Epistemologies and pedagogies

“Indigenous philosophies are underlain by a worldview of interrelationships among the spiritual, the natural, and the self, forming the foundation or beginnings of Indigenous ways of knowing and being.”

Willie Ermine, Assistant Professor with the First Nations University of Canada. He is from the Sturgeon Lake First Nation in the north-central part of Saskatchewan.

Indigenous epistemologies

Key aspects of Indigenous epistemologies (how knowledge can be known) are relationality, the interconnection between sacred and secular, and holism.

• Relationality
  • Relationality is the concept that we are all related to each other, to the natural environment, and to the spiritual world, and these relationships bring about interdependencies.
• Sacred and secular
  • In an Indigenous approach, spiritual dimensions cannot be separated from secular dimensions, and spirituality is a necessary component of learning. This does not mean that students need to embrace a specific “religious” approach or practice, but rather that educators should not ignore spiritual development as a component of learning.
• Holism
  • The principle of holism is linked to that of relationality, as Indigenous thought focuses on the whole picture because everything within the picture is related and cannot be separated. Emotional, spiritual, cognitive, and physical elements are inseparable, and human development and well-being involve attending to and valuing all of these realms.

Indigenous pedagogies

Some key commonalities among Indigenous pedagogies (how knowledge can be taught) are personal and holistic, experiential, place-based learning, intergenerational, and learning spirit.

• Personal and holistic
  • As a result of the epistemological principle of holism, Indigenous pedagogies focus on the development of a human being as a whole person. Academic or cognitive knowledge is valued, but self-awareness, emotional growth, social growth, and spiritual development are also valued. Indigenous approaches can be brought to life by providing opportunities for students to reflect on the four dimensions of knowledge (emotional, spiritual, cognitive, and physical) when they engage in learning activities.
• Experiential
  • Indigenous pedagogies are experiential because they emphasize learning by doing. An emphasis on experiential learning means a preference for learning through observation, action, reflection, and further action. This also means acknowledging that personal experience is a highly valuable type of knowledge and method of learning and creating opportunities for students to share and learn from direct experience.
• Place-based learning
  • Indigenous pedagogies connect learning to a specific place, and thus knowledge is situated in relationship to a location, experience, and group of people. This means creating opportunities to learn about the local place and to learn in connection to the local place.
• Intergenerational
  • In Indigenous communities, the most respected educators have always been Elders. In pre-contact societies, Elders had clear roles to play in passing on wisdom and knowledge to youth, and that relationship is still honoured and practiced today. This means seeking opportunities for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students to engage and learn from Elders.

The learning spirit

Tunison (2007) states that “the learning spirit is a conceptual … entity that emerges from the exploration of the complex interrelationships that exist between the learner and his or her learning journey” (p. 10). Tunison notes that “lack of identity, lack of voice, and low self-esteem” can damage the learning spirit. The integration of Indigenous knowledge in post-secondary curriculum will strengthen the learning spirit of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students because holistic learning engages the four knowledge domains that nourish holistic literacy and interweave all aspects of learning: emotional, spiritual (spirit), cognitive (mind) and physical (body).