Indigenous Pedagogy

http://www.learnalberta.ca/content/aswt/#/indigenous_pedagogy/beginning_together

ped·a·go·gy

ˈpedəˌgäjē,-ˌgägē/

noun

1. the method and practice of teaching, especially as an academic subject or theoretical concept.

   "the relationship between applied linguistics and language pedagogy"

In this segment of the Walking Together resource, I learned about some of the ways in which First Nations people transfer their knowledge to the younger ones. The purpose is the same as it is in public education (preservation of culture and society, as described in the reflection statement), but hte methods are different.
In Canadian public schools, students are made to sit down and listen to a standing teacher, read from an academic textbook, and write and write and write. Nearly 100% of students' educational experience after elementary school takes place in classrooms. This works for allowing students to take in a curriculum in a familiarized environment; however, indigenous pedagogical approaches serve to get students familiar with the outside world.
From what I have learned in the resource, Indigenous education is mainly about immersing oneself in nature and learning how to make practical use of what nature has to provide. The lessons demonstrated to me in the videos included how to read the stories attributed to markings and tracks etc. in the forest, how to carve a flint knife the traditional Cree way (using sticks), and how to pass knowledge from generation to genaration via storytelling (covered in more detail here).
One video I found especially interesting was the flint cariving video - whle some may have seen it as learning how things used to" be done, the fact is it is still done like this in some places; the reason for this is that learning to do things the old-fashioned, complicated and slow way, helps to not only teach the history of Indigeonus weaponry and how to make weapons from all natural resources,but there is also an emphasis on the personal experience involved in creating the flints, as well as the uniqueness of every finished product. I think that the basis of Indigenous Pedagogy is holistic, personalized learning, and the belief that every individual achieves the most from their learning experience by making learning "a part of themselves."