Subject: Aboriginal Peoples' Conception of Lifelong Learning as a "System"

Posted by Eric Milligan on 1/8/2010

Message:

This is a bit off-track from the usual technically-oriented content of the Listserv, but I thought members might be interested in hearing about, and seeing, a recent activity in which a systems thinking approach was used to help articulate three different conceptions by aboriginal peoples in Canada of how lifelong learning works to influence the well-being of a community and how the well-being influences the various processes of lifelong learning.

The Canadian Council on Learning worked with First Nations (North American Indians), Inuit, and Métis peoples to develop frameworks for measuring and reporting on progress in lifelong learning. In Canada, the formal educational attainment of aboriginal peoples has been, and continues to be, significantly less than the non-aboriginal population. Although the gap is closing, the rate of closure is not considered to be acceptable and there are concerns among some that progress may not be sustainable.

Recognizing that aboriginal peoples will have uniquely different conceptions of how learning occurs, what kinds of knowledge are important, and what the consequences are of growth or decline in the state of various types of knowledge, the Council decided that measurement frameworks should be developed by, and reflect the "mental models" of, the three aboriginal groups. The Council also wanted the frameworks to be developed using visual thinking methods and to be presented in a graphical form.

The resulting three products turned out to be systems models, although they might not be recognizable as such at first glance. Although each framework is quite different graphically, they all incorporate elements that articulate causal linkages and feedback structures. The models can be used to address the impact of both material and information delays as well the dynamic behaviour of all the depicted elements in the system, albeit in a general sense as the rigour of formal SD modeling is not present.

The three models were produced in pdf and in hard copy format, but the primary use has been as graphical navigation interfaces for 3 aboriginal Lifelong Learning portals hosted on the Canadian on Learning website. Each model provides a unique conceptual framework for a repository of performance-related information on learning processes and outcomes for the relevant aboriginal people. The idea is that by accessing the data through a coherent "theory" as depicted in the visual model, the information will not be viewed simply as a disconnected factoids arrayed as a laundry list but will be seen, and will take meaning, within the context of the larger picture.

Single clicks on areas of the model bring up explanations of the various elements within it. Doubleclicks take you into the underlying database-driven performance reporting framework. Currently, there are many areas of the framework for which no data is a available, apparently because the necessary research to generate the information has not yet been carried out. One advantage of using an explicit model as the framework for information retrieval is that gaps in information (the basis for "evidence-based policy design") become very apparent. And, if a component of the system is important enough to the people to warrant inclusion in the model, then not having information about what's happening in the real world should be a matter of concern and should help focus future research efforts. At least, that's the hope.

The Métis Lifelong Learning Portal is at: http://cli.ccl-cca.ca/Metis/index.php?q=home

The First Nations Lifelong Learning Portal is at: http://cli.ccl-cca.ca/FN/index.php?q=home&l=en

The Inuit Lifelong Learning Portal is at: http://cli.ccl-cca.ca/Inuit/index.php?q=home

There is a link at the bottom of those pages if you wish to download a pdf version of the models. The Inuit model is available in both English and Inuktituk for those of you that are bilingual! :)


Eric Milligan
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Follow Ups:

Aboriginal Peoples' Conception of Lifelong Learning as a - Bob Gorman 1/9/2010 
Aboriginal Peoples' Conception of Lifelong Learning as a - Bill Rathborne 1/9/2010
Aboriginal Peoples' Conception of Lifelong Learning as a - Eric Milligan 1/10/2010
Aboriginal Peoples' Conception of Lifelong Learning as a - Kathy Arizmendi 1/8/2010