Keeping the Seventh Fire: Developing an Undergraduate Degree Program for Aboriginal Adult Educators

Abstract

This article focuses on the actions currently underway in the development of a Bachelor of Education in Aboriginal Adult Education Degree program (ADED-AB) with the Aboriginal community located in southern Ontario in partnership with Brock University. This is a story of the Wildfire Circle and how the "First Principles of Aboriginal Adult Education" came to be and how they might act as a path to un­derstanding and anticipating the circumstances needed for successful learning experi­ences. This is also a story of the broader context of what Aboriginal adult education must be, and how Aboriginal education must begin, in order to have meaning, sub­ stance, and direction for future generations. Finally, this is the story of a spiritual enterprise that is both by its very existence a learning challenge to the prevailing postsecondary world view and a road map for the future.