Integrating Indigenous Epistemologies and Pedagogies into Curriculum Design and Development
Understanding Indigenous epistemologies and pedagogies is the first step; the next step is taking action to integrate them into curriculum development. Often educators turn to learning activities as a first step in Indigenization. However, including or adapting learning activities without changing other aspects of the curriculum is not a holistic approach to Indigenization, and in some cases can result in trivializing and misappropriating those activities (this is discussed more in Section 4). Interweaving Indigenous approaches should involve considering all of the following aspects of your course design:
- Goals: Does the course goal include holistic development of the learner? If applicable, does the course benefit Indigenous people or communities?
- Learning outcomes: Do the learning outcomes emphasize cognitive, emotional, physical, and spiritual development? Is there room for personalization, group and individual learning goals, and self-development?
- Learning activities: Have you included learning activities that are land-based, narrative, intergenerational, relational, experiential, and/or multimodal (rely on auditory, visual, physical, or tactile modes of learning)?
- Assessment: Is the assessment holistic in nature? Are there opportunities for self-assessment that allow students to reflect on their own development?
- Relationships: Are there opportunities for learning in community, intergenerational learning, and learning in relationship to the land?
- Format: Does the course include learning beyond the classroom “walls”?
Additional Reading
Dion, S. (2018). Exploring Aboriginal Education
. Retrieved from http://thelearningexchange.ca/projects/susan-dion-exploring-aboriginal-education/
Thurston, J. M., & Mashford-Pringle, A. (2015). Nursing and Indigenous education integration. Journal of Nursing Education and Practice, 5(10), 9-15. doi: 10.5430/jnep.v5n10p9
