Indigenous Ways of Learning and the Role of the Elders in Learning Process

This research proposal explores the unique teaching methods practiced by the indigenous population of Canada and the role of elders in the learning process. It discusses the impact of indigenous teaching and the importance of elders in transmitting cultural knowledge. The document also highlights the issues associated with the teaching and learning method of the indigenous population and the need for better inclusion of them into the non-indigenous education of the people of Canada.

Running head: RESEARCH PROPOSAL
INDIGENOUS WAYS OF LEARNING AND THE ROLE OF THE ELDERS IN
LEARNING PROCESS
LOVEPREET KAUR
Student id: 200415730

1RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Introduction
According to the author, there are unique teaching methods practiced by the indigenous
population of Canada (Haines et al., 2017). It is argued that their oral tradition of transmitting
knowledge from one generation to the other is important because it is the process of passing
down the knowledge, belief, and customs to the next generations. It is also argued that their oral
tradition of teaching is not exclusive of the mainstream educational system of Canada (Higgins et
al., 2015). However, the impact of these indigenous teaching and the role of the elders in the
teaching process remains a grey area.
The indigenous teaching method has long been ignored and the impact of the same has
not been discussed much. However it is important to note that the indigenous mode of teaching
has its own importance since it is not just a method of teaching but transmitting cultural
knowledge. Indigenous people have their own way of learning; their perception of the world is
different from the non-indigenous population of the country (Anderson, 2017). Hence it is to be
said that the teaching and learning method is concentrated in the experiences of history,
philosophy, culture and the learning of the value. It is the teaching related to the traditional of the
people than the regular teaching methodology practices in rest of the country.
According to the authors, the teaching and learning method of the indigenous people is
more of a surviving strategy and physical existence it s also about the protection, preservation of
their own cultural values (Burke et al., 2017). The role of the elders in imparting the traditional
knowledge becomes immensely important here since they are the one to transmit the values of
their culture to the next generation. However there are certain issues attached to the transmission
of indigenous knowledge in form of a formal teaching adopted by the government. These are:

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Lack of importance to the native pedagogy
According to the author, it is found that the indigenous residential schools and the
common schools for the Canadian children continue to have a gap in terms of infrastructure,
financing and many other aspects. It is also argued that there is a lack of communication between
the people of the indigenous communities and the regular schools (Mistry et al., 2016) .Moreover
the government, people and the teachers of the regular schools have a lack of understanding of
the indigenous mode of teaching and the importance of the same (Tanaka, 2016).It is also to be
noted that because of the lack of assimilation of the traditional teaching into the mainstream
curriculum, the indigenous population feels excluded and rely more on the native oral pedagogy.
These superimpositions of the European style classroom education have destroyed the traditional
source of knowledge sharing (Tanaka, 2016). As a result of this, it led to the development of the
widening gap between the regular students and the indigenous students. This superimposition of
the European style of education has not only destroyed the early mode of teaching rather it has
also erase the faith and belief people had in the traditional knowledge sharing method (Mistry et
al., 2016).
Tradition of oral education
The oral process of transferring knowledge is not only a mode of sharing cultural values;
it is also a method of preserving certain practices and rituals. This has been a grey area for long
since it is not be included in the mainstream written pattern of teaching (Mistry et al., 2016).
Moreover, traditional history has long been passed onto the next generation through this method
of oral tradition. This is the learning process of traditional lifestyle and their own history
(Haineset al., 2017). Lack of understanding in part of the students brings out the new generations
with a lack of concern and knowledge about the indigenous population of Canada. However it is

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important to mention that the indigenous education has much cultural, educational, spiritual and
intellectual knowledge to offer and elders, youth and the indigenous population has much more
to offer (Higgins et al., 2015). It is argued that this holistic model of the traditional knowledge
base can actually help to provide a good life balance if this can be included within the
mainstream educational system of Canada (Haines et al., 2017). However, the problem lies not in
the ignorance of the indigenous education system rather it is the historical exclusion, poverty,
unemployment that led to the social and educational exclusion of the Canadian population.
Hence, it is important to consider the importance of this native pedagogy and the impact of the
elders in developing a sound knowledge base (Higgins et al., 2015). Moreover, the importance of
knowledge of the elders and their role in spreading this knowledge is immense. With the use of
traditional language and traditional symbols, these elders could actually transmit knowledge
about the use of the herbal plants and its utility in the present lives (Higgins et al., 2015).
Indigenous ways of teaching and the role of the elders in imparting learning
and teaching:
According to the recent data it has been estimated that the over 1,400,685 indigenous
population resides in Canada which is 4.3% of the total Canadian population (Fricker, 2017).
This is significant to note that a large chunk of the population is the school going children which
reflects the need of building enough infrastructure of teaching method. However one of the
primary issues facing the Canadian government is the process of effective assimilation of the
population within the regular academic curriculum of the country. It is s further argued that the
teaching tradition of the population is based on the oral method where there are very less chances
of teaching the traditional history in the non-indigenous schools (Haines, 2017). The role of the

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elders of the communities like the First nations, the Métis, the Inuits are extremely important
because it is them who are responsible for the transmission of knowledge. It is further argued
that the social gatherings are used by these elders of the community to impart knowledge to the
younger population of their community. On other cases, these elders are often called at the
schools for advice. They are the first and foremost role models of the aboriginal communities to
whom the population looks upto for transmission of knowledge. There are evidences o the
involvement of the elders in the vibrant structure of the academic institutions in some places
which is thought to be essential for the development of the knowledge base of the people (Leddy
et al. 2017). However it is not to deny the fact that the need of building the infrastructure remains
there in order to have better inclusion of them into the non-indigenous education of the people of
Canada. Hence it is to be argued that the role of the elders is immense in the transmission of
knowledge from one generation to the other. There are been multiple avenues of imparting the
knowledge at the online and offline platforms for the better knowledge development of the
people of the community.
Hence it is to be notices that due to the presence of the large number of issues associated
with the teaching and the learning method of the indigenous population, there is building gap
between the normal classroom teaching and the method of teaching followed by the people of
these communities. The population of the indigenous community follows the oral method of
teaching which is not a part of the formal teaching of the Canada (MacEachren, 2015). It has also
been argued by many scholars that the teaching method is not professional in nature of the
academic learning. Moreover it is further argued that the time and resources are less in terms of
the traditional ways of teaching, since it is not included in the formal education system of the
country. even though there have been previous attempt to amalgamate the indigenous leaders

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within the formal education system of education which will be helpful for imparting the cultural
ad traditional values of the community, however it is still far behind the required standard since
there are cultural differences exist between the indigenous and the non-indigenous group.
Conclusion
It can be summed up that there are certain values and traditions which makes these
tribes different form each other, it is their knowledge of their existence and sustaining strategies
which makes them different form the rest of the population ,however in most of cases for
example in Canada or in Australia where there is an existence of indigenous group of people,
there is neglect in part of the government in taking care of the interest of this group .hence
there is a lingering gap between them and the rest of the population. In case of the indigenous
population of Canada, it has been observed that people of this community do not have enough
infrastructure to transmit their knowledge to the next generation except the traditional ways of
meetings and gathering, it is also observed that there is a gap in bringing the balance between the
indigenous ways of teaching and the academic curriculum of the Canadian population which
leads to lack of consciousness of the students regarding the indigenous past of their country.
However it is not to deny that this is extremely important to consider the role played by the
elders of these communities which knowledge should be imparted in subjects of philosophy,
cultural and traditional values.

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References
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education. Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education, 11(2), 80-91.
Anderson, S. (2017). The stories nations tell: Sites of pedagogy, historical consciousness, and national
narratives. Canadian Journal of Education/Revue canadienne de l'éducation, 40(1), 1-38.
Burke, A., Johnston, I., & Ward, A. (Eds.). (2017). Challenging stories: Canadian literature for social
justice in the classroom. Canadian Scholars’ Press.
Fricker, A. (2017). Indigenous perspectives: Controversy in the history classroom?. Agora, 52(4), 4.
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creation to strengthen indigenous ethical knowledge sharing.
Higgins, M., Madden, B., & Korteweg, L. (2015). Witnessing (halted) deconstruction: White teachers
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