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Albrecht
Indigenous worldview and Elements of a holistic education
Indigenous ideology about the world is quite different from the mainstream ideation that
many people carry. Indigenous worldviews consist of a holistic approach that is based in the
knowledge that “existence consists of energy” (Little Bear 77). Indigenous worldviews see
everything as animate, containing spirit, and consistently moving (Little Bear 77). Indigenous
worldviews explain that the “universe is understood as consciousness that manifests in all life
forms and is the basis of the principles that underlie conduct, thought, and knowledge” (Bastien
84). This ideology brings about ideas that everything is interconnected, related, and affecting
everything else. Indigenous worldviews are holistic in that they see the world as a large system
of connection that is in constant motion and must be looked at in entirety to see patterns.
Furthermore, Indigenous world views “emphasize the process, not the product” (Little Bear 78)
by recognizing constant motion that results in consistent patterns and cycles, such as the seasons
that result from the continuous motion of the cosmos (Little bear 78). In essence, Indigenous
worldviews aim to see the entirety of what is to be looked at and recognize causes and effects of
the constant motion of everything. This worldview invokes a sense of value in wholeness.
Indigenous worldviews are also involved in their ideas about education. In Indigenous
education, it is the goal of the educational system to educate the whole child. In doing so,
Indigenous people use a holistic education system in order to encourage the development of the
physical, spiritual, emotional, and intellectual. Indigenous education does not stop, rather, it is
continuous throughout the life cycle, “from infancy and early childhood to old age” (Royal
Commission on Aboriginal Peoples 445). The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (1996)
states that, “Aboriginal people see education as a process that begins before birth and continues
long after formal education is over” (p. 445). Learning is done throughout the lifetime and new
