For a previous MET course, I watched this video about the Circle of Courage:
If you haven’t seen it, it’s worth watching. The speaker describes Indigenous ways of teaching as involving: Generosity, Belonging, Independence, and Mastery. It’s a really beautiful talk and related to, but a bit different from, the First People’s Principles of Learning.
This video really stuck with me, so I looked up the speaker, Martin Brokenleg, and read the articles on his website.
I especially liked the article “Native American Wisdom on Belonging.” In it, Brokenleg writes, “Belonging is the organizing principle in Partnership cultures. Significance is assured by belonging, whereas in Dominator cultures one gains significance by stand ing out from the others, as seen in the hyperindividualism of U.S. society today.”
I really think I want to focus on individualism vs collective for my research project, but I may need to narrow down that huge topic a tiny bit… We’ll see. 🙂
Hi Ana, thank you for sharing this resource! The insights by Dr. Martin Brokenleg on the Circle of Courage really resonated with me. Even though I am not a formal educator by profession, I still aim to support and connect with my adult learners’ heart through the cross-departmental project collaborations and training resources that I facilitate in my workplace.
Moreover, I usually refer to the Wellness Wheel as described in the blog article below to take care of my personal well-being. I think it will be even better when I incorporate the values of belonging, mastery, independence, and generosity into my intentions and reflections moving forward! Good luck and enjoy your research on individualism versus collectivism 🙂
LaRocque, A. (2021, January 13). Understanding the wellness wheel. Canadian Mental Health Association. https://cmha.calgary.ab.ca/blog/understanding-the-wellness-wheel