Breath and Learning

Learning in Native American tribes occurs through the understanding and use of breath in all its forms. "Breath - consciously formed and activated through language, thought, prayer, chanting, ritual, dance, sport, work, story, play, and art - comprised the parameters of communication in Tribal education" (Cajete, 1994, p. 43). Cajete outlines these forms of learning more clearly: "As a whole, traditional Tribal education revolved around

• experiential learning (learning by doing or seeing),
• storytelling (learning by listening and imagining),
• ritual/ceremony (learning through initiation),
• dreaming (learning through unconscious imagery),
• tutoring (learning through apprenticeship),
• and artistic creation (learning through creative synthesis)." (p. 34)

Consider these forms of learning as compared to the traditional Western forms of learning, probably the very forms of learning you experienced or are still experiencing in your schooling. If you are a teacher, reflect upon these forms as compared to your current teaching methods. Nowhere in that list does the main form of Western learning appear - there's no memorization, no testing, no standardized knowledge.

Now imagine an educational system that incorporates these forms of learning. For most of the above forms, we can picture ways to teach in that form (apprenticeships, better integration and recognition of the arts, and so on). While some of these forms are incorporated in some schools, they are peripheral forms at best. Estimate what degree of learning in your experience has been in one of the forms above. What degree would you have liked?