My response to the student email :
Hello student,
I am sorry to hear your Treaty Education lesson plans are not being taken seriously by the students and cooperating teachers. Because it seems the students do not have prior experiences with Treaty Ed, I would suggest you go back in the curriculum and target some of the earlier Treaty Ed outcomes and indicators to provide a foundation for these students. Dwayne Donald challenges us in his video to work backwards to sort the future and so if you have to work backwards to lay that foundation for your students that is what I recommend (2010). It is important to note the purpose of Treaty Education and First Nations, Metis and Inuit content is not in place for only Indigenous people, but all Canadians. Claire Kreuger notes in her videos, Treaty Ed is strongly “settler education” (2017). Even though there are few First Nations students in your specific school does not mean Treaty Education can be skipped. It is required in Saskatchewan’s curriculum, and because it is Canadian history as Canadian citizens, Treaty Education most definitely concerns them. Students deserve to be educated on whose land they are on, why the Treaties were put in place, why treaties are important, etc.
“We are all Treaty People” (Chambers 2012) because as Canadians we all live and uphold the treaties and regardless of our race. Donald also highlights teaching the relationship between Indigenous people and settlers rather than just giving students a timeline of events concerning Indigenous people. Try prompting questions such as, what role do we as treaty people play in maintaining relationships? Or, what does being a treaty person mean to you? Cynthia Chambers notes treaties are conversation starters, not stoppers so channelling this idea should help start your conversation (2012). Keep in mind this conversation is continual, do not think you can finish the conversation in your three-week term, but focus on starting it.
I hope my response has helped and best of luck in your future lessons.
Chambers, C. (2012) We are all Treaty People: the Contemporary Countenance of Canadian Curriculum Studies. Reconsidering Canadian Curriculum Studies. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RpFQAVShNlNLA9u6aXv7udGnzTGk5LNN/view
Donald, D. (2010) “On What Terms Can We Speak?”. ULethbridge Faculty of Education, University of Lethbridge. https://vimeo.com/15264558
Capello, M. and Kreuger, C. (2017). “ECS 210 8.2 – Claire Intro”: Introducing Treaty Education. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWY_X-ikmaw &feature=youtu.be
Hi Delaney,
Your response to the email is really well written. I appreciate that you acknowledge that the ignorance of the other teachers is likely because of not being informed. Your push to begin education with the foundations for both teachers and students is very wise. Furthermore, it is good that you recognize that Treaty Education is vital for all students, not just for Indigenous students or for when Indigenous students are present. Your list of questions at the end of your post is great as many teachers who do not have knowledge of the Treaties would not know what questions to ask. The only addition I would make would be to include a reference to the Treaty Education resource located on the Saskatchewan curriculum website. Otherwise, I would look back at this response myself, if I were confronted with co-workers who were hesitant to teach Treaty Education. Very well done.