These principles really focus on the complexity of learning. The two things that stand out the most to me from the First Peoples’ Principles of Learning are these: “Learning is holistic, reflexive, reflective, experiential, and relational (focused on connectedness, on reciprocal relationships, and a sense of place).” and “Learning involves patience and time.”. These two pieces show me the purpose and value of these principles. Learning needs to have multiple elements intertwined – learning through experience, observation, and collaboration. These are all elements that contribute to learning.

 

These are some notes/question responses I had on one principle:

Learning Involves Patience and Time

 

What stands out most to you? What resonates for you personally?

It takes a lot of time to become proficient in something (in sports, 10 000 hours to be an expert). The patience also includes perseverance because you have to keep going and spend the time it takes to get better. Patience can be difficult when there are time restrictions on you.

 

 

What do you see as having most potential for impact on schools or classroom practice? On your practice specifically?

Making sure there is flexibility in your schedule and learning so that there is time for learning to occur. You need to have patience to allow learning to occur over time. Patience and time is also connected to collaboration in the First People’s Principles. They understood that some learning needed to be by consensus, and that took patience and time so that everybody’s voice could be heard.

 

What questions do you have? What might you want to know more about? How might you go about next steps in your learning?

How do I practice and model showing patience for students to see? This is something that I think needs to be modeled over time – making sure students understand that you need to be patient with yourself.

 

The article I chose to include here was the placemat activity we did in class. I think activities like this are great ways to incorporate the First People’s Principles of Learning. It includes a level of collaboration, patience, and time to achieve desired results. When everyone has to come together and make decisions on what to include, patience can become a very key element, especially if it is a highly debated topic.