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

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:

2RESEARCH PROPOSAL
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