A missing link Lynda A. Curwen Doige [citation] : between traditional Aboriginal education and the western system of education /

This article continues the ongoing discussion of culturally appropriate education for Aboriginal students and focuses on students' spirituality as the missing ingredient that makes traditional aboriginal education and the Western system of education compatible. Spirituality unites the human part of all of us and permits the differences to exist; through our spirituality we find our connectedness to one another. The counsel of Aboriginal educators must be heeded if Aboriginal education is to become spiritually grounded and thus culturally appropriate. They hold the answers to what more we need to know about the role of spirituality in learning and education. This article examines spirituality in learning and education from three perspectives: (a) Aboriginal epistemology to discover the foundation for spirituality in learning; (b) Aboriginal educators' knowledge to understand the implications for teachers and their pedagogy; and (c) students' comments to see how they experience spirituality in a university course for beginning teachers.