Abstract
This is a summary report of the Aboriginal content of the Language and Culture theme at the Canadian Public Health Association’s Second Canadian Conference on Literacy and Health. Our key premise is that Indigenous conceptualizations of literacy need to build on Indigenous understandings and perspectives. We support this premise through a review of the relevant literature in the disciplines of Aboriginal literacy, Indigenous education, health literacy, health promotion, and knowledge translation and our synthesis of the presentations, workshops, and discussions at the meeting. Key emergent themes include: the unique and culturally determined ways in which Aboriginal peoples and their languages conceptualize learning, education, and health; and the recognition that self-determination of language and learning are human rights. Aboriginal concepts of and approaches to literacy naturally link to and overlap with Aboriginal concepts of and approaches to health. The paper includes an overview of gaps in the field and an example of the way that research and practice can be brought together in the context of one First Nations community.
Electronic Supplementary Material
Supplementary material is available for this article at 10.1007/BF03405369 and is accessible for authorized users.
MeSH terms: Aboriginal, culture, health, indigenous, literacy
Résumé
Voici un rapport sommaire relativement au contenu autochtone du thème de la langue et de la culture de la Deuxième conférence canadienne sur l’alphabétisation et la santé de l’Association canadienne de santé publique. Notre prémisse clé est que les conceptualisations indigènes en alphabétisation doivent reposer sur des compréhensions et des perspectives indigènes. Nous appuyons cette prémisse au moyen d’un examen de la documentation pertinente portant sur les disciplines de l’alphabétisation des Autochtones, de l’éducation des peuples indigènes, de l’alphabétisation dans le domaine de la santé, de la promotion de la santé et de l’application des connaissances, et grâce à une synthèse des présentations, des ateliers et des discussions de la réunion. Les thèmes clés qui en émergent comprennent les moyens uniques et déterminés sur le plan culturel selon lesquels les Autochtones et leurs langues conceptualisent l’apprentissage, l’éducation et la santé, ainsi que la reconnaissance du fait que l’autodétermination de la langue et l’apprentissage constituent des droits de la personne. Les concepts et les approches des Autochtones en ce qui concerne l’alphabétisation sont naturellement liés et se confondent aux concepts et aux approches qui leur sont propres dans le domaine de la santé. Le document comprend un aperçu des lacunes dans le domaine et présente un exemple relativement à la manière de réunir la recherche et la pratique dans le contexte d’une collectivité des Premières nations.
Mots clés: Autochtone, culture, santé, indigène, alphabétisation
French language version/Version en Français
Alphabétisation fondée sur la culture et santé des Autochtones
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