We were recently honored to have Darrion Letendre, STEM and Land-based Learning Coordinator at Norquest College, join us to share how indigenous knowledge and ways of learning can enhance the traditional “Western” education system. Two-eyed seeing is a way of describing the braiding of traditional education with indigenous ways of learning to expand access and knowledge.
From an indigenous community, Darrion has an understanding of how open education has created access for those who previously lacked opportunities:
“We’re revitalizing our knowledge, our culture through education and the more that we’re invited into these spaces … to share about culture to share about connection, it really helps advance and expand … access.”
Historically, traditional education devalued indigenous cultures but open education has the potential to give back and acknowledge the wisdom and culture of the indigenous communities. Both open education and indigenous culture value knowledge sharing but key differences do exist.
“I grew up in a community and with a culture where we have the belief that knowledge is meant to be shared … because it makes us better as people; it makes us better as communities; and so that is something that we can afford to one another.”
Indigenous knowledge is not meant to be gifted or copyrighted in the same way as freely distributed open educational resources. The Cree natural law, Wahkohtowin, meaning “all things are related” provides insight into this. Indigenous knowledge sharing is about building relationships with people, animals, the land, even spiritual beings and implies a responsibility to treat all our “relatives” with respect even the ones we don’t know.
“Education is vital not only to our own personal understandings but the ways in which we relate to one another … the more we know about the world and our place in it, the easier it is to access those connections and make those meaningful …”
Also listen to his keynote speech from Open Education Global 2023 in Edmonton, Alberta on embracing two-eyed seeing to create brighter futures for our students and our world.