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The First Thunderclap of Spring: an Invitation into Aboriginal Ways of Knowing and the Creative Possibilities of Digital Technologies



In this chapter, we explore some of the affinities that can be developed between new information and communication technologies and what has become known as aboriginal ways of knowing. This work documents some of these affinities via the collaborative development of an online project entitled “Nitsitapiisini—Stories and Spaces: Exploring Kainai Plants and Culture,” conducted with teachers, students, and elders of the Blood Tribe in southern Alberta. The pedagogy of this collaboration is then linked to rethinking the disciplines ofknowledge entrusted to teachers and students in schools as living disciplines that make demands on the possibilities inherent in new technologies. This particular orientation tubs against instructionist practices found in many classrooms yet, once awakened, spawns curiosity and creativity.

Friesen, S., Jardine, D., & Gladstone, B. (2011). The First Thunderclap of Spring: an Invitation into Aboriginal Ways of Knowing and the Creative Possibilities of Digital Technologies. in Craig, C.J., & Deretchin, L.F. (ED.) Cultivating Curious and Creative Minds: The Role of Teachers and Teacher Educators: Part II Teacher Education Yearbook XIX. Lanham, Maryland: Rowan & Littlefield Education. Available Online http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01626620.2011.10519481