







































Emerging Perspectives 
ep.journalhosting.ucalgary.ca 
 
 

 

 

*Corresponding author - m.mildenberger@ucalgary.ca 

 

Book Review / Recension d’ouvrage 

Teaching Each Other: Nehinuw Concepts & Indigenous Pedagogies 
 

by Linda M. Goulet and Keith N. Goulet 

Vancouver, BC: UBC Press, 2014, 248 pages 

ISBN: 978-0-7748-2758-4 (paperback) 

 

Reviewed by/ Revu par 

 

Marion Mildenberger*  

University of Calgary 

 

Mildenberger, M. (2019). [Review of the book Teaching each other: Nehinuw 

concepts & Indigenous pedagogies, by Linda M. Goulet and Keith N. Goulet]. 

Emerging Perspectives, 3(2), 42-44. 

 

Attention to Indigenous education has become more prevalent in Canada, especially since 

the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was created in 2008. As a Canadian with European 

heritage, I was ignorant of the hardship and disturbing abuse experienced by Indigenous 

populations because of the Residential School system, until the Commission released its 

findings. I had studied the history of Canada in school, including a summary of the Riel 

Rebellion, but the repercussions of the negative influence of colonization were never 

completely clear to me. After all, throughout all of history, it is rare for the group in power to 

openly discuss the negative actions that they have used to build that power.  

So, when I picked up Teaching Each Other by Linda and Keith Goulet, I came to the 

reading with a lot of questions. Why is there such a large population of young Indigenous 

people who do not finish high school? What are the challenges that this group faces, and why 

have we not been able to address them? We are now at the precipice of significant social change 

in our society, and the Goulets provide insight on these and many other questions from both an 

Indigenous and European perspective. Their method of blending storytelling with theory and 

practice creates a voice in this book that turns educational theory into a page-turner. I found 

myself spending hours with this book, re-reading the theories and the teaching framework as 

presented – something which does not often happen for a book meant to inform teacher training.  

Keith and Linda Goulet are a Nehinuw (Cree) policy maker and a Euro-Canadian teacher 

husband-and-wife team based in Saskatchewan. The duality of their perspectives lends itself 

well to the writing style of the book, which discusses teaching methods from both world views 

and how they can contribute to the other’s knowledge. Instead of emphasizing the “otherness” 

of Indigenous learners, the authors discuss the values of the Nehinuw and how their methods 

of imparting knowledge within their culture can be used to make learning accessible for all 

learners. The book explores the factors contributing to the challenges that Indigenous students 

may experience within the Euro-centric education system, and by identifying these colonial 



Mildenberger / Emerging Perspectives (2018) 42-44  43 
 

prejudices within that system, the authors begin to break down the cultural hurdles standing in 

the way of Indigenous students’ success.  

The book’s introduction gives an overview of the history of Indigenous education in 

Canada, addressing the deficiencies evident in Indigenous education articulated in the research 

since 1970. At the heart of these deficiencies is a lack of understanding of Indigenous culture, 

epistemology, and teaching practices on the part of the Euro-Canadian education leaders. To 

provide culturally-relevant teaching, one must be aware of the culture itself. Indigenous culture 

has been repressed throughout the Canadian curriculum, where it is usually presented as ancient 

history and no longer relevant in today’s world. In fact, Indigenous culture is alive and well, 

and the teaching methods that respect these ways of teaching will make the learning more 

relevant to Indigenous learners. 

Indigenous ways of knowing are threaded throughout the book, which is written in a 

narrative voice centred on relationships—among children, their families, friends, and Elders. 

As the authors describe, Elders are key members of Indigenous society who hold the cultural 

knowledge and values of that society (p. 18). This historical knowledge builds the base for the 

authors’ “Model of Effective Teaching,” which highlights the cyclical nature and 

interconnectedness of the learner, their teacher, and their environment for developing 

successful Indigenous learners. Contrary to the European model, where the teacher is the holder 

of knowledge and doles out this knowledge in parcels for the students to understand, 

Indigenous ways of knowing are learner-centred and encourage exploration, self-awareness, 

and interconnectedness with the community (p. 20). Elder Ken Goodwill of the Nakoda, as 

quoted by the authors, saw human development “as learning about your place in this world— 

finding out who you are in relation to the world, discovering the gifts that you have, developing 

those gifts to make your contribution to the world, and assuming the responsibility for the use 

of those gifts” (pp. 77-78). It is this repeated method of discovering that forms the foundation 

of the authors’ teaching framework.  

After addressing the overarching social and cultural basis for current stresses on 

Indigenous learners, the authors delve into their framework through an exploration of Nehinuw 

cultural values. These values are introduced by their Nehinuw names and the authors make a 

different foreign language accessible by incorporating a bit of linguistic background for the 

Cree words. This method of introduction not only makes the words more relevant to the reader, 

but also points out how important it is to use the words in their original form to fully understand 

their meaning and connection to the culture—another key theme in this book.  

The model is based on four major values: helping and supporting relationships, working 

together, connecting to the learning process, and connecting to the content. Once the 

framework is presented in chapter four, the authors use the next four chapters to explore each 

value in depth. The presentation of the information draws the reader in by connecting them to 

the content, through stories from teachers currently working with Indigenous learners. Finally, 

the last two chapters pave the way into the future, discussing how this method of teaching 

spreads outside of the classroom, and how it is driving further innovation in Indigenous 

education.  

With the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission now formally 

presented and being incorporated into future educational strategy, Teaching Each Other should 

be made required reading for teacher education programs across the country. The insights of 

this book give a valuable window into Cree culture and the traditional ways of understanding 

the world. These values are not only valuable for Indigenous classrooms, but will be useful in 

any classroom where multiple cultures exist. After all, the ability to identify individual gifts 

and hone the skills to use those gifts in the world is something that every student should learn 

to do.  



Mildenberger / Emerging Perspectives (2018) 42-44  44 
 

References 

Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN). (2002, February). A research report on 

the schooling, workforce and income status of First Nations persons in Saskatchewan. 

Regina, SN: Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations.  

Goulet, L. & Goulet, K. (2014). Teaching each other: Nehinuw concepts & Indigenous  

pedagogies. Vancouver: UBC Press.  

 

 

 

 


