Indigenous and European Models of Education

Learning is holistic, reflexive, experiential, and rational (based on interconnectedness and a sense of place).
Learning involves generational roles and responsibilities.
Learning supports the wellbeing of self, the family, the community, the land, the spirits, and the ancestors.
Learning involves recognizing the consequences of one’s actions.
Learning involves patience and time.
Learning involves the role of Indigenous knowledge.
Learning is embedded in memory, history, and story.
Learning involves the exploration of one’s identity.
Learning involves recognizing that some knowledge is sacred and only shared with permission and in certain situations.

Learning is based on a top down model where students learn from teachers in authority and is based largely on science, written material, and the objectivity of science.
Learning treats childhood as a time for receiving learning and the elderly are isolated from formal learning.
Learning is largely independent of the world view based on scientific principles. It supports the wellbeing of the individual.
Learning involves using precedent and objective models to decide the consequences of one’s actions.
Learning is a systematic exploration of curriculum, learning goals, and outcomes.
Learning involves an exploration of historically accepted perspectives on knowledge. It involves an exploration of knowledge through accepted scientific practice.
Learning involves documented historical perspectives based on accepted theories. It endeavours to provide objective data but does not always interpret the ethnocentric nature of accepted facts.
Learning also involves the exploration of identity but does not always represent the diversity of cultural experiences of identity.
Knowledge is considered accepted when it can be scrutinized by others and duplicated in independent evaluation. Oral knowledge is often considered as an ‘old wives tale’ and therefore unreliable.