Elder teachings

Reflection by Susie McPherson-Derendy

Informal learning

“In my initial review of what was written so far, I thought of the value of informal learning especially when it comes to Indigenous Peoples and the community. I have been on the Indigenous Education Senate Sub Committee (IESSC) at Brandon University almost since the beginning at the time of the signing of the Manitoba Indigenous Education strategy in 2016 and have been thinking about this over time.

One of the conclusions I have come to is that Western worldview education has contributed to the mindset that Western worldview knowledge and education is superior to Indigenous and other worldview and knowledge systems. I have come to see that thinking as what contributes to the conditioned mindset.

One great example of the value of informal learning: A few years back, the BU IESSC began to meet twice a month, every other Friday. This subcommittee was made up of community Elders/knowledge keepers, students, faculty, and staff. The focus was on decolonization and Indigenization at BU. Where to start and what to put forward to the BU senate. This conversation heard the stories, experiences, frustration, hopes, and vision for a way forward. I don’t know specifically what exactly it was we discussed at each gathering, but I now see it as a visioning process and also a time for learning for staff and faculty and an opportunity for Indigenous community to sit at the table and not only be heard but also to contribute to the conversation of an education at BU for Indigenous students past and what was needed going forward.

From this biweekly conversation, I began to realize for myself a vision for a balanced education and a confirmation of what was needed was an acknowledgement of an Indigenous worldview that students were leaving with a good education but the Indigenous knowledge and education was somewhat absent. I saw great learning in this approximately three-year journey of learning for all, I remember the place of understanding and awareness we were all at in the beginning and was deeply encouraged of where we were all at the close of those few years when a new group of folks came on the committee. I see those who were a part of the earlier IESSC conversations as the movers and shakers of living into what is hoped for at BU when it comes to diversity and inclusion, and I know that these individuals have influenced colleagues and community with their knowledge and experience of sitting at the table. I often wonder where they would have gotten this understanding otherwise.

What came out of those conversations has established a monthly Teachings House at BU, intentionally to be there alongside the Western worldview education that happens there, with the knowing that Indigenous knowledge has a place there. That we don’t just learn from academia and faculty; that we as Indigenous people have teachings and traditions to share with others. It is, in a sense, decentering Western worldview education and striving for a balance of Western and Indigenous (& other) worldview education and knowledge. This is among other important changes at BU.

For the past few years, I have been honored to bring greetings to the BU convocation as IPC Knowledge Keeper. I end by saying there is a Western Worldview knowledge system and an Indigenous (& other) Worldview Knowledge system – we would do well to learn from both. In my greeting at convocation, while I acknowledge and celebrate the formal learning, I also add that the informal learning of facing and overcoming challenges and hard work has taught me something that nothing else will.

As the keeper of the Learning at SSSC, where I worked for a few years, I learned from students from remote, northern, and rural communities what I would never have learned in an educational institution. I think this is because the sharing and learning were relational and community-minded. The wisdom in those Learning Circles from people across Canada has also been a deep learning for me.“