Decolonizing Public Education 4: Learning Takes a Village

As we delve further into the First Peoples’ Principles of learning, we start to see a pattern of themes–themes like community, mutual respect, and an appreciation of both knowledge and wisdom. The fourth Principle, Learning Involves Generational Roles and Responsibilities, continues with these themes.

Jo-Anne Chrona, an Indigenous education specialist, has summarized this principle as “The responsibility for teaching belongs to everyone in the community.” Her application of constructivist educational theory to the principles of learning has been a continuing source of inspiration and knowledge for this series, and I highly recommend reading her articles.

In my career, I have personally observed the value of older students educating younger students. Older students can model learning and skill acquisition in a way teachers cannot, and connect with their younger peers on a closer level. However, current educational policies are more centered around teacher expertise and qualifications than peer mentorship and modelling.

Students get a different teacher every grade in elementary school. In high school (and middle school in some districts), students get a different teacher for each subject. Our educational policies on training and hiring teachers are centered around expertise and qualifications. What is not necessarily ingrained in our system, however, is mentorship and modelling.

Unlike elders in Indigenous communities, teachers and educational assistants typically do not have the same established trust and respect. They are ultimately strangers tasked with building new rapport every school year. This is taxing on both students and teachers, and not always successful. Older students, however, can model learning and skill acquisition in a way teachers cannot. Indeed, this falls well in line with the fourth principle, in that learning is the responsibility of the entire community.

School District 61 has an excellent summary table of The Principles that expands on this, explaining that this Principle also highlights how learning is done at home and within the learner’s family. For example, parents, older siblings, aunts and uncles, all have a vital role to play in modelling, mentoring, and teaching. It also adds to this article to emphasize that, by incorporating different knowledge-keepers and teachers of different levels and types of expertise, scaffolding can be more effectively accomplished, the importance of which cannot be overstated.

Scaffolding is the concept that, at first, every learner starts off at different levels. Then, as learners gain proficiency (that is, they learn more and get better), the amount of oversight and assistance they get is gradually decreased. This not only passes on knowledge and skills, but builds confidence in the learner, as they slowly acclimate to performing skills and demonstrating the knowledge on their own. This also ties into another aspect of the fourth Principle that Learners are as much responsible for their own learning as knowledge-keepers, elders, and teachers. As a learner yourself, try and think about that. Think about how you ask questions and why you might seek to learn more about a subject. What makes you feel motivated to do that? Are you more likely to want to learn more when knowledge is simply given to you to soak in like a sponge? Or when you have support yet freedom to explore on your own? Also try to think about who you might be a role model for, such as younger friends and siblings, those close to you who might look up to you. Sometimes we aren’t aware this is happening in our life until we step back and reflect on it.

All of this is not to say that it is easy bringing in so many different people for every learner through every stage of learning. Fortunately, while technology has unfortunately been used to spread mis- and disinformation, it can also be a powerful tool of empowerment for everyone. Indigenous communities, their leaders and elders, have begun to use tools like the internet and VoiP services as a way to share knowledge and cultural values to larger audiences across greater distances.

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Author: Lexa Winters, ITMP Blog Coordinator

Image credits

Image 1: MD Duran, Unsplash

Image 2: Wix Media