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Report: Redefining how success is measured in First Nations, Inuit and Métis Learning

Canadian Council on Learning's most recent report - Redefining how success is measured in First Nations, Inuit and Métis Learning - reflects the experiences I had as an instructor at Red River College. Different learners have different learning needs. No where is this more evident in our school systems than with learners who are not integrated (and may not wish to be) within the socio-cultural institutions and traditions of western society. The report paints a depressing picture of the dire current state (see p. 8 - 12 on statistics of poverty, school readiness, high school completion rates) but builds hope as it progresses. Three holistic models of learning are explored, each intended as a reflection of the needs of a particular Aboriginal culture. While education's failure may be more acute in certain segments of society, the shortcomings are evident everywhere. The remedies suggested appear to apply broadly to all learners: consider a few of the attributes of Aboriginal Learning (p. 5): learning is holistic, lifelong, experiential, etc. I'm curious as to how some of these points are unique from any other type of "good learning"? I guess the questions I'm asking are: do certain segments of society need different teaching/learning models? Or do we need to conceive a model of teaching/learning that is flexible enough to meet the needs of all learners? Is our education system currently only ineffective for certain types of learners? Or are we failing more broadly?