Project 57 Week 29: Land-based pedagogy

Land-based pedagogy is rooted in a “respect-based worldview of the land” (Land as Teacher, UNESCO). Danielle Cherpako explains that “land-based learning typically uses an Indigenized and environmentally focused approach to education by first recognizing the deep, physical, mental, and spiritual connection to the land that is part of Indigenous cultures” (MAKING INDIGENOUS-LED EDUCATION A PUBLIC POLICY PRIORITY: The Benefits of Land-Based Education and Programming (2019)). Land-based pedagogy, or land-based learning has a “place-based learning focus” that “bridges connections between Indigenous and scientific worldviews” through an exploration of the “interconnections within all of Creation” (LearninTheLand.ca). It is not about learning outside or treating land as a resource, instead “land-based education is relational and focuses on understanding how knowledge connects to and comes from land, including water, sky, and everything connected to them” (Land as Teacher, UNESCO).  

Land has meaning beyond material consumption. Instead of seeing the earth as something to exploit, such as land as resources or human beings as expendable, land-based pedagogy “changes people’s relationships to the land” illustrating the connection between the land, water, sky, animals, plants, etc., as more of a “familial relationship” (Land as Teacher, UNESCO). Dr. Alex Wilson, Opaskwaak Cree Nation, explains that Land based pedagogy “encompasses the preservation of culture, language and philosophy, and addresses the ramifications of colonization and “epistemicide”—the severing of Indigenous knowledge systems because of policies designed to limit or cut off access to food, sacred places, culture and language”(Land as Teacher, UNESCO). Land-based pedagogy contributes to “language and culture revitalization” and supports “local protocols, ceremonies, and cultural teachings” through “relation to the land” (LearninTheLand.ca). Mandi Reigh Elles (Métis) explains that “Indigenous stories, identity and worldviews are all tied to the land so our relationship with it means taking our responsibility of stewardship seriously” (Learning from the Land: Why Indigenous Land-based Pedagogy Matters).  

For additional information please consider:  

• Land as relation: Teaching and learning through place, people, and practices (2024)
• Learning from the land: Indigenous land based pedagogy and decolonization. Wildcat, M., McDonald, M., Irlbacher-Fox, S., & Coulthard, G. (2014).
• Coastal First Nations: Great Bear Initiative
• Medicine wheel for the planet  (2024)
• Introduction to land-based education, National Centre for Collaboration in Indigenous Education, 10 minutes.