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Recent trends in Canadian education are recognizing the need for indigenizing both curricula and pedagogy to directly address the needs of Aboriginal learners. While there is consensus regarding this need, what is lacking are tangible directives in achieving this goal. Educators, educated and educating in the style of colonialism, are situated in a place where the requirements of “indigenizing” are ambiguous.
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Acrylic Painting on Masonite (detail size approx. 3"x3"): "Wasakajak", 14"x24", © 1977 Norval Morrisseau
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While more and more educators are becoming aware of, and sensitive to, more well-known plights of Aboriginal peoples; such as, residential schools, loss of land, and loss of language, there is much more to know than a simple awareness of trauma and loss in addressing these populations well in education.
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This problem is compounded by the difficulty of speaking to multiple and diverse indigenous cultures in an authentic and relevant way. In order to take steps in the right direction, educators need a basic understanding of core values common to indigenous cultures to provide grounding; as well as a selection of attainable and sustainable strategies for creating an inclusive and vibrant learning community. However, it is important to be well aware that these groundings and strategies are generalized. One needs to consider the specific context, community, culture, and language in indigenizing pedagogy and curricula.
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