The Teaching & Learning team is grateful to have received support from YukonU’s Scholarly Activity Grants (SAG) program for a scholarly project titled “Learning Outcome Inventory and Holistic Learning Analysis at Yukon University.” This funding will allow us to hire and partner with a student researcher, along with other YukonU colleagues, to create “a searchable dataset of YukonU’s Learning Outcomes, an institutional overview of how holistic learning is currently reflected, and actionable insights to support program review, curriculum development, and strategic planning aligned with YukonU’s reconciliation framework.”
From our SAG application:
This project will create a baseline inventory of all course and program Learning Outcomes at Yukon University to better understand how holistic learning is reflected across the institution. Learning outcomes are the most consistent and accountable record of what we say students will learn—they are formally reviewed and approved through Faculty Council, CPRC, and Senate and cannot be changed without governance oversight. By analyzing these outcomes, we can begin to assess whether and how YukonU is supporting holistic approaches to learning that reflect our institutional values.
This research will generate a foundational dataset that can be used to identify patterns and gaps across departments and programs and may offer insight into how learning outcomes align with YukonU’s commitment to reconciliation. It will help us ask important questions: Are we valuing the whole learner—mind, body, spirit, and heart—in what we ask students to achieve? Are we creating space for multiple ways of knowing, doing, and being?
Ultimately, this work supports YukonU’s larger efforts to embed reconciliation and holistic learning across our academic practices. The findings will inform conversations about curriculum development and will provide a valuable resource for faculty, staff, and students working toward a more inclusive and holistic post-secondary environment.
On Holistic Learning:
The First People’s Principles of Learning state that “Learning is holistic, reflexive, reflective, experiential and relational (focused on connectedness, on reciprocal relationships, and a sense of place).” (FNESC, 2006/2007) The Canadian Council on Learning (CCL) also identified holism as a key and shared element among approaches to learning in First Nations, Inuit and Metis cultures and developed three holistic lifelong learning models to reflect the views of each of those groups. Rita Bouvier, Marie Battiste, and Jarett Laughlin summarized the work of the CCL to create a concise description of holistic learning: ”Learning engages and develops all aspects of the individual (emotional, physical, spiritual, and intellectual), the community (cultural, social, economic, and political spheres), and stresses the interconnectedness of all life.“ (Bouvier, Battiste, Laughlin, 2016)
References:
1. First Nations Education Steering Committee (FNESC), ”First Peoples Principles of Learning” (2006/2007) https://www.fnesc.ca/first-peoples-principles-of-learning/
2. Canadian Council on Learning. “Redefining how success is measured in First Nations.” Inuit and Métis learning, Report on learning in Canada (2007). https://education.afn.ca/afntoolkit/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/5._2007_redefining_how_success_is_measured_en.pdf
3. Bouvier, R., M. Battiste and J. Laughlin. “Centering Indigenous intellectual traditions on holistic lifelong learning.” Indigenous perspectives on education for well-being in Canada (2016): 21-40. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319177713_Centring_Indigenous_intellectual_Traditions_on_holistic_lifelong_learning
Partners and funders
YukonU Scholarly Activity Grant