Tag Archives: spiritual

Module 3- The state of Aboriginal learning in Canada: A holistic approach to measuring success

http://www.ccl-cca.ca/CCL/Reports/StateofAboriginalLearning.html

This website contains information on the current initiative of assessing Aboriginal students holistically.  The core focus of the site is the 2009 report whereby a set of criteria for successful Aboriginal learning was created.  Based on the findings of the Canadian Council of Learning, Aboriginal learning environments must be:

  • Holistic (focuses on the emotional, physical, intellectual, and spiritual elements of the individual while stresses the relationship with the Creator)
  • Lifelong (Skills that are learned at an early age will be used until old age and transferred to following generations)
  • Experiential (Learning activities enable students to make connections to their lived experiences while providing them with opportunities to participate in traditions such as storytelling, meditation, and cultural ceremonies.)
  • Aboriginal language and culture must be emphasized during all learning activities.
  • Spiritual based (Students must be presented opportunities to partake in spiritual experiences which serve as “the pathways of knowledge”.  Examples of such are ceremonies, vision quests, and dreams.)
  • Community based (Education must be supported at the community level by parents, elders, the Aboriginal community as a whole.)
  • Incorporates both Aboriginal and Western knowledge. (Activities and educational practices are rooted in the best practices)

Module 1: Aboriginal Mapping Network

http://www.nativemaps.org/

Here is a website attempting to marry up the disparity between the affordances of the web with the indigenous connection to the land.  Using traditional knowledge and the Geographical Information System, hunting areas, fishing areas, ceremonial grounds etc. are being plotted and connected to the history and current practices they represent.  The site also provides scholarly information on the cultural importance of the land for the various First Nations cultures.  One contributor to the site sees the project as connecting people with the land and connecting the past with the present.