions, unless this is fortified in the youth years many lose the

ability to speak said language. And finally, the last stage of development in an Aboriginal’s life

cycle is an elder. Elders hold a central role in aboriginal education, serving as the keepers of

traditions and the guardians of culture (Cardinal & Hildebrandt, 2000, p. 488). The community

depends on the elders to hold cultural knowledge, and offer guidance and direction for the

Indigenous peoples. Elders play a key part of re-establishing a positive identity amongst their

communities.

Disregarding the importance of incorporating Indigenous language training severs ties

between Indigenous youth, and their ancestors. cultural knowledge, stories, philosophy, and

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 kinship are reliant on language to be passed on from one generation to another (Little Bear, 2000,

p. 78). For this reason, Indigenous education and Indigenous language are intertwined, they are

equally important to preserve and propagate the Aboriginal identity and nation.

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 References

Athabasca University. (2017a). Unit 1 – Introduction to Indigenous Education. In Indigenous

Studies 301 Study Guide. Retrieved from https://cwikr.lms.athabascau.ca/

Athabasca University. (2017b). Unit 2 – Indigenous Philosophy and Systems of Knowledge(s).

In Indigenous Studies 301 Study Guide. Retrieved from https://cwikr.lms.athabascau.ca/

Cardinal, H., & Hildebrandt., W. (2000). Treaty Elders of Saskatchewan: Our dream is that our

peoples will one day be clearly recognized as nations. Calgary: University of Calgary

Press.

Little Bear, L. (2000). Jagged world views colliding. In M. Battiste (Ed.), Reclaiming Indigenous

voice and vision (pp. 77–85). Vancouver: UBC Press.

Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (1996). A Thanksgiving address. In Report of the

Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. Volume 1. Indian and Northern Affairs

Canada.

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