Halber Suarez, Tania2014-09-182014-09-1820122014-09-18http://hdl.handle.net/1828/5689This study examines transformative learning in the context of an annual First Nations journey in traditional cedar dugout canoes tracing ancestral trading routes between Western Washington and British Columbia. Transformative learning is a shift or change in perspective of self, life, and the world. The goal was: to illuminate the role of Indigenous cultures in facilitating transformative learning for Indigenous and non-Indigenous learners; to contribute to the development of transformative learning theory; to provide research that contributes convergent solutions to global issues and the development of interdisciplinary methodology, integrating Western and Indigenous worldviews; and to construct an integrated transformative program for participants to ensure that the results benefit them. To achieve these goals, an Integrated Voice Approach (IVA) was applied, piecing together different techniques, tools, methods, representations and interpretations to construct a multi-faceted reality. The IVA is constructed through the use of five “voices” strengthened by building on each other: Indigenous Voice, Grounded Theory Voice, Auto-ethnographic Voice, Ethno-ecological Voice, and Integrative Voice, harmonizing the previous four voices. Demonstrated here are an integration of interviews, researcher field notes, participation, observations and photographs, revealing that transformative learning in this context is dependent on the cultural landscape, cultural memory and somatic and embodied knowing, enacted in a repeating cycle of paddling, circling, dancing, singing, storytelling and drumming. The components of this learning process are measured through mental, emotional, spiritual and physical indicators and draw on traditional ecological knowledge and wisdom. The study develops guiding principles to provide a foundation for future curriculum development for transformative learning.enIndigenous StudiesEthnoecologyConciousness changeTribal JourneysTransformative learningIntegrated Voice ApproachIndigenous Transformational Learning LandscapeAdult educationThesisAvailable to the World Wide WebHalber, T. (2009). Indigenous Teaching & Learning About Transformation. Presented July 2009 at the UNESCO International Sustainable Development Conference, Havana, Cuba. Conference Proceedings.Halber, T. (2006). (Re)Constructing La Guerrilera Tania: The Making of Cuban Women’s Transformational Identities. Presented July 2006 at the Philosophy and Social Sciences Conference in Havana, Cuba. Conference Proceedings.Halber, T. (2003). Ancient Temperate Rainforest and the Carmanah Giant: A Case Study of Transformation. Published online by the European Public Relations Education and Research Association. http://euprera.eprn.org/forum/forum_ Organizer.asp (no longer available online).Halber, T. (1998). British Columbia Buildings Corporation Facts Book. Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Department. 6th Reprint.