Indigenous Approaches to Holistic Education - Assignment Example

Indigenous Studies 301 Introduction Throughout the study, several issues arose in relation toindigenous approaches to education systems (Bopp et al., 2004). One among the issues is the indigenous approaches to holistic education. In reference to Bopp et al. (2004), holistic education and indigenous education systems have become familiar topics within the current education literature. However, there are conflicting opinions about what indigenous approaches holistic education with the definition of holistic education remaining elusive. There have been evidence and claims that holistic education replicates a long life education of the whole child in relation to the child’s surrounding, culture and traditions. However, there is little clarity to explain the meaning of the relationships, indigenous approaches and holistic education (Forbes, 2003). The goal of this study paper is to bring some simplicity and clarity to the indigenous approaches to holistic education. The blurred clarity is an obstacle for learners, teachers, parents and education stakeholders who have a clear intention of integrating indigenous education to education systems. Such clarity would facilitate and aid a comparison of holistic education approach with other educational initiatives and permit curriculum designers to examine their claims about their ideas of indigenous approaches to the program of holistic education (Bopp et al., 2004). Definition of Holistic education According to Forbes (2003), holistic education refers to a new philosophy of education that integrates wholesomeness of individuals or learners in learning. The new philosophy is subject to the premise that each learner’s finds meaning, identity, and purpose in life through relations and associations to the ordinary world, to the community, and to humanitarian and altruistic values such as peace and compassion (Bopp et al., 2004; Barnhardt & Kawagley, 2008). According to Hare (2006), holistic education occurs in wholesomeness i.e. it does not exist in a solitary, consistent form. It is best pronounced as a group of principles, beliefs, feelings, values and general ideas and relationships with a share a family resemblance. Forbes (2003) outlines that, the approach or issue of holistic education emphasizes the education system of the student or learner beyond the boundaries of the classroom. In holistic education learning moves from the concept of a child-centered approach to more radical program (Barnhardt & Kawagley, 2008). The program focuses on the fullest probable development of the learner. It encourages learners and individuals to become the very best that they can be and enable them to endure all that they can from life and life relationships in order to reach their goals (Hare, 2006). The experiences or achievements of holistic education can be special, rare, and deeply meaningful for the learner (Bopp et al., 2004). Additionally, they could represent a role, position, or vocation that the learner could perceive as special or unique and a significant goal in their life (Hare, 2006). Achieving the wholesome goal is the “vision” of holistic education (Barnhardt & Kawagley, 2008). The intention of holistic education approach must be to prepare learners or students for a productive and fulfilling life where their attributes and skills are constantly applied, challenged, and developed as a portion of their lifelong learning (Forbes, 2003). According to Bopp et al. (2004), like indigenous education, holistic education approach can involve an educational journey of individual or personal discovery beginning within formal classroom education and then constantly continuing education throughout life. The life experiences and learning are continuous with students or individuals gaining in diverse ways from the various life circumstances and demands. Proposers of holistic education argue that this is the aim and purpose of any good educational system; like the indigenous learning approaches (Barnhardt & Kawagley, 2008; Hare, 2006). In indigenous learning, nature formed the main syllabus, and relationship with nature formed the core units of learning and education. Holistic education approaches, on the other hand, demands that learners integrate their formal learning systems to their relationship with nature, clans and society to uphold a lifelong learning (Forbes, 2003). Indigenous Approaches to Holistic Education Philosophies of Indigenous Knowledge To understand the indigenous approaches to holistic education, it is important to recognize the indigenous pedagogy (Forbes, 2003). The Indigenous pedagogy describes the Indigenous ways of learning and teaching that are subject to social values, observation, experience, and group and individual learning processes. Indigenous education is described as comprehensive, holistic, and complex; it encompasses lifelong learning from or even before childbirth through to the adult life and the elderly wisdom (Barnhardt & Kawagley, 2008). Indigenous education comprises all stages of human natural development and is inclusive of the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual aspects of learners’ well-being and health (Bopp et al., 2004). The philosophy of indigenous knowledge is rooted in culture, shared philosophy, customs and values of learners’ respective culture (Bopp et al., 2004). The knowledge is reflected in the learners’ interpretation of their culture’s collective code. The indigenous knowledge, values, and philosophies are taught through storytelling, role modeling, languages, and learning through experience (Barnhardt & Kawagley, 2008). The earth and Tribal territories are linked to a continuous creation process that humans have to maintain and renew through ceremonies and telling and re-telling of their stories and songs. In indigenous knowledge, Languages symbolize the collective people’s thought processes and forms a significant learning essential (Forbes, 2003). Indigenously, everything has knowledge and spirit, and life and the universe exist in relationship and association to one another (Hare, 2006). Energy and spirit, Relationships and space, cycles and patterns, are principal to an Indigenous understanding and philosophy of the universe and environment (Barnhardt & Kawagley, 2008). Values such as honesty and kindness, love, sharing, use of humor, and use of the non-interference principle maintain and strengthen community welfare. Also, socialization is attained through reward, praise, renewal and recognition. Indigenously, social organization is subject to relationships and kinship to extended family and band, nation or tribe (Bopp et al. 2004). The features of the philosophies of indigenous knowledge form the basis of the subject of holistic education (Barnhardt & Kawagley, 2008). The adoption of the perspective of a holistic education contributes to a state of wholeness, harmony, balance, and beauty (Bopp et al., 2004). Holistic education of a child or a learner is a collective responsibility of the community, its territories and all the people within the territory (Barnhardt & Kawagley, 2008). Each child, according to indigenous knowledge philosophies, has gifts or a gift from the Creator to which his or her learning experience must support in reaching the goals. For instance, the Aboriginal philosophy is understood “as being cyclical or repetitive and holistic, process-oriented, generalize, and that is firmly positioned in a particular place.” The place or learning is the land and environment of the aboriginal people. Holistic education focuses on these aspects and much more others to find and ground its learning basis (Forbes, 2003). Features of holistic education with basis to the philosophies of indigenous knowledge Barnhardt and Kawagley (2008) acknowledge that a holistic education encompasses all aspects of growth and personal learning and highlights the development of active relationships at all development levels. The relationships can exist between the subject or learning domains, between learners and their peer groups and or communities or the learners and the environment or surrounding world. Subject to the philosophies of indigenous knowledge, proposers of holistic education argue that an education described as holistic if and when it embodies the following characteristics (Forbes, 2003). Bopp et al. (2004) outlines that; indigenous knowledge is earned through lifelong learning. The learning encompasses holistic education that nurtures the learners’ comprehensive development and focuses on their social, physical, intellectual, creative or intuitive, emotional, spiritual and esthetic potentials. Holistic education promotes the significance of relationships at all levels inside a learning community where the learners and educator relate and collaborate openly and cooperatively (Barnhardt & Kawagley, 2008). In holistic education, there is an emphasis on learning and life experience beyond the classroom limits and the environment of formal educational (Bopp et al. 2004). Learning in holistic education moves towards education as discovery, growth, and broadened horizons. In respect to indigenous knowledge, it encourages a desire to provoke meaning and understanding of the environment and to involve the world in learning (Hare, 2006). Nonetheless, Bopp et al. (2004) assert that a holistic approach empowers learners to critically examine the moral, cultural, and political environments of their lives. Through such examination, it leads learners towards aggressively challenging and altering cultural values to come across their human needs. In the essence of indigenous knowledge, learners should desire to know and evaluate their settings at all levels. However, in holistic education the desire is accompanied with formal education that engages the world to tailor the environment in the impending goals and needs of the learner (Forbes, 2003). Holistic education, therefore, has the capability to lead the learners into new thinking areas, to broaden their critical and personal thinking (Barnhardt & Kawagley, 2008). Moreover, it can enable the learners to develop an appreciation of their surrounding world and to realize the significance of relationships within all the considerations. Outstandingly, holistic education has the capability to empower learners to think differently, creatively and to reflect on their values (Forbes, 2003). One of the values that learners must focus on is the value of language. Language is central to wholesome learning and understanding. Through language, the learners will be able to appreciate the land, the beliefs, the culture and the values of their community. Additionally, by appreciating their language and culture, the learners will develop a bond and appreciation of the contributions of indigenous knowledge to their formal learning settings (Bopp et al. 2004). Indigenous approaches to learning as encompassed in holistic education Notably, Bopp et al. (2004) denote that indigenous knowledge and education encompassed various approaches and modes of learning. For the Indigenous people, education and knowledge were experienced through a lifelong learning. For example, learning went from and through one’s peoples and one’s past, into the present day, and focusing toward a better and prosperous future for the future learners’ generations. Storytelling was and is one of the modes of education and learning in indigenous education and learning system (Bopp et al. 2004). Through storytelling, learners experienced a myriad of information, imagination and communal identity. Bopp et al. (2004) argues that the indigenous people linked human imagination, identity and storytelling intimately with the land and the earth, as the center of humanity. The linkage came with visualization and representation of narrative and storytelling (Barnhardt & Kawagley, 2008). In this essence, holistic education encompasses storytelling for the learners to identify with their landscape as the center of humanity. According to Bopp et al. (2004) Storytelling provides landscape and identity to the indigenous people as well as race and collective memory of the contemporary people. Through storytelling, the people get to identify with their culture, community, landscape and race (Bopp et al., 2004). Bopp et al. (2004) denote that the indigenous education was surrounded with science as the main source of learning and teaching. Through science, learning included examination of basic human questions, like the nature of thought, language, and perception (Hare, 2006). Furthermore, science explored questions like the time movement, nature of human feeling and knowing; the nature of human and community relationship; and countless of other questions about reality of the natural human and community (Bopp et al., 2004). When integrating such science to education systems, the education becomes holistic. Science is a core principle in holistic education (Barnhardt & Kawagley, 2008). The science of nature and humanity focuses raising the learners attention on their environment, universe and surrounding. Indigenous science came from collective inheritance and legacy of human experience with their natural world. Like in indigenous knowledge, holistic learning ensures that learners gain insight of their natural world in culture and beliefs. Indigenous knowledge in science mapped reality from the generations of human experiences that gave rise to a diversity of technologies from hunting and gathering to fishing, communicating, making art, building, visioning, being and healing (Bopp, et al. 2004). By learning and practicing such technologies, holistic education learners identify with their landscape, earth, surrounding environment, culture, and lifestyle. They experience what their predecessors experienced and pass the experience to future generations (Forbes, 2003). Profile of a Holistically Educated Learner Since a particular definition of holistic education is abstract, the challenge is to recognize what embodies the results of a holistic approach to education (Bopp et al., 2004). Thus, parents teachers, and learners can recognize the aim and identify the benefits of a holistic education approach. Holistic education can be associated with numerous and frequent indigenous values and themes. These values are “guiding principles for personal behavior” and through which outcomes of holistic education approach are characterized. The behaviors mirror a range of skills, aptitudes, and competencies that learners will begin to develop as they advance from a formal to holistic education. The attributes and behaviors related to holistic education presents a learner profile (Bopp et al. 2004). Through holistic education, Forbes (2003), learners attribute to certain characteristics of indigenous knowledge as well as formal education systems. The learners can acts with academic and social maturity and integrity and can demonstrate a creative approach and flexibility to problem-solving in their relationships. Indigenously, responsibility is central to learning and relationships. Through holistic education learners can ownership of their learning and development through prioritization and planning (Barnhardt & Kawagley, 2008). Additionally, they can ensure that through determination tasks can be completed on time. Also, learners can develop and maintain relationships using their indigenous interpersonal competencies and skills. Furthermore, they can demonstrate an attitude and a reflective approach of continuous improvement denoting the indigenous’ lifelong learning process (Bopp et al. 2004). Learning is foreseen as a lifelong experience both in holistic and indigenous approaches (Bopp et al. 2004). However, a key difference between the knowledge-based approach and a holistic approach is that the latter adopts a considered and planned approach to learner development beyond academic considerations (Hare, 2006). I holistic education there is an emphasis on relationships and the lessons embryonic from them and takes the learner beyond the restrictions of a knowledge-based or formal education. This brings interpersonal and personal skills that can convey substantial advantages to the learner’s progress outside their formal education approach, but closer to indigenous knowledge (Forbes, 2003). Implications of Indigenous Approaches to Holistic Education Holistic education approach is a vibrant withdrawal from the knowledge transmission education approach to indigenous education that has been conversant in the past (Bopp et al. 2004). It prepares the learner for lifelong learning as educational focus moves towards the learners attitudes, life skills, and personal awareness required in a progressively more complex world. The binder to the subject knowledge of the learner is maintained but is accompanied by learning how to learn, the serious knowledge evaluation gained and knowledge’s application in an extensive array of contexts. It is these contexts that represent the future educational currency (Bopp et al. 2004). Consequently there is also an emphasis on a wide-ranging educational approach that addresses the personal, intellectual, and interpersonal learner development and considers many of the attitudes, values, and skills that can serve the learners well throughout their lives. The knowledge-empty education systems cannot claim such a broad learner development. Holistic education in relation to indigenous education also brings closer the recognition of “learning to live together” and “learning to be (Forbes, 2003).” Conclusion Holistic education, as encompassed by indigenous education calls for learners to take ownership of their wholesome development. This ownership takes different forms at different levels of learner’s maturity. Nonetheless, wholesome is a central element within holistic education (Barnhardt & Kawagley, 2008). The supportive role of the teachers and parents, as well as other educational stakeholders within holistic education, is indispensable (Forbes, 2003). The behaviors recognized in the learner profile will also manifest outside the classroom and teachers, and parents must recognize, inspire and applause such constructive behavioral changes. Holistic education like indigenous knowledge acquisition is a radical effort. The educational journey begins the process of self-realization and self-actualization through relationships; with other people, groups, and the surrounding world is a vital part. Contrastingly, formal education is just the starting point of the holistic educations or indigenous knowledge’s lifelong process (Bopp et al. 2004). References Barnhardt, R., & Kawagley, A. (2008) Chapter 16: Indigenous knowledge systems and education. Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, 107(1): 223-241. Retrieved from http://nsseyearbook.org/files/2010/01/Barnhardt-and-Kawagley.pdf Bopp, Judie et al. (2004). The Sacred Tree: Reflections on Native American Spirituality. Twin Lakes, WI: Lotus Press Forbes, Scott H. (2003). Holistic Education: An Analysis of its Ideas and Nature. Brandon, VT. Foundation for Educational Renewal. Hare, JR. (2006). “Towards an Understanding of Holistic Education in the Middle Years of Education”. Journal of Research in Education. Vol. 5: 301–22. Read More