
Teaching Each Other
Nehinuw Concepts and Indigenous Pedagogies
In recent decades, educators have been seeking ways to improve outcomes for Indigenous students. Yet most Indigenous education at the K-12 level still takes place within a theoretical framework based in Eurocentric thought.
In Teaching Each Other, Linda Goulet and Keith Goulet provide an alternative framework for teachers working with Indigenous students – one that moves beyond acknowledging Indigenous culture to one that actually strengthens Indigenous identity. Drawing on Nehinuw (Cree) concepts such as kiskinaumatowin, or “teaching each other,” Goulet and Goulet provide a new approach to teaching Indigenous students.
Just as beaders learn how to improve their own designs and techniques from watching others beaders work, kiskinaumatowin, when applied in the classroom, transforms the normally hierarchical teacher-student relationship by making students and teachers equitable partners in education. Enriched with the success stories of educators who use Nehinuw concepts in Saskatchewan, Canada, this book demonstrates how this framework works in practice. The result is an alternative teaching model that can be used by teachers anywhere who want to engage with students whose culture may be different from the mainstream.
This book will be of interest to students and scholars of teacher education and to practising teachers and educators of K-12, particularly educators who work with Indigenous students
In the audio-enhanced epub (ebook) version of Teaching Each Other, readers can go beyond seeing the Cree words on the page to hearing them being spoken by Keith Goulet, a fluent Cree speaker, in the “N” dialect. As readers move through the book, on the first instance of a Cree word, they can tap on the word to hear the word, first at normal speed, and then more slowly, with full and clear enunciation. A new glossary containing 185 Cree words and their meanings is also included in this enhanced edition, in both text and audio formats. These audio features enable readers not only to learn the pronunciations for use in their classrooms and other contexts, but also provide an introduction to, appreciation of, and respect for the Cree language and the thinking of the Cree people that is reflected in their language.
The audio-enhanced ebook is also fully accessible and Benetech certified. Further details about the specific features can be found here.
This enhanced ebook edition is published in partnership with RavenSpace.
Awards
- 2015, Shortlisted - University of Saskatchewan President’s Office Non-Fiction Award, Saskatchewan Book Awards
This book offers a multidimensional journey into Indigenous pedagogy, a journey that moves beyond decolonization and has wide-ranging implications for the field of education. It is powerful, authentic, and original.
An excellent resource for teachers and teacher educators who seek to challenge their students and themselves to work in new ways in the school system. The careful analysis of Cree words and related Nehinuw principles is a powerful and important contribution to the literature on teachers of Indigenous students.
1 Where We Are in Indigenous Education
2 Where We’ve Been: Sociohistorical Realities
3 What to Build Upon: Sociocultural Strengths
4 How to Get There: Conceptualizing Effective Teaching
5 Weechihitowin, Helping and Supporting Relationships: The Foundation
6 Weetutoskemitowin, Working Together: Social Systems
7 Iseechigehina, Planned Actions: Connection to the Process
8 Weechiseechigemitowin, Strategic Alliances: Connection to the Content
9 Breaking Trail: Stories Outside the (Classroom) Box
10 Ininee mamitoneneetumowin, Indigenous Thinking: Emerging Theory of Indigenous Education
Appendix 1: Cree orthographic chart
Appendix 2: Model of effective teaching for Indigenous students: Categories, subcategories, and attributes
Notes; References; Index