Throughout my educational years, all my teachers honoured the ways of knowing and doing in the classroom in many ways. My experience through elementary school was based on the Iceberg model that Professor Fatima explained. In elementary school, my learning was based on the western ways of thinking, living, and doing. Although in high school it slowly started to change and incorporate more than just one way of life. In a world that is very culturally diverse, I believe not only is it important to learn about your own history and cultural background but everyone else’s. If teachers and individuals were more accepting of all cultures it would change individuals’ perspective on the way of life. Along with changing the way of teaching, learning, and how assignments are being completed. Teachers building a sense of community never seemed to be a struggle in my years of education. Every teacher had their ways within the classroom of building this connection. All my teachers would say “treat others the way you wanted to be treated” but that does mean look at everyone the same since we are all quite different. I have had teachers make group or individual competitions within the classroom to build a sense of community by allowing individuals to work hard not only within the classroom but also at home. This allows classmates to encourage one another to all work and grow together. My teachers always worked hard to make sure it was a safe environment for all students. I built a sense of community when my teachers would acknowledge that we are all different in a unique way. That allowed me and other individuals to gain a sense of acceptance no matter our skin colour, body size or shape, or what we wore. The visual appearance had a big effect on the hospitable and invitational environment. Many of my teachers always developed a bright and cheerful welcoming learning environment. These spaces included posters on the walls, bulletin boards decorated, alternative seating like back tables or wiggly chairs. As a teacher, it is particularly important to meet the needs of all students. By adapting to the student’s needs, students will become more invested in their work and express better attitudes towards themselves and their classmates.
My learning environment changed as the years went on. In elementary, the classrooms had the basic set up as Professor Fatima explained. Desk in rows with teachers’ desks in the front of class beside the whiteboards, and some had a round table at the back. The setup was a typical classroom. What made classrooms unique was the visual appearance, which determined the feeling they gave off. Some of my classes showed relationships more than others. Many of my classroom’s had back tables or a reading carpet in the younger grades that provided opportunities to build relationships, along with incorporating lots of group work. In high school, more interactions occurred since many of my classes had tables that sat either two or four students and no assigned seating arrangements, and the teacher’s desk varied where it was placed. I felt more comfortable within classrooms that had places to interact with individuals. When given the opportunity to have table or desk partners it allowed me to build friendships and relationships. In my classes throughout all grade’s boundaries were important. Boundaries were a way of respecting individuals’ personal space and belongings. Some boundaries within my classes were; certain times to contact the teachers, avoiding to share or ask for personal information from the students, having to give out photo consent, teachers giving us privacy in the change rooms and bathrooms and much more. Having boundaries within a classroom and around the school allows the teachers to keep balance. I believe teachers could make classrooms more relational by making sure that teachers get to know every individual just as equally, and to make sure they take the time and put in the effort to interact with their students. A way that teachers could enforce student interactions is making sure students asks their peers for help or feedback before coming to the teacher.
In my K-12 education, it varied from classroom to classroom what was taught and how much or if I was even taught about the Indigenous history. The main thing was in elementary school we were taught the story of Turtle Island, not just once but over and over. When important days happened like orange shirt day, we were encouraged to wear an orange shirt and have an assembly to spread awareness. It was never taught in-depth or explained thoroughly enough for us to understand what happened. Overall, indigenous history was never seemed to be a priority to teach. In High School, Miller was one of the schools to be fortunate enough to have Chasity Delorme as an Indigenous Student Advisor. This allowed us to experience activities like meeting with elders, smudging sessions, and a place to go to ask for resources if we choose to. We always had Indigenous awareness around the school. I challenged myself to take an Indigenous 30 class since knowing it would benefit me when becoming a teacher. That class taught me a lot about the history of Indigenous people, along with the deeper meanings of many things. It was a very engaging class and made me changed my attitudes towards the Indigenous culture. I have learned a lot throughout life, I was lucky enough to participate in a learning experience in Qu apple Valley and attend an Indigenous ceremony which allowed me to learn some cultural traditions like bannock making, bead making, and traditional dancing. Throughout media, it shows the problems within the world and within the past. I have learned about Indigenous cultures through videos like the 8th Fire video, Muffins for Granny, We will stand up, and the Pass System. In high school I was an individual who made a TRC awareness Instagram page, to try and spread awareness to teens of future and past events. Truthfully, I do not learn about the Indigenous culture within my family and friends but it is something we are starting to slowly incorporate within our household since we believe it is important to all do our part. As reading the TRC booklet a lot stood out to me. It explained the history and what we can do to make a change, and how the government took over 100 years to realize the consequences individuals faced from residential school. It expressed emotions of heartbreak, sadness, loss, and frustration from individuals who were affected by the residential schools along with expressing what they dealt with. It was an overall very heart-touching book and a great learning experience that brought a lot of thoughts, questions, and emotions throughout my mind while reading. What message resonated within me is that it was an extremely challenging time to live through, and that past events in individuals’ lives can affect the rest of your life. It is shocking how residential schools affect a large population of our world, and we do not always realize that. I want to learn about what the proper and professional way is to teaching this horrific past event.