Fostering Inclusivity

Learning Emerges from Strong Relationships

Davidson explains, her learners rely upon her ability to develop strong relationships, and without those relationships, meaningful learning is unlikely to occur. She explains that this sk’ad’a principle is particularly important if learners are struggling because they must be able to trust educators for support.

This connection happens over time, promoting deep understanding of concepts shared in a relational learning space over several different opportunities to learn with one another. In a relational learning environment, knowledge is revisited through multiple interactions that build on previous experiences to deepen learner’s understanding. Building strong relationships grounded in concepts of mutual respect encourages questions, asking for help, and a comfortable space to practice with information many times during their learning journey. Learners gradually refine skills while reinforcing the relationship through ongoing support and shared insights. Learning is not an isolated activity but a communal one. Learners learn with and from each other, fostering a sense of community and shared responsibility:

“This speaks to having a community to learn with and from; and, that while you may have many teachers, some will impact you more than others based on relationships. So work hard to build relationships and be mindful of ensuring students have the skills to build and maintain those strong relationships” (Nichols, n.d.).

“Attention to relationships involves a striving for unconditional respect; the use of a dialogic approach where the students are in conversation with each other; and building trust among students by each telling one’s own story while giving attention to respectful listening of others [...] Attention to relationships in the physical or virtual classroom provides an interpersonal skill base for students’ journey into a career and service outside of academia” (LaFever, 2016, p. 414)

Further, learners are also encouraged to have relationships with themselves: To understand how they best study, learn, and think and to also ensure self-care measures are taken. Self-care is deeply rooted to wholistic ways of being and knowing, keeping balance. Eating, sleeping, and taking care of our physical bodies is just as important as taking care of our minds and feelings when learning. By emphasizing the importance of strong relationships, Potlatch as Pedagogy creates a learning environment that is supportive, inclusive, sustaining, and deeply connected to the communal context of the learners where revisiting and practice become safer and encouraged, ultimately affecting how we move through a space to learn. Questions are enhanced, and trauma-informed practices encouraged. This approach not only enhances academic learning but also fosters personal and social development, preparing learners to contribute positively to their communities.

All My Relations

Concepts within All My Relations embody interconnectedness between all things: Self, Individuals, Community, Orders of Relation (nature), and Ancestors. It emphasized that we live within a larger system of relationships and must maintain balance, harmony, and the shared responsibility of caring for the Earth and each other. It refers to animals, fish, birds, plants, and water as Relatives (Vukelich, 2023).

“The important word is ‘all.’ Not just those who look like me, sing like me, dance like me, speak like me, pray like me or behave like me. ALL my relations. That means every person, just as it means every rock, mineral, blade of grass and creature. We live because everything else does. If we were to choose collectively to live that teaching, the energy of our change of consciousness would heal each of us—heal the planet” (Wagamese, 2016, p. 36).

Learning is not solely about acquiring knowledge but about building relationships—with oneself, others, the land, and ways of being and doing. These relationships do not happen all at once but occur during continual interactions of ongoing understanding through an open mind to learn. You cannot “cram” a relationship into a single interaction and must move forward with intentionality, not transactionally. Meaningful relationships do not happen quickly or effortlessly. Knowledge is shared in a way that fosters mutual respect and benefits all involved, reinforcing the interconnectedness of all beings. Relating to the Creation Story, and original instructions.

“Everything is but an individual manifestation of an underlying whole. Everything is connected, just like the strands of a spider’s web. Touch one and you affect them all. True wisdom is thus a recognition that everything is dependent on everything else; that everything is interlinked with everything else in an intricate network or web and therefore everything is respected because it is a part of the Great Spirit. Nothing is independent. All are related and interconnected” (Bell, 2013, p. 99).

How do you say we ‘We are all related' in Ojibwe?

Spaced practice in SoL focuses on transitioning learners away from mass practice (for instance, cramming for exams) and instead asks learners and educators to build in intentional space and time between learning and/or studying a certain topic. Importantly, spaced practice also recognizes time and sleep as requirements for building long-term memory. In the 19th century, psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus studied how the brain retains information and discovered that most knowledge is forgotten a few days after learning. He coined this the “Forgetting Curve.” In addition to this, he also discovered that if the same information was practiced at regular intervals (spaced practice), the rate of this forgetting curve could be slowed, and 90% of the information retained long-term (Weinstein et al. 2018). Essentially, we must allow some forgetting to occur, to allow the opportunity to practice and reinforce this learning. In current teaching, this translates to encouraging learners to slow down and take intentional breaks and understand that building relationships with the content, thus meaningful learning, cannot happen quickly. Instructors can build spaced practice into their lessons by creating opportunities to revisit information or developing study schedules in collaboration with their learners.

If you’d prefer to hear the above information in video form, please see the video below.

Everything we need as Anishinaabe people was given to us in our Creation Story, including our original instructions (Bell, p. 93, 2013). Our original instructions embrace how we live in relation with one another, respect each other, and move together in this world. It is critical to remember the Creation Story and the original instructions, which tell us we must always remember to “walk gently upon the earth and do each other no harm” (Wagamese, 2016, p. 35).

Richard Wagamese furthers this concept:

“Remember, to Remember. This is what Old Man said to me one time. He was speaking of Ceremony of the act of bringing myself closer to Creator, returning myself to innocence, my original power. Remember to Remember. He meant for me, throughout my day, to recall that I’ve taken the time to pray, to give thanks, to ask for a return to humility. Remember to Remember. When I do that, everyone and everything I encounter becomes the beneficiary. It’s a good teaching – as long as I remember. (Wagamese, p. 85, 2016).

In Anishnawabe culture, learning is ceremony and a lifelong process of remembering, reflecting, and sharing.

The first level of this domain, Remember, focuses on asking learners to recognize or recall facts, terms, basic concepts, or answers. It is the base of the pyramid and builds the foundation of learning by asking for recollection of previous knowledge, to prime for new learning (Bloom et al., 1956 & Anderson and Krathwohl, 2001). We want learners to start off with success by using what they already know to introduce new concepts. When coupled with spaced practice and an understanding of the relations and knowledge that brought them here, we can encourage the beginning of their learning journey.