Aboriginal higher learner success factors at vancouver community college

First Nations Traditional Education System

the traditional First Nations education system was a sophisticated system of information intergenerationally transmitted knowledge both declarative and procedural processes. The education processes were embedded in their social institutions, both formal and informal, occurring over a person’s lifetime. The education always focused on all aspects of the task including cognitive, emotional, physical and spiritual components. (pp. 40–41)

Traditional education systems were delivered largely through oral narratives that were relayed over thousands of year and contained axiology, ontology, and epistemology of each culturally distinct nation. Within oral narratives were each nation’s distinct foundational values within their creation story, which still today “explains what the group considers significant . . . [and] offers the foundational values for good living (Harmon, 2003). These education goals, morals and values were clearly understood by the community and in particular Elders who were the teachers and traditional knowledge keepers.

When examining these foundational values, Saunders, Redwing, and Hill (2007) cited a deep level of respect, relevance, and reciprocative learning common in Aboriginal teaching and learning. The theory of Tswalk (Atleo, 2004) is rooted in a sacred understanding of connection, also known as hershook-ish tsawalk, which is translated to mean everything physical and metaphysical in our reality is one (p. xi). This includes a sense of belonging through connectedness to their extended family, culture, and nature as a natural support system (Bowman, as cited in Marchant, 2002, p. 9). First Nations values include “sharing, non-competitiveness, politeness, not putting oneself forward in a group, allowing others to go first, being reluctant to speak out, present rather than future orientation, and norms of non-interference” (Whitbeck, Hoyt, Stubben, & LaFramboise, 2001, p. 50). Perhaps the most important value that is common to indigenous peoples in BC is the deep respect and relationship we hold with the land, demonstrated by many origin stories and oral narratives that form the basis of our traditional education system and identity.

In examining these values that have changed little over time and still apply to First Nations students, Battiste and Henderson (2000) recommended constructivist teaching methods that support Aboriginal traditional learning methods. Constructivist teaching methods include: harmony and unity, holistic perspectives, expressive creativity, and non-verbal communication (Pewewardy, 2002, p. 38), which are motivated by cooperation rather than competition, prefer shared decision-making processes, defer authority, and do not want to be perceived as being either above or below the status of others (Kawagley & Barnhardt, 1998). Aboriginal learners also benefit from integrating the values of community responsibility and relational accountability (Mixon, 2008a). The value of listening more than talking is widely acknowledged for all First Nations peoples, but was beautifully articulated by Walter Wright, who was a Tsimshian hereditary chief from the community of Kitselas. Wright was known for describing peaceful listening as a predominant state wherein one moves beyond deep, active listening with a peaceful heart (Robinson, 2003, p. 11). According to Battiste (2002),

The first principle of Aboriginal learning is a preference for experiential knowledge. Indigenous pedagogy values a person’s ability to learn independently by observing, listening, and participating with a minimum of intervention or instruction. This pattern of direct learning by seeing and doing, without asking questions, makes Aboriginal children diverse learners. The do not have a single homogenous learning style as generalized in some teaching literature from the 1970s and 1980s. (p. 15)

In summarizing Williams and Tanaka’s (2007) findings on traditional teaching and learning methods that still work well for Aboriginal learners they recommend: mentorship and apprenticeship learning, learning by doing, learning by deeply observing, learning through listening, telling stories and singing songs, learning in a community, and learning by sharing and providing service to the community. Facilitating sharing knowledge in relationship, sharing classroom control and responsibility, negotiating timelines, using humour in addition to metaphor, stories, sharing circles, deep observation, designing space for reflective learning, providing positive expectations and supporting achievement of these expectations, learning through role models and role modelling, and experiential and situated learning and through local protocols are also important (Mixon, 2008c). An excellent example within Canada of this kind of integrated teaching exists within the University of Victoria’s Masters of Education in Counselling for Aboriginal Communities and Schools where graduates receive training in: the History of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Education in Canada; Indigenous Epistemologies; EI TELNIWT and Aboriginal Education; Learning and Teaching in an Indigenous World; and Researching with Aboriginal Peoples: Aboriginalizing Research (University of Victoria, 2010). This training has included traditional projects such as totem pole carving, weaving, and traditional songs. “Graduates of this program will have the necessary background to provide culturally responsive counselling to Aboriginal communities and in schools. This program is community-based and developed with the support and guidance of local Aboriginal communities” (para. 1). Consistent with the traditional knowledge transmission that is heavily incorporated into the program, this program is known through community awareness rather than literature documenting its success.

The University of Victoria M.Ed. Program and most Indigenous Institutes of Higher Learning in BC utilize the power of traditional knowledge and respect protocols that empower learners through building upon, deepening, or celebrating their own cultural knowledge, beliefs and values, thus allowing them to “build cultural strengths thus enhancing self-concept” (Battiste, 2002, p. 15). Within this program and within Indigenous Institutes, there is a sacred respect for the role of Elders in teaching and a deep understanding of localized social cues (Mixon, 2008c) that support learners. One example derived from the traditional hul’qumi’num people from the Coast Salish Nations on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands is the practice of deep listening while looking down as a sign of respect, which can be easily perceived according to western values as not listening. In addition, alternative evaluations that allow for group learning, assignments, and grading are critical (P. Brownlee Baker, personal communication, January 23, 2009). Battiste (2002) supported this approach:

As teachers begin to confront new pedagogical schemes of learning, they will need to decolonize education, a process that includes raising the collective voice of Indigenous peoples, exposing the injustices in our colonial history, legitimating the voices and experiences of Aboriginal peoples in the curriculum, recognizing it as a dynamic context of knowledge and knowing, and communicating the commotional journey that such explorations will generate. (p. 20)

Because of the complexity and depth of knowledge one must accumulate to teach Aboriginal peoples effectively, First Nations have negotiated shared authority of education for Aboriginal students in grades K-12 through Aboriginal education enhancement agreements established in 1999 (Government of BC, Ministry of Education, 1999). This kind of shared decision making has not yet been negotiated with institutes of higher learning, but the Assembly of First Nations and many Aboriginal academics (Battiste, 2002; Cajete, 1999; Stonechild, 2006; Wilson, 2008) and First Nations in Canada have long advocated for enhanced control and authority in post-secondary education that is built upon a cultural foundation, traditional Aboriginal education practices that align with innovative new practices such as constructivism.