Indigenous Pedagogy: Respecting Wisdom Activity
Total Time: Approx. 60 minutes
Context: Community of Teachers
Strategy: Venn Diagram
Participants use a Venn diagram to compare Indigenous pedagogy and Western pedagogy. After watching six short videos from the Respecting Wisdom section of Healing Historical Trauma, participants consider how they can enhance their teaching practices by using strategies from Indigenous pedagogy.
This strategy can be adapted for use with other Walking Together topic areas.
Activity 1: Comparison of Indigenous and Western Pedagogies
Materials: Chart paper and markers
Form groups of three or four. Provide chart paper and markers to each group. Ask participants to draw two overlapping circles. One circle is labelled Indigenous Pedagogy and the other Western Pedagogy. After viewing each video, participants list their responses in the appropriate circle or in the overlapping area for features of both pedagogies.
Activity 2: View Respecting Wisdom Videos
After watching each video, participants identify features of Indigenous and Western pedagogies and enter them in the Venn diagram. As needed, allow time for comments and discussion.
Bernie Makokis (0:52 minutes) Bernie Makokis, Saddle Lake Cree Nation, shares the significance of storytelling as a powerful way of teaching. According to Makokis, a story “becomes a spirit and protects that child.”
Tina Fox (2:20 minutes) Nakoda Elder Tina Fox, Wesley Band, Stoney Nakoda Nation, admonishes teachers to get the “facts straight” before they endeavour to teach traditional knowledge.
Kathy Yellowhorne-Breaker (1:43 minutes) Blackfoot educator from the Siksika Nation, Kathy Yellowhorne-Breaker talks about what happened when students attended the traditional Sundance ceremony on the reserve. Students spent an entire day in a tipi learning about traditional Blackfoot ways. She advises non-Indigenous teachers to keep an open mind when it comes to traditional ways of knowing.
Bob Cardinal (3:45 minutes) Nakoda/Cree Elder Bob Cardinal, Enoch Cree Nation, talks about the importance of teaching children “who they are.” He shares his personal experiences in his formal schooling where he had to “fight” his way through school. He encourages educators to get the “Elders’ blessings” and to “start small” and let the knowledge grow from there. He also encourages Inuit, Métis and First Nation people to “build bridges” with teachers in order to combat the high dropout rates.
Victor Prinz (1:12 minutes) The late Métis Elder Victor Prinz, East Prairie Métis Settlement, speaks of the two worlds that Métis children live in. He acknowledges the importance of learning both the non-Native and Native ways in schools. While Victor Prinz passed in 2008, we are privileged and honoured to still have his words to share.
Wilton Goodstriker (1:07 minutes) Kainai Elder Wilton Goodstriker, Blood Tribe, explains the traditional roles of teaching that came from parents and grandparents. Grandparents played a significant role in teaching traditional values to the children, creating close bonds between young and old in Blackfoot communities.
Activity 3: Discussion
Discuss how teachers can follow Nakoda Elder Bob Cardinal’s advice to “build bridges” in educational settings. How can teachers learn from Indigenous ways of knowing to enhance their classroom practices?
Each group should come up with at least three to five concrete teaching ideas that can be used in their classroom practice, such as storytelling from an Indigenous perspective.
Each group shares their ideas with the whole group.
