The following video clip is a great visual about the future of Aboriginal education.  It provides a very strong statement about the need and right for Indigenous peoples to educate their children and raise them within the richness of their culture.  It pulls the past into today, and looks to tomorrow.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVg0NgIrFTQ&feature=related]

This is a literature review focusing on virtual learning environments and e-learning in the
Context of Te Reo Māori and Kaupapa Māori Education.  Some of the main areas discussed include:

• Teaching & learning practices for e-learning environments
• E-learning for Kaupapa Maori peoples
• eLearning principles and practices for Indigneous learners
• Discussions on culture, relationships, and pedagogical issues

I found it helpful in my study of eLearning for Indigenous learners to read about a study conducted with a specific group of Indigenous learners.

http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/72670/936_LitRev-VLEs-FINALv2.pdf

On the Ontario Ministry of Education’s website there is a page called “Aboriginal Perspectives: A guide to the Teacher’s Toolkit”.  The first section provides lists of the expectations in the revised curriculum that contain Aboriginal perspectives.  The second section consists of teaching strategies related to these expectations to use in the classroom.  The part I found most helpful was the information on culture, tradition, and language.  It introduces the “language of the circle” as well as other aspects of Indigenous culture. While not comprehensive, it provides a goo introduction for mainstream educators.

www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/aboriginal/toolkit.html

An article by Paul Hughes discusses Aboriginal ways of learning and learning styles. After presenting some background information on Aboriginal education in Australia, he describes some of the links between culture and learning styles, and provides a new model of learning.  I found his discussion on the primary and secondary differences between Aboriginal and western learners very helpful.

http://www.aare.edu.au/97pap/hughp518.htm

Phillips Indian Educators: Outside the Box/Within the Circle

Best Practices of Indigenous Education

As an American non-profit organization Phillips Indian Educators seek to “dramatically improve education for Indian students by ensuring that all educators or Indian students are knowledgeable enough to competently incorporate indigenous best practices into their teaching”. The ad-hoc group is currently composed of Native educators and administrators, working together to face the challenges faced by Native children and young adults in charter and public schools. The website provides a set of best practices of Indigenous Pedagogy and provides resources based on four holistic values in Indigenous learning: knowledge, respect, sharing and wisdom.

Experiential Learning in an Indigenous Context: Integration of place, experience and criticality in educational practice

By Kevin O’Connor

This is a 123 page report on using experiential learning to enhance indigenous learning. The Executive Summary states that many of the programs outlined in the report “successfully utilize experiential and placed-based initiatives to address the lack of success and disengagement amongst Indigenous students by promoting a holistic form of education that values the importance of place and its cultural knowledge” (O’Connor, 2010, p.4). The author states that “ The primary objective of this research is to discover which elements of experiential and place-based education lead to greater engagement of Indigenous students and improved educational outcomes” (p. 4).

First Nations Holistic Lifelong Learning  

This is an amazing resource that introduces the First Nations Holistic Lifelong Learning Model in the form of a ‘pedagogical tree’ where each part of the tree portrays a different dimension of personal development: spiritual, emotional, physical, and mental, “through which learning is experienced holistically.” According to the website “lifelong learning for First Nations peoples is grounded in experiences that embrace both indigenous and Western knowledge traditions, as depicted in the tree’s root system, Sources and Domains of Knowledge. Just as the tree draws nourishment through its roots, the First Nations person learns from and through the natural world, language, traditions and ceremonies, and the world of people (self, family, ancestors, clan, community, nation and other nations). Any uneven root growth can destabilize the learning system. The root system also depicts the intertwining presence of indigenous and Western knowledge, which forms the tree trunk’s core, where learning develops” (“Describing the Model”, para. 2).

First Nations Pedagogy Blog

This blog is a compilation of resources pertaining to indigenous activism, education, governance, health, history and knowledge. It contains a set of featured articles and videos relating to pedagogy and action movements. The original author, is named June and is a Metis, from Anishinabe and European bloodlines. She was born in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, close to where her ancestors settled. Surprisingly, June is/was a PhD Candidate in Curriculum and Pedagogy Studies at the University of British Columbia with a focus on educational technology. Her website features a number of articles on course design for indigenous learning, adult education and learning, and curriculum development.

Aboriginal Canada Portal

This site is part of the Government of Canada website and it includes resources for teachers, specifically educational resources, lesson plans and activities. Some educational resources worth noting include: aboriginal arithmetic, aboriginal literatures in Canada, aboriginal youth justice, first nations films, and native dance and drums. On the lesson plans and activities side, the website provides some of the following types of resources: aboriginal societies in Canada, contemporary Inuit sculpture, culture and its meaning, First Nations contributions, language and culture, Inuit of the Canadian Arctic, and pathway to wellness handbook.

This site forms part of the School of Information website. This page listed as a subpage of the pathfinder classification is entitled, “A New Understanding of Culture and Communication: The impact of technology on Indigenous Peoples” and was created by A.J. Johnson.  He provides a guide to finding online and text based resources on the different technology issues affecting Indigenous peoples. The layout and use of preset questions followed by referenced information and links to the resources within each content specific area makes access to relevant information quite simple.

Given the nature of the site however, it is a bit of a disappointment to see that the site is not being maintained very well which is evidenced by the many broken links encountered.

http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~vlibrary/edres/pathfinders/ajohnson/pathfinder.html