Hands Back Hands Forward

In many Indigenous cultures, it is believed that there is a learning spirit inside each one of us. Elder Danny Musqua says, “Our spirit is said to be an internalized vehicle which we use to acquire knowledge around us through our hearts, minds, bodies, and spirits, in a balanced way”.

We are all on a lifelong journey discovering and understanding what it is the learning spirit is here to accomplish. Knowing the learner’s path well, the learning spirit is drawn toward certain experiences and elements helping the learner to stay on track toward accomplishing life purpose.

As we are all part of creation, educators are encouraged to consider using an holistic approach to nurture learners’ learning spirits. An holistic approach honours the second principle for creating a healthy Aboriginal Focus School: addressing the needs of a whole person. A whole person is someone who is able to balance his/her spiritual, emotional, physical, and intellectual capabilities in relation to both inside and outside of him/herself.

When learning spirits are nurtured, learners are able to develop their “heart, face, and foundation” (Anuik, Battiste, & Geroge, 2010). The heart represents the passion for fulfilling life purposes, the face is to know who we are and where we come from, and the foundation is the skills needed to support the passion and accomplish the purpose of the life journey.

In this video, Elders share their notions of learning in their own language. They describe the cultural contexts that enable Aboriginal learners to develop knowledge, skills, attitudes and values that improve their lifelong learning:

Learn More: Resources

• Nourishing the Learning Spirit Resources: This report explores the issues and practices of how a learning can be supported lifelong to nourish the learning spirit.
• Marie Battiste: What is the Learning Spirit?: In this video, Marie Battiste describes Elders’ teachings about the learning path and the guides or learning spirits that can help learners, what happens when the learning environment is damaging, and how to nourish the learning spirit.