Envisioning Indigenous Education: Applying Insights from Indigenous Views of Teaching and Learning

Abstract

This chapter explores an approach to the visioning of contemporary Indigenous education, teaching, and learning through the lenses of Indigenous cultural thought and epistemological orientations. Aspects of Indigenous teaching and learning are discussed related to the ways metaphor and social consciousness have traditionally functioned in Indigenous community-related sociocultural education. The deeper psychological nature of Indigenous thought, as an integral part of human learning, teaching, and socialization, is also explored. These explorations form the basis for advocacy toward an integration of Indigenous thought as an essential foundation for contemporary intergenerational education in the context of Indigenous community.

Portions of this chapter have been adapted from a previously published work: Cajete, Gregory A. (1994). Look to the Mountain: An Ecology of Indigenous Education. Skyland: Kivaki Press, pp. 205–228. The terms Indigenous, Tribal, and Tribe are capitalized to add emphasis and to convey an active and evolving identity. (The term Indigenous is used as the larger inclusive group term, while Tribal refers to specific contexts; both terms are capitalized as an honorific designation. American Indian is used when referring specifically to a Tribe which resides in the United States.)