production two

One of the most striking moments of my undergraduate university experiences was learning anishinaabemowin (the language of the Ojibwe) with Indigenous language professor Maya Chacaby. Notably, I remember very distinctly the first time she introduced us to the word anishinaabe. Sure, the word is a self-designation for the Ojibwe peoples, and could be classified as a noun. However, the professor went on to argue, not only does the word refer to the physical entity of a human being, but also that an important component of the word could be thought of as a verb - that of being. In many Indigenous languages, including anishinaabemowin, it becomes apparent that there is a certain importance placed on the actionability of concepts and how they are embodied in our day to day lives. As mentioned in Indigenous Knowledges and the Story of the Bean (Brayboy & Maughan, 2009), the English noun 'knowledge' is not immune to this more relational conception of the world. Put simply, knowledge, in an Indigenous sense is 'what we put to use... [It] can never be divorced from human action and experience.' (p. 21)

Western conceptions however, worship knowledge for its objectivity and impartiality - often leading to the isolation of western students from their human experiences, their communities, and their environments. These elements are absolutely necessary in knowledge acquisition for Indigenous peoples, as knowledge is inherently relational and contextual. The isolated ways in which knowledge is distributed to students in western education lacks necessary 'contextual, contextualized', and 'lived' elements of knowledge and knowledge acquisition that are inherent to Indigenous ways of being and thinking (p. 12). It is important that teachers incorporate contextualization and experiential facets into their practice in order to practice Indigenous ways of knowing.

Contextualizing lessons for students in the classroom might look like offering reasoning to students as to the importance of studying a certain concept, explaining its use to them in their future, or even asking students which concepts are most difficult for them. This is especially pertinent in language classes such as FSL. In my experience, the language level taught in the classroom is useful in extremely particular situations - such as academic and professional writing. However, as soon as you try to take that learning into a realistic, relational environment - such as holding a casual conversation - classroom learning can fall painfully short. Realistic relational environments, in language contexts, can confront learners with an entirely new lexical field of regional slang, or an entirely different audio-field of regional accents. Contextualizing their learning therefore also looks like providing students with knowledge that will be applicable in their day-to-day lives such as in casual conversation with native speakers, and should include elements on regional dialects, slang, and culture that will help them stay afloat in these encounters.

The experiential elements of Indigenous knowledge learning is also hugely important in this sense. Incorporating experiences that allow students to 'live' their experiences of the language can also be done in a variety of ways in the classroom. Direct sourcing from culturally relevant material, such as watching films, or listening to music, can be one way of giving students an 'out of classroom' experience while still being in the classroom. Additionally, hands-on projects such as that seen in He Ao Hou: A New World (Kanaeokana, 2018) help students to achieve 'purposeful action' (p. 12) in their learning through the experiential creation of projects. This can take so many forms in FSL contexts as well, such as the creation of short films, music, games, and other forms of storytelling which are so intrinsically tied to language.

The Indigenous notion of knowledge as a verb is important to consider in scholarly contexts. Indigenous advocacy for pedagogical implementation of experiential learning, relational learning, and contextualization of learning, bring a new life to the classroom setting and prompt innovation of antiquated ideas of teaching and learning in western settings.

references

Brayboy, Bryan McKinley Jones;Maughan, Emma

Harvard Educational Review; Spring 2009; 79, 1; ProQuest Research Library

Kanaeokana. (2018, September). He Ao Hou: A new world. Vimeo. link