An Indigenous Perspective on Modern Education

Abstract

Ilarion offers a perspective on Indigenous worldview approaches to teaching and learning from his Unangan (Aleut) relatives and communities. He focuses on remembering that we are spirits inhabiting and body; that children must be treated as autonomous, sacred individuals; and that education must focus not on problems but on challenges that are opportunities for learning.  He emphasizes that we are living in a world where we have reversed the laws for living that emphasize mind over heart.