What’s your understanding of citizenship?
Citizenship, according to Joel Westheimer, is about improving the world and participating in the community. People who practice citizenship are those who also practice critical thinking, take part in society, know their politics, and are updated on current events. Moreover, Mike Capello describes citizenship as people who want change when needed, pay taxes, participate in voting, stand in an appropriate way during the national anthem, and are justice-oriented. My understanding of citizenship is something that every member of society should have. People who acknowledge the land that they are standing on and respect it are great citizens. Those who speak when something needs to change and encourage people to take part are also ones that we can call citizens. As we heard from both Westheimer and Capello, citizenship is somewhat of a trait that people of their designated country should have. Citizenship is what makes the world a better place. For instance, citizenship promotes collaboration among citizens which could turn into community projects. Practicing citizenship does not have to be by collaboration. Even just being a good citizen independently, where you respect your neighbours, your surroundings, and your community, is enough.
How can we relate Treaty Education to citizenship?
Joel Westheimer stated that schools are a great place to practice citizenship since students can be well-educated in civil affairs starting from a young age. This encourages students to practice citizenship so that when they graduate, they will be great members of society. However, Westheimer also stated that many people would argue that schools prepare students for jobs because of standardization. Even though Westheimer is not against standardization, he thinks it is being abused by schools. As for how we can relate Treaty Education to citizenship, we first have to acknowledge the land we are on. Mike Capello says that whenever we say the land acknowledgement, we should mean whatever we say. If we do not stand by our words, we are just promoting political correctness just to please people. Capello stated that to forward, we must go back. This means that before we can teach Treaty to students, we must acknowledge what happened no matter how painful it is. As Kumashiro said, uncomfortable learning is meaningful learning. Capello added that as a white person, he must acknowledge that the white history of Canada is genocidal while the First Nations were welcoming to them. Once we acknowledge these crucial points, we begin to put our money where our mouth is as we become more understanding. This is where we can relate Treaty Education to citizenship. Our goal is to make the world a better place. This starts with acknowledging our past and embracing it and using it as a tool to become knowledgeable, citizens of Canada.
Hi Jozelle,
I really liked when you said that citizenship is something which can be done independently, I have found that many people forget this and only act in ways which benefit the greater good when they are in a group or being reminded. It seems to me that citizenship is something which excludes certain groups from having the same rights as others, and even with citizenship many people are not given equal or equitable opportunities to participate fully in society. I loved the connection to Kumashiro at the end where he says that uncomfortable learning is meaningful learning, if we do not face the uncomfortable realities then we may never overcome them.