Being an Indigenous student and future educator, the topic of decolonization is one that interests me. While digging around I have found two articles that have drawn my interest. The first being Writing home/decolonizing text(s), Nina Asher, Asher talks about how Colonization can affect an individual. For example the sense of home, and the overall understanding of home itself. Colonization has forced us to forget about our Indigenous history and all of the great things that it came with, like Indigenous teaching styles and the use of Indigenous knowledge. Asher then goes on about how we can change this and as educators teach in a way that is not from a colonial viewpoint.
The next article is from Tiffany Smith, Make Space for Indigeneity: Decolonizing Education, in her article she talks about how decolonization in education needs to be a whole system approach, and stresses the importance of creating an inclusive classroom for Indigenous students. Another thing that Smith really harped on was the importance of putting the student at the center of learning. In the past weeks we have been going over different curricular models and there are some that can benefit this topic.
As for my next steps I will begin to pull many different key ideas from different articles about this topic and come up with questions, ina n attempt to learn more about the topic and maybe even find different solutions to this problem.
References:
Asher, Nina, (2009), Writing home/decolonizing text(s), Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 30:1, 1-13, DOI: 10.1080/01596300802643033
Smith, T. (2016). Make space for indigeneity: Decolonizing education. SELU Research Review Journal, 1(2), 49-59.
Hello Ethan! This is a fascinating topic that you have chosen since this topic connects with you in some way. Although there were some grammatical mistakes, that is beside the point. I like the sources that you have chosen. I feel like they are suitable sources for your critical summary! Nice job!
I also agree that putting the student at the centre of learning is of great importance; I also feel we should use the students to guide what we teach (of course still find a way to cover the necessary outcomes). Perhaps it would be helpful if you left some resources that we could all view in a later blog post, or perhaps they are already in your website. I think drawing ideas from the curricular models in class will be a great way to draw connections in your learning!
I commend you for choosing a topic that draws out some of your own personal connections, hopefully this will make it easier for you to write and engage in your essay. My only piece of advice would be to narrow down your focus of your essay as well as watch out for spelling errors. Overall, I believe you’re going to write a very strong and informative essay. I hope you’re able to find some possible solutions for teachers to benefit those dealing with colonization and intergenerational trauma.