Indigenous Perspectives on Teaching and Learning

 The study by Louie et al. (2017) and Toulouse’s (2008) work highlight several strategies and concepts regarding how to approach and implement Indigenous pedagogies in the classroom. Both articles offer evidence for the need to integrate these pedagogical perspectives in the classroom, help support and expand on my understanding of innovation in teaching and learning, and have implications to practices in ESL (English as a Second Language) and EFL (English as a Foreign Language) classrooms.

The Louie et al. (2017) study looks at applying Indigenous principles of decolonizing methodologies, based on the work of Māori scholar Linda Tuhiwai Smith (2012, as cited in Louie et al., 2017), in university classrooms, which have been traditionally dominated by Western epistemologies. The study looks at how Western research is a political act that benefits dominant cultures and methodologies, despite the need for value to be placed on other ways of learning for students. Toulouse’s (2008) work also indicates the need for Indigenous teaching methodologies, looking at how self-esteem is a key factor in Aboriginal students’ success, and how an educational environment that honours the culture, language and world view of the Aboriginal student is critical.

Both articles, with their student-centered approaches, help to support and expand on my ideas of innovation in teaching and learning. Louie et al. (2017) offers strategies to implement Indigenous teaching methodologies as a problem solution, providing an example to support my working definition of innovation as the implementation of new ideas, products and problem solutions. In addition, Western epistemologies influencing the ability to incorporate Indigenous methodologies offers another example of how innovation can be externally influenced. Furthermore, it provides an expansion to my own working definition of learning, as learning can not only take place in various environments, but can also take on various forms. Toulouse’s (2008) work further supports my ideas for innovation and expansion on my working definition for learning. It also supports my working definition of teaching, in that teaching is able to take on different forms, by offering an example based on the living teachings of the Ojibwe people. In addition, both articles highlight the importance of student-centered approaches to consider in my working definitions for teaching and learning.

The strategies and concepts highlighted in both articles also have implications in ESL and EFL classrooms, in that there are some practical applications. Presently working in Japan, it is important for me to teach English lessons which not only teach the 4 major language components of English, but also have cultural relevance to the students. Some of the principles, such as storytelling, as mentioned in Louie et al. (2017) work, give an opportunity for individuals and groups to be represented in the classroom and foster a respectful and collaborative environment where everyone has a voice. This in conjunction with the idea of cultural competence mentioned in the work of Ladson-Billings (2014), in which students not only appreciate and celebrate their own culture, but also gain fluency and knowledge of another culture, would help to foster a culturally relevant, inclusive and collaborative environment for all my students. Furthermore, the seven living principles addressed in Toulouse’s (2008) work to help Aboriginal students develop and maintain self-esteem could be used to help all students. Concepts such as love, with its commitment to support learning styles, and humility, in which teachers should reach out to experts for assistance, would help foster not only a classroom where the learning styles of students are acknowledged, but also an environment and community where the cultural views and beliefs of students are brought to the forefront and celebrated.        

Though both articles highlight the need for implementing indigenous pedagogies in the classroom, build on my working definition for innovation, and offer additional strategies to implement in ESL and EFL classrooms, they both raise some questions:

For both Louie et al. (2017) and Toulouse (2008), how could these strategies and concepts be used or amended to be used in multi-cultural classrooms? Could aspects of culturally sustaining pedagogy (Paris, 2012) be implemented as well to account for multi-cultural classes? Furthermore, could these concepts and strategies be effective in developing inclusive classrooms with non-traditional cultures, such as youth culture?

Ladson-Billings, G. (2014). Cultural Relevant Pedagogy 2.0: a.k.a. the Remix. Harvard Educational Review, 84(1), 74-84.

Louie, D., Poitras-Pratt, Y., Hanson, A. & Ottmann, J. (2017). Applying Indigenizing Principles of Decolonizing Methodologies in University Classrooms. Canadian Journal of Higher Education / Revue Canadienne d'Enseignement Supérieur, 47(3), 16–33. https://doi.org/10.7202/1043236ar

Paris, D. (2012). Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy: A Needed Change in Stance, Terminology, and Practice. Educational Researcher, 41(3), 93-97. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3102/0013189x12441244

Toulouse, P. R. (2008). Integrating Aboriginal teaching and values into the classroom. What Works? Research into Practice (Research monograph #11).