Circles and Learning

The myth is the ultimate in concentric circles in indigenous cultures because it contains multiple layers of meaning that get added through the generations and because it reflects processes and natural relationships. Furthermore, layers of meaning may be added to a myth as that myth gets taught to an individual at different points in the individual's life. As one ages, he or she is taught yet another layer to a myth, thus these concentric rings also represent the teaching and learning process within indigenous cultures.

Cajete states, "Every myth has its concentric rings of meaning and is told and retold in this way. The telling of a myth begins with a simple version for children, then moves to a slightly more complicated version for adolescents, to a deeper version for initiates, and to a still deeper version for the fully mature" (p. 29).

We can learn much about the teaching and learning process from this seemingly simple symbol, especially about the teaching and learning process for adults. If we understand teaching and learning through this indigenous symbol, then adult education becomes a far richer endeavor. The more mature learner is ready to digest a more complex version.

Would you teach math to an adult the same way a third grader gets taught her times tables? If your answer is yes, I would challenge that answer. Why keep the teaching simple when the adult mind is capable of deeper understanding? If your answer is yes, consider what the difference is in the strategies you would use.

Or perhaps we should move this out of age-defined maturity and consider concentric rings in conjunction with the novice-to-expert continuum. Perhaps your novice learner is an adult but someone new to the material or content. When teaching this novice learner, you probably would want to stick with the simplest levels of meaning and then add layers of learning as that individual progressed.

Not only does teaching follow this process of increasing the layers, but learning in any setting follows this process. As a person pursues learning in their own form and context, they probably start with the simplest level of understanding and grow in their understanding as they add layers of new knowledge and new experiences. Consider the person who switches from a music career to a computer programming career. As that person first learns the programming languages, he is mostly learning the syntax of the languages. Over time, however, he will develop a distinction between the languages and which projects are better tackled with which language. Eventually, he may even develop a philosophy of design and programming much as an artist eventually develops a personal philosophy that drives every design.

Cajete states that indigenous education "recognizes and incorporates the principle of cycles within cycles (there are deeper levels of meaning to be found in every learning/teaching process)" and that it "presents something for everyone to learn, at every stage of life . . . it recognizes the levels of maturity and readiness to learn in the developmental processes . . . [which is] incorporated into the designs and situations in which Indigenous teaching takes place" (p. 29).