When I heard that, as a part of the new teaching program at the University of Victoria, I would be required to take EDCI 373: Indigenous Education, I was really excited. I was truly inspired and anxious to get started. I felt honoured to be a part of the first University that encouraged and promoted Indigenous Education. Back in September, I didn’t have a very broad knowledge base about Indigenous peoples nor did I understand a lot of the issues and complexities of the Indigenous way of life. It is now December and I feel like I have learned a lot. I sincerely believe that the experience I had in EDCI 373: Indigenous Education will follow me and enrich my teaching when I enter the profession.
I came into this course with an open mind. I was very eager to learn. Most of my curiosity came from my current surroundings. I moved to Victoria five years ago from Toronto – a city that is very out of touch with its Indigenous population. When I came to BC, I was stunned and shocked. There was respect, acknowledgment and appreciation of the Indigenous peoples living here that was absent in Toronto. Prior to this course, all of the Indigenous knowledge I had was based on grade 8 social studies and History 131: Canada to Confederation. We were taught the bare minimum and most of it was from one perspective. It was refreshing and interesting to see the other side of things; to dig deeper and finally understand several aspects of Indigenous life.
For our seminar, we looked at Jo-Ann Archibald’s chapter, “The Power of Stories to Educate the Heart.” The article was all about storytelling and the ancient oral tradition of storytelling. The article itself provides readers with historical background, key facts, important issues, and recurring themes when it comes to the oral tradition of storytelling. I really like the idea that stories are more than words and text. Stories really have the power to heal and teach. There are morals and themes and an intricate web of understanding and appreciation that comes from reading a simple tale. There is an energy and a strength that is transmitted from the storyteller to the listener. Stories challenge us to think, use our imaginations, and examine our emotional reactions; they are informative and force us to reflect on our behavior and future actions. They give us a chance to gain an appreciation for our spiritual nature. We give them life by creating connections and being engaged in the story. I also really like the fact that storytelling is a common tradition among many cultures. It is a tradition that is cross-cultural – something that we have in common. Stories do not discriminate; nor are they exclusive. It’s common ground and a piece of heritage that we share no matter the colour of our skin, religion we practice, or cultural belief system we belong to.
To educate our colleagues about storytelling and its implications we began our seminar with a game of broken telephone. We came up with a sentence and it was passed along the circle. By the end of the circle, the sentence was so mangled that it reinforced the idea that stories and oral storytelling is a delicate process and needs to be understood and taken seriously. We then had guest speaker, Resident Elder Joyce Underwood come in and tell us a story We simply asked her to come share a story and without hesitation she came into our classroom and told us a story about perseverance and self-growth. The inspirational story she told us was deep and meaningful and I’m sure that it touched us all in a different way.
I really liked the idea of using stories to teach important moral and life-long lessons. I loved the idea of integrating stories and storytelling into the classroom; it would be really easy to bring this significant aspect of Indigenous practice into both my teaching areas: English and Social Studies. There’s an entire unit in English that looks at short stories – this would be where many of the publicly accessible stories could be used. I could even bring in guest speakers to tell stories or take the students to a traditional storytelling event at a local reservation. By bringing to life some of the stories from different Indigenous cultures, I would be providing my students with a different perspective and expand their breadth of knowledge and understanding. In social studies we look at Indigenous peoples primarily from a European perspective; it would be refreshing and extremely helpful to the students if they could immerse themselves in the culture and objectively understand the histories of both sides. Using stories would be an easy way to immerse the students in the culture and have them really understand a lot of where Indigenous beliefs come from.
It has honestly been a real privilege learning about the different cultures within the Indigenous community. I just wish that we could have learned more. The University of Victoria seems extremely committed to making the environment more welcoming to Indigenous peoples; as well as to help and provide resources for language revitalization; and finally to educate both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students in Indigenous ways of knowing and being. It is important for us, as prospective teachers, to be aware of the history and culture that is presented in our classrooms. We must provide our students with the opportunity to engage and fully understand the Indigenous ways of life. We must be sensitive and understanding, accommodating and fair, respectful and compassionate especially when tackling and addressing the controversial issues that surround Indigenous peoples. Students today are bombarded with information. They soak this information up like a sponge in a bucket of water. They are so impressionable that we, as teachers, must be careful how we address certain issues. As teachers we light the way for our students. We hold their future in our hands and if we are not careful we may be just as damaging as the teachers before us. I’m so glad that this course has opened my eyes and given me a new outlook and perspective.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Saturday, December 4, 2010
No Pressure
This past Thursday I went to see the documentary film, "Waiting for Superman." I found this film to be extremely moving and powerful. As a future teacher I left the film feeling a lot of pressure, but I also felt a sense of hope. In short, this documentary film examines the failures of the American public education system by following the lives of five students who are negatively affected by this system. Each of the five students are extremely bright, smart, and have that thirst for knowledge that, as teachers, we can only hope our students will have. Unfortunately, they are currently in schools that are failing them - these schools are referred to as "drop-out factories" or "academic sinkholes" which in itself is a scary thought. Rather than celebrating and supporting these students' achievement the education system has decided their fate based on the neighborhood they live in, the school system they belong to, and the teachers that teach them. Because of poverty and the unfortunate circumstances that these students find themselves in, they are placed on tracks which dictate their future. This future usually involves teen pregnancy, drugs, jail, and/or death. I won't divulge any more because I want YOU to go see it.
I highly recommend this movie for everyone. As teachers we light the way for our students. We hold their future in our hands - no pressure.
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