WHAT ARE THE
8 WAYS OF
INDIGENOUS LEARNING?
The 8 Ways of Indigenous Knowledge and Learning is based on Yunkaporta's (2009) seminal research, that has now been incorporated by the NSW Department of Education. Below we provide a detailed explanation of each and how they fit and work together.
Each of the 8 Ways…
Story transformation
The key pedagogy in the eight-way framework is the narrative based one of story sharing. This is fundamental to the eight ways as it is not only the way indigenous people keep abreast of current issues in an oral culture but is also the way they manage their dynamic but eternal connection to Country (Yunkaporta & Kirby 2011, p. 206). Yarning is how indigenous people transmit knowledge and learn about the world (Yunkaporta n.d., p. 12). As Wheaton (cited in Yunkaporta n.d., p. 12) highlights, ‘elders teach using stories, drawing lessons from narratives to actively involve learners in introspection and analysis’. This is not monologic but a shared dialogue with learners; hence teaching and learning is also a social activity in Aboriginal pedagogy.
Thought Action
Aboriginal pedagogy is kinaesthetic, hands-on learning with a strong emphasis on body language and silence. As Wheaton (cited in Yunkaporta n.d., p. 12) argues however, non verbal pedagogy ‘is more than just the idea of reduced language [..], ‘[a]boriginal learners test knowledge non-verbally through experience, introspection and practice, thereby becoming critical thinkers who can judge the validity of new knowledge independently’.
Process Plan
This way of learning is to visualise pathways of knowledge. Diagrams or visualisations are used to map out processes explicitly for the learner (Yunkaporta, n.d., p. 11). ‘In optimal Aboriginal pedagogy, the teacher and learner create ‘”a concrete, holistic image of the tasks to be performed which serves as a reference point for the learner”’ (Hughes and More 1997, cited in Yunkaporta n.d., p. 11).
Image
This pedagogy uses images and metaphors to understand concepts and content. Knowledge is coded in symbols, signs, images and metaphors and is therefore a tool for learning and memorizing complex knowledge.
As Yunkaporta (2011, p. 208) highlights, learning maps and symbols and images pedagogies are naturally linked; ‘one provides the structure of memory while the other provides the language of memory’.
Cycle Synthesis
According to indigenous pedagogy learning is not sequential but a continuous relational endeavour. Problems are solved laterally through association and through making connections with existing knowledge (8 ways n.d.). Hence, there is much ‘repetition and returning to concepts for deeper understanding’ (Yunkaporta 2007, cited in Lawrence, n.d.).
Community Identity
Learning according to aboriginal pedagogy is ‘group-oriented, localised and connected to real-life purposes and contexts’ (Christie 1986 cited in Yunkaporta n.d., p.11). ‘[T]he motivation for learning is inclusion in the community, while teaching refers to community life and values’ (Stairs 1994, cited in Yunkaporta, n.d., p. 11).
Because holistic thinking and relational cognition are also grounded in people and place, the pedagogies of: deconstruct–reconstruct, non–linear, land–links and community links are interrelated on the 8-way framework.
Whole Part
The deconstruct – reconstruct pedagogy is a holistic, global orientation to learning whereby the initial focus is on the whole rather than the parts – ‘seeing an overall meaning, purpose and structure first and then breaking it down into manageable chunks’ (Yunkaporta & Kirby 2011, p. 208). In this pedagogy, the text is initially modelled by the more knowledgeable other before the learner tries it independently; thus watching first then doing (Yunkaporta n.d., p. 29).
Land Place
‘Aboriginal pedagogies are intensely ecological, place-based’ and ‘drawn from the living landscape within a framework of profound ancestral and personal relationships with place’ (Marker 2006, cited in Yunkaporta n.d., p. 12). For indigenous people, learning is about linking content to local land and place and is thus highly contextualised.
REFERENCES
Christie, MJ 1986, ‘Formal Education and Aboriginal children’, The Aboriginal Child at School, vol. 1, no. 14, pp. 40-44.
Hughes, P & More, A 1997, ‘Aboriginal Ways of Learning and Learning Styles’, paper presented at the Annual Conference of the Australian Association for Research in Education, Brisbane.
Lawrence, E, n.d., ‘Practical Application: Applying theory to practice’ wikipage post, Viewed 20 April 2016, <http://eep303reflection.wikispaces.com/Practical+Application>
Marker, M 2006, ‘After the Makah Whale Hunt: Indigenous Knowledge and Limits to Multicultural Discourse’, Urban Education, vol. 41, no. 5, p. 482.
Wheaton, C 2000, ‘An Aboriginal pedagogical model: Recovering an Aboriginal pedagogy from the Woodlands Cree’, in R Neil (ed.), Voice of the Drum, Kingfisher Publications, Canada.
Yunkaporta, T n.d. Draft Report for DET on Indigenous Research Project conducted by Tyson Yunkaporta, Aboriginal Education Consultant, in Western NSW Region Schools, 2007-2009: Aboriginal Pedagogies at the Cultural Interface, Viewed 20 April 2016, <http://8ways.wikispaces.com/file/view/draft+report.doc>
Yunkaporta, T 2007, Indigenous Knowledge Systems: Comparing Aboriginal and Western Ways of Knowing, Viewed 20 April 2016, <http://aboriginalrights.suite101.com/article.cfm/indigenous_knowledge_syste ms>
Yunkaporta, T & Kirby, M 2011, ‘Yarning up Indigenous pedagogies: A dialogue about eight Aboriginal ways of learning’, in R Bell, G Milgate & N Purdie (eds.) Two Way Teaching and Learning: Toward culturally reflective and relevant education, ACER Press, Camberwell Victoria.