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“We all know that we can go through life convinced that our view of the world is the only valid one. If we are interested in new perceptions, however, we need to catch a glimpse of the world through other eyes.” This quote really stood out to me because the ways in which each of us sees the world is inherently different. We all bring our own biases, values, and lived experiences into our perspectives. Therefore, empathy and just the simple awareness and understanding of others is a vital part of growing as individuals. Individuals that are a part of a larger more holistic community!

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"Deep inside itself it knows- and we are not different" ...it being the acorn that grows into an oak tree. Indigenous knowledge is not just simply information passed on, but it is wisdom from where kindness and community arises. As teachers it is our responsibility to connect with the IK to ensure the wisdom is passed onto many generations to come.

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What I took away from our discussion is how indigenous perspectives of knowledge-making is contextualized from an individual's lived experience, and as a result, the same thing can mean something different to someone else. This is a western education system's nightmare (!!!) because there is often only one correct answer to a question, and the teacher must be able to teach students to understand why and how a concept is singular and unchanging. Valuing our students' perspectives gives them a better insight on what they learn and how they connect to it which can in turn make learning more meaningful.

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The Western community emphasizes individualization in an isolating nature, whereas Indigenous cultures are one example of a community mindset that is more inclusive. Teachers are encouraged in Indigenous pedagogy to link learning to the community. This connects to the more holistic approach found in Indigenous Knowledge Systems which emphasizes the circles and cycles that relate everything in the world together. A similar approach to learning appears to be emerging in BC’s curriculum, specifically in regards to the interdisciplinary approach to teaching subjects (for example, creating connections combining math and English). Indigenous Knowledge Systems lend themselves to this approach by connecting everything together in circular ways, leading learners to develop their more holistic understandings of the world.

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I really liked Kim's point about many people thinking Indigenous knowledge has to compete with Western knowledge. Really they can be integrated together to elevate student's learning and diversify the way children learn and understand the world. I think a great example from the article that Jonathan mentioned is that, rather than looking at the different seeds in cups in the classroom, why don't we go out into the world and see how these seeds grow in their natural environment? This creates more meaningful learning experiences for the students while utilizing both Western and Indigenous knowledges.

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It was really inspiring to read how Indigenous knowledge systems is all about serving others. Everything they do, they do with meaning and purpose. They never do something just because they can. It was a bit of a privilege check, thinking back to how many of us experienced planting seeds in sand when we knew it wouldn't grow. I also really liked Maggie's point about "what can you bring to the people and not what can I get from this experience". It makes you think about things from a different perspective and how moving forward we should think about how our intentions should be about how we can best serve/benefit other people and not just how does this benefit me.

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"The ways faculty approach issues of knowledge and knowledge production in our predominantly white institution are performative rather than relational". We are so used to the power dynamic between the teacher/student relationship where they show us how much more knowledge they have instead of inviting students into the conversation. We should want to understand the 'why' and 'how' and connect it to our individual story and identity. Sources of Indigenous Knowledge should be a way of being where we gain a broader sense of community and meaningful conversations that can be experienced through relationships, Land-based, and value learning in the classroom.

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I resonated with a lot of the conversations in the circle. Maggie and Kim discussed how respecting surroundings is crucial because often we take nature for granted. For Indigenous Peoples, they value nature and respect it. Indigenous Peoples create meaning, while learning from the land. On another note, I had highlighted a quote which one of the group members stated, "Community-based knowledges require individual's to be concerned for the welfare of not just themselves but others as well” (p.16)", which is an important lesson to learn in life. The western way of knowing is being on your own and learning from textbooks. Whereas, the Indigenous ways of knowing includes being inclusive, lending a helping hand to everyone.

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This isn't a new point but I was really influenced by Kim's comment about the disrespect of planting a seed in sand knowing that it won't survive and grow. Never in my schooling was I encouraged to think of living things/natural things that we use in our experiments as having a spirit. I've done experiments in science where we've blown up watermelons, or done egg drops, or tried to plant a flower in a dark box that isn't exposed to sunlight. I always thought of these as interesting science experiments and never gave it a second thought. It highlights to me what we've been talking about that we each come with our own biases or limitations that we didn't even realize that we had. Thank you for that comment Kim, that helped me grow!!

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I also wonder about how IK can fill the ethical knowledge gaps in knowledge in Eurocentric education - I started to think about how Indigenous Knowledges system is organized and what it implies could restore justice and shift power created by where knowledge "places" power in our society. In Eurocentric way of organizing knowledge comes with power structure that "takes" power out of certain groups because of their educational background. But knowledge as  state of being, and different ways of knowing and relationship with knowledge, will allow to acknowledge the power that lie beneath everyone.

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The article contends that Indigenous knowledge is evolving and dynamic and there is a diversity and plurality of knowledge within Indigenous ways of knowing. This diversity and plurality of knowledge as well as its adaptability is responsible for the survival of communities over time. This resonates for me as it underscores the importance and sacredness of Indigenous knowledge as the reason that Indigenous people have survived more than 500 years of genocide.

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I resonated with what Juli said about her relationship with school and how it was competitive / individualistic and how it is important / enlightening to shift perspectives to a collective experience and a group balance. This got me thinking about the idea of independence .... or really isolation? “Individualism forgets group harmony” - Maggie

Indigenous knowledge is more than content teaching - it’s a way of being and teaching - its communal, holistic, experiential, purposeful.

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I really like the idea of what a circle means in Indigenous communities. The idea of the circle has come to represent wholeness. It’s a key symbol in spirituality, families, gatherings, songs, stories. It connects everything and everyone together. The world is a circle and everything and everyone who shares our plant on Earth are all connected somehow. I especially like the idea of circle sharing, like what we did on the first day of class. It made me feel like we all belonged and we were able to connect on a deeper level because we were all able to face each other and also we gave respect to whoever was speaking.

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It's admirable that Indigenous Knowledge Systems place such a heavy emphasis on collective well-being and collective knowledge rather than individual gain. This idea makes me think about how Indigenous Knowledge Systems place importance on sustainability and the connection that can be had with the land. It's interesting how humans are here on earth due to a very specific set of conditions and that we must maintain these conditions (through sustainability) in order to continue to exist. This idea is a collective idea rather than an individualistic idea and seeks to benefit everyone. Indigenous Knowledge Systems appear to be selfless rather than selfish.

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I really related to what Juli said about the importance of understanding what your learning is for and what you can bring to your community with what you've learned. I too have felt that so much of my learning has been for the sole purpose of my own future and in positioning myself in comparison to my peers in a very competitive way. I think we also need to be critical of how our institutions support a competitive vs a collaborative community of learning; for example, at UBC many courses are scaled if there are too many students scoring high or low. This implies that many students succeeding is somehow a failure, rather than the goal of education.

I've also been thinking about the idea of not just experimenting for the sake of experimentation, but for greater learning and the welfare of my community. Similarly, I have found that some people when I express I am going into education, assume that myself and my fellow TCs are becoming teachers because we can or because it's somehow convenient. I think teaching for the sake of teaching is very dangerous and I think it must be an ongoing process of examining if we are going into and staying in education for the right reasons.

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Indigenous Knowledge (IK) encompasses a relationally-based way of teaching and learning. It emphasizes the importance of a holistic perspective that focuses on the significance of the circle and cycles of life. It looks at these systems of a whole in which we are all interconnected. People, matter, and materials are all “beings” alive with purpose. It starts from the very beginning to help explain the why, how, and who of every topic. The main source of IK is rooted in actual lived experiences. Knowledge is the accumulation of experiences over time. With this in mind, IK really diverts from the Westernized traditional theory based type of learning in which students are expected to learn (memorize) as much knowledge (facts) as possible. This type of learning is not deep and connective. Students will not remember all of this information long-term. Experiential learning is something that will genuinely allow learning to stick and remain strong throughout student’s lives. I believe that the role of IK in education is a much-needed form of connecting students with one another, their teacher, and the content that they are learning. It is not just a way of learning content but a way of being.

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"Indigenous education is a way of being"

I completely agree and resonated with Juli's comment about my personal educational experience has been more rooted individual success and even a sense of competition. That has been my experience as well, and I feel that even in this program the lack of that structure is helping me feel like we can take more risks and also be more community-based in our learning. It also reminds me of the line mentioned a few classes ago: "a rising tide lifts all boats".

How are systems of knowledge contextualized and conceptualized?

As Kim mentioned, it is easy in some educational systems to overlook

Taking care. For example, the lack of respect shown to the bean that is destroyed as part of an experiment.

As Juli and Xena mentioned, the gem of accumulated wisdom is lost when we approach education with a more 'standard' methodology of just generating output for learners to take in, or rote learning etc.

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I really appreciated Kim's statement about plants having spirits and humans therefore having the responsibility to tend to the seeds which turn into plants, that it's disrespectful to grow a seed in environments where it wont thrive and grow. This to me, is a fundamental highlight of the disconnect that a lot of youth experience in their education systems that condition them to see nature as "other". When educational lessons utilize different forms of life to achieve "learning objectives and goals" but leave that lifeform in only the context of "extraction for learning", what does that implicitly teach new learners? I have been complicit in this, as someone that loves science and land-based learning, I too have said to children: "let's see how it grows and treat it like an experiment". In the act of trying to get children to love nature and science, I had no idea I was actually conditioning them to see the experience of growing plants as an extractive learning process.

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Maggie’s point (Don’t Worry, Be Happy) reminded me how I really had to critically assess my individual knowledge development, and connects with the part from Deloria (1992) about how the quest for knowledge based on “individual will” operates in a vacuum and is disconnected from affects on others.

“...we need to catch a glimpse of the world through other eyes.” Leona Okakok (1989)

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It's interesting to see that a lot of us connect with the fact that our teachers just regurgitated information to us and expected us to have learned it that way. That was the 'norm' back then but now with us incorporating indigenous ways of learning and knowing in our own practices, allowing us to be being in that knowledge, we can be the change the society needs for students to actually apply their knowledge or do some hands on learning. I wonder how student's mindsets on school would change if they did more than just sit in their chairs at their desks for 8 hours a day. It's great to be able to consider the classroom environment and nuture the students to grow and develop in life, just like the bean.

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I was challenged to really think when I read "Everything in English is taken out of context.  Everything taught about Indians taken out of context is really in English-or in that way of thought."  It made me think about how the words we use matter, how we name and call things matters.  So much of our culture has been predicated on taking things and people out of context.  Even our ancestors themselves, travelling across the world to conquer and explore was to take themselves out of context.
I am happy to be learning the original and contextual names of what is around us, especially because it is from the peoples whose way of being and knowing is of this place.
We all can learn from each other and I'm glad that voices which communicate a unique and valuable way of knowing community and learning from each other is being shared with us.

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The quote “I think, therefore I am”, Indigenized as “We are, therefore I am” speaks to me - what a beautiful quote to live by! Do things not for the greater good of one’s self, but rather for the greater good of the community. To me, that’s the center of relationships and reciprocity.

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One thing that was brought up in the article and again in the talking circle is the idea that teaching shouldn't be something that is done just to do it, but there should be purpose behind it. When there is context and thoughtfulness behind what is being taught it becomes more meaningful and more readily applicable. I really appreciate how Indigenous knowledge systems are holistic,  intentional and meaningful.

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Indigenous knowledge is intentional in its learning. It was evident in the reading that some methods weren't going to work and it is going to be a waste of resources. The student-teacher mentioned how this isn't IK and how they wanted to teach skills that were actually useful.

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I connected to Jonathan’s comment about how every aspect of the bean experiment was planned out thoughtfully. This reminds me that our actions are consequential therefore like the bean experiment, we must think about and reflect upon our actions. It is important to think about the “what”, “how”, “where”, and “why”. When everything is related, it is really important to see what shaped our decisions and how decisions will shape ourselves, others, and the environment.

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Experiential, lived experience serve as guide posts for Indigenous education. Meaningful learning takes into account how we connect our learnings to the outside world and those around us. Community and relationships are central in Indigenous education and centrals learning as a collective event and encourages "seeing the world through the yes of other". Westernized learning practices need to utilize this mindset as much of colonial education focusses on the self and how to better ourselves without taking into account others.

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One part of the article that struck me was when the student was commenting on how their educators spoke in such a fast and complex way and how that clashes with how indigenous knowledge is produced. I think that western knowledge can learn a lot from Indigenous peoples here and that is evidenced in the story of the bean. I did not think of all the different ways you can use a bean to teach students about important topics like respect for life.

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Indigenous knowledge stresses the importance of acting on stuff and doing things- the importance of real life experience for gaining knowledge and meaning. It extends beyond book-learning to value-learning. Indigenous knowledge is holistic, diverse, tied to the Land, and a care for the broad community.

It was also really interesting that Christie said to think of our students like the beans and how they grow differently.

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I like how in many indigenous cultures across Canada community is at the forefront in a lot of what they do. I love how this spells out in their pedagogical practices. Like story telling, from my perspective it seems story telling is something that is to be a familial and community based thing as the family and/or the local community will sit by the fire and listen and tell stories that have a lesson to be taught to all.

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"Seeds don't grow in sand"- for me that is a metaphor that if you want the children to thrive the classroom has to be a fertile ground to cultivate these relationships. Not just student-teacher relationships but also student - student relationships.

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I really value that relationships and community are at the core of Indigenous knowledge systems. Learning and teaching is intentional, deliberate, meaningful, purposeful and holistic.