Focus Question 1: Teachers, Knowledge, Building Relationships: Invitation and Hospitality
Throughout my educational experiences, my teachers honored different ways of knowing and doing by not only teaching us the material, but by giving us the opportunity to gain firsthand experience on some of the important topics covered in class in order to help further our understanding. My teachers focused on a lot of group work and class discussions, which gave us as students the opportunity to gain insight on our classmates’ opinions, ideas, and thought processes. The most beneficial way my teachers honored different ways of knowing and doing was when they provided us with all of the knowledge and information we needed to know so that we could form our own opinions on a topic, rather than telling us how we should think and believe based on their own personal bias. My teachers built a sense of community in the classroom by giving us the opportunity to learn about each other; for example, all throughout high school my teachers would assign projects and presentations throughout the year that allowed us to share our culture, family traditions, values, and our backgrounds with our classmates. Teachers can build hospitable and invitational environments and relationships with all students by respecting each child’s culture, ideas, values, and beliefs. Students learn best when they are in a safe environment which can only take place when every student feels that they are welcome, heard, and respected in the classroom.
Focus Question 2: Students & Learning Environment: Focus on places, spaces, and boundaries
Throughout my educational experiences my learning environment has never been consistent. Each learning environment had two things in common; the seating plan was always created strategically, and the teacher always had his/her desk in the back corner of the classroom, which was a major indicator of the power relationships seen within the classroom. It was evident to every student that the teachers’ favorite students were seated in the front of the classroom, those who were not engaged in discussions were seated in the middle of the room, and the students who were often in trouble were placed in the back row near the educational assistant. This learning environment divided the classroom, as the children in the front row thought that they were superior to the children in the back row. In elementary school the learning environment provided us as students opportunities to engage with everyone in the classroom because the seating plan changed every three months; however, in high school we were not given opportunities to engage with everyone as we were only assigned group work and discussions with the people around us and the seating arrangement remained consistent all year round. Teachers could make classroom spaces more relational by randomizing the seating chart, organizing the desks in groupings or a semicircle, and switching up the seating plan several times a year so that students have a chance to engage with all their classmates.
Focus Question 3: Truth & Reconciliation
I believe that I have been poorly educated on Indigenous history in Canada throughout kindergarten to grade twelve. Due to this, a vast majority of my knowledge about Indigenous history in Canada was taught to me by my parents. Over the past three years, my dad and I have started watching documentaries and reading stories of residential school survivors as a way of educating ourselves on Indigenous history in Canada. This summer I read 7 Generations by David Robertson, which not only taught me about residential schools but rather all aspects of Indigenous history in Canada (Robertson & Henderson, 2010). The most important piece of knowledge that I gathered from this book was the impact residential schools had on the survivors and how it continues to affect future generations (Robertson & Henderson, 2010). The Truth and Reconciliation booklet educates Canadians on the negative impacts that have occurred with the colonization of Indigenous peoples, how we can work towards reconciliation, and we need to educate ourselves on Indigenous history. The message that resonated with me the most was that as a society we need to look at the past, present, and future in a different perspective in order to have reconciliation (Truth and Reconciliation, 5). As a future educator and Canadian citizen, I need to learn more about how I can be an active participant in working towards reconciliation.