ECOURSE on how to Integrate Indigenous Learning into your programs

The mindfulness courage of Mother Bear

Integrating Indigenous Knowledge and especially Land Connection into youth programming is important for all youth in Canada. This can be a priority for a school, a program or any organization that supports youth. The Mother Bear is an adaptable and mindful teacher. An Anishinabe story tells of the importance in taking good care of your children and in matching their learning and understanding of the world. The importance is of being kind to children. Kindness is tied to being respectful, being open, knowing that children bring innate wisdom with their questions and willingness to learn. The Anishinabek Nation and the nation I come from teaches that the Mother Bear teaches from a place of kindness.

Youth voices are integral in the healing processes for Canada.

The Mother Bear certainly reminds us of this when we see her with her young as she places them at the centre of her world.

Calls To Action
Supported by the The Calls to Action for Reconciliation, Education For Reconciliation supports why this ground work is necessary. Across Canada the need to support learners with Indigenous Knowledge, Methodologies and pedagogy can be transformative, healing and a way to build more holistic learning into the curriculum.

Gregory Cajete is a Tewa author and professor from Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico writes about how celebrating is a form of sharing. This sharing concept will be built into this document which will share three steps to build and integrate Indigenous Knowledge into an identified program.

By focussing on learning about reconciliation from an angle of sharing and with metaphors of light, the transformative learning can happen. Cajete states,

Celebrating is a natural outcome of spiritual sharing, and it too can take a diversity or forms. It is an individual and communal process that celebrates the mystery of life and the journey that each of us takes. Celebration is a way of’ spreading the light around. (Cajete, pg. 73)

Setting a tone for learning about history and about reconciliation is as much as about respecting an approach where relationships are core and are being developed. In this manual piece you will find three main areas covered to support Integrating Indigenous Knowledge into your programs including:

1. Physical Design,

2. The way we Learn, & Why Design Matters,

3. Land Connection and building those Relationships.

This flexible online course can also be offered face to face.