A website to broaden the PERSPECTIVE of your FACE-TO-FACE or ONLINE classroom
An EXPLORATION of re-CONNECTION through a balance of ANCIENT and MODERN practices
An EXPLORATION of re-CONNECTION through a balance of ANCIENT and MODERN practices
This website is designed for educators to explore, understand, and integrate some of the perspectives and Indigenous ways of knowing and learning into their educational settings.
The focus is on relationship with place, the pedagogy of circle, the power of story, and the practice of mentorship.
A final section provides thoughts and ideas of how these elements can be incorporated into blended & online education.
These pages are only the beginnings of many conversations. I hope you find your way on many adventures!
The focus is on relationship with place, the pedagogy of circle, the power of story, and the practice of mentorship.
A final section provides thoughts and ideas of how these elements can be incorporated into blended & online education.
These pages are only the beginnings of many conversations. I hope you find your way on many adventures!
As an educator and a human being, I have big questions
As a person in a position of privilege and often unacknowledged power, it is so, so easy to take these questions for granted. It took years for me to see how ingrained I was in western cultural thinking and attitudes. Of course it did: it was all around me and ever present. It simply didn't occur to me to think otherwise.
Except that the systems around me supported and encouraged a "power over" attitude rather than a "power with" way of being. "Power over" always means somebody has to be at the top and lots of people have to be underneath. This kind of hierarchy squashes. It tramples and bashes and doesn't care who or what it hurts because it whispers into the ears of people that if they aren't on top, their survival is at stake. Thankfully, there are models of ways of being that have been used with great success throughout human history. They have a role to help balance our future. |
It is a blessing that Indigenous cultures have survived so close to the present time that haven't had to hold onto their wisdoms, languages, dances, and medicines through Roman invasions, religious reformations, or centuries of an Inquisition that burned the Indigenous knowledge out of much of Europe.
In Canada, this is our collective inheritance. So, what does this have to do with me? In the classroom, I have been astounded at the shift in engagement, enthusiasm, inventiveness, and deep learning that happens when I make the slightest shift in perspective and try one of the Indigenous elements of teaching and learning that follows. What I've discovered is that these elements are human elements. Learners respond to them regardless of their culture, religion, gender, or age. The strategies sometimes feel unfamiliar and awkward at first, then burst into surprising blossom. |
My name is Anne Hilker.
It's a wondrous journey and a delight to walk with you into your face-to-face, blended or online classroom.
It's a wondrous journey and a delight to walk with you into your face-to-face, blended or online classroom.
It is our responsibility as educators to recognize the impact of our every action in the classroom. The way in which we design and deliver our messages becomes the future. What kind of environment allows life to flourish? How can I honour the inter-connection of all life on this planet? That is what I must base my educational decisions on. |
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Indigenous Ways of Knowing and Leaning
From perspectives to online learning
Elements
Travel through this curation of four elements of Indigenous ways of knowing & learning:
Relationship with Place
The pedagogy of Circle
The power of Story
The practice of Mentorship
You may also be interested in applying these Indigenous methodologies in Blended & Online educational settings.
Relationship with Place
The pedagogy of Circle
The power of Story
The practice of Mentorship
You may also be interested in applying these Indigenous methodologies in Blended & Online educational settings.
Perspectives
First, take some time and patience to explore what Indigenous Perspectives can mean. Understanding Perspectives is the groundwork for all other elements
You can also explore how to bring Indigenous Perspectives ONLINE.
This website is is about curiosity and exploration. It's about ways to be in community with one another and with our shared Earth.
What are Indigenous Perspectives anyway?
Follow the image below
Follow the image below
It's made a huge difference in my classroom and in my life. I hope you are as richly rewarded!
image credits
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red-winged blackbird: Jon D. Anderson
All other images from pixabay. No attribution required. |