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Lesson 4 of 5
  • Year 10

Indigenous worldviews and personhood

I can describe how indigenous worldviews interpret ideas of personhood and the natural world.

Lesson 4 of 5
New
New
  • Year 10

Indigenous worldviews and personhood

I can describe how indigenous worldviews interpret ideas of personhood and the natural world.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Indigenous worldviews are from cultures that are native to places that existed before colonisation by Europe.
  2. Indigenous worldviews emphasise the connectedness of the natural world rather than humans as a separate part of it.
  3. Some indigenous worldviews see forests, mountains and rivers as beings in their own right.
  4. We can better understand worldviews by noticing and asking questions about how people reason about personhood.

Keywords

  • Personhood - state or fact of being considered a person such as having awareness or conciousness

  • Interconnected - different parts or things connected or related to each other

  • Gift - something that is freely given which creates a responsibility to be shared

  • Indigenous - from a particular place or culture that lived prior to European colonisation

Common misconception

Indigenous worldviews are all exactly the same.

There are different worldviews but they share common features such as regard for nature and the interconnection between humans and the natural world.


To help you plan your year 10 religious education lesson on: Indigenous worldviews and personhood, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Find examples of modern indigenous artwork to show students to explore the idea of interconnection. Jeanette Anderson's book 'Sharing one skin' and Robin Wall Kimmerer's 'Braiding Sweetgrass' or 'The Serviceberry' contain more detail on their worldviews. Look for videos of them speaking to show.
Teacher tip

Equipment

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2026), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Prior knowledge starter quiz

5 Questions

Q1.
Consciousness involves being of thoughts and surroundings.

Correct Answer: aware, Aware

Q2.
People who think animals are conscious point to:

Weather patterns
Correct answer: Complex behaviours
Genetic engineering

Q3.
Critics say complex animal behaviours may be learned or...

Correct Answer: biological, Biological

Q4.
Sentience means the ability to feel pain or...

Correct Answer: pleasure, Pleasure

Q5.
What does Peter Singer argue should guide moral decisions?

Intelligence
Human superiority
Correct answer: Sentience and suffering

Assessment exit quiz

5 Questions

Q1.
Match each keyword to its meaning:

Correct Answer:Personhood,a state or fact of being considered a person

a state or fact of being considered a person

Correct Answer:Interconnected,different parts connected or related to each other

different parts connected or related to each other

Correct Answer:Gift,something that is freely given

something that is freely given

Correct Answer:Indigenous,from a place or culture that lived prior to European colonisation

from a place or culture that lived prior to European colonisation

Q2.
Indigenous worldviews come from peoples to particular places.

Correct Answer: native, Native

Q3.
What do indigenous perspectives often view humans as?

Isolated from nature
Correct answer: Part of a larger natural system
Unrelated to the environment

Q4.
Some Indigenous worldviews see rivers and mountains as with their own agency.

Correct Answer: beings, Beings

Q5.
Asking questions about personhood helps us understand:

Weather patterns
Correct answer: Cultural values and reasoning
Economic data