Teaching treaty education within schools is so important, no matter the school population or its diversity. In fact, its thought to be even more important within less diverse schools (ones with very few Indigenous students) as it guides students into what is appropriate. This is a huge problem within schools, so it’s not just happening to you but it is very important to keep teaching students about treaties and Indigenous content/perspectives. Why it’s important is as educators it is our job to teach and guide our students, and leaving out Indigenous content further proves the underlying racism in classrooms. The purpose of treaty education is to keep the conversation going about treaties and to help grow our student’s perspectives so they do not grow up believing that Indigenous content doesn’t apply to them because it does. This leads me to my second point about how we understand that we are “treaty people”. Treaty people as I understood, is that it is a common countenance. As educators, it is not just work that Indigenous people need to do, but work we all need to do to reach a common goal. For your students, I would keep bringing in Indigenous content and continue the discussions but make it abundantly clear that racist comments/jokes are not acceptable. Students are confused because it is quite clear this school hasn’t thought about treaty education as important, but keep the discussion going as it will help clarify many things for students. It may be hard and students may continue to not care but keeping the discussion open allows them to see where their views may be skewed by the underlining racism in schools.
I like that you are mentoring in a way that the reason that the students where acting and saying the things that they where saying because they are not properly educated when it comes to the subject, and that is the exact reason that they need to be educated about it. It is not just for indigenous students because the reality is it is not only their history it is also everyone history that is in Canada, by making them understand that they can start thinking about the many injustices that happened and they can learn and work to better and not repeat in the future. By just braking those underlining thoughts and statements a lot of progress would already be made.
I agree and like how you stated that not teaching Treaty Education leads to continuing racism in the school setting. You said to “make it abundantly clear that racist comments/jokes are not acceptable,” which is important to correct the stereotypical mind set towards Indigenous peoples. Just like I said, as you stated as well, is that its important to teach our students this because it is the only way where our youth are going to “develop new perspectives” about Indigenous peoples. Lastly, they are confused with indigenous ways of knowing and the only way to break that like you said is to openly teach about it. Lovely post 🙂
Hey Kari,
I loved reading your post and getting an understanding of your point of view on this topic. I totally agree with the importance of teaching these topics in less diverse schools; these students need to get an insight into first nations culture and way of life so they can be more inclusive and welcoming individuals. Without education, students become lost in biased opinions and judgemental prejudices placed on the culture creating less inclusive individuals in the future.
Overall, I loved reading the post and can’t wait to read more of your work in the future!
Hello Kari!
I like what you have to say here. We are all treaty people and teaching Indigenous content is absolutely vital. It is interesting how you mention the student’s perspective and how some people may be resistant to learning about these important topics which is due to racism. As teachers, it is our job to educate and guide students away from this very harmful mentality. Thanks for this great post!
Hey Kari! I really liked how you touched on how important for these topics to be taught in schools as it is important for all students to learn. We all live on Treaty territory, and anti-racist values of respect and sympathy should be the common goal. Great job!
I agree with your thoughts on integrating treaty education as an educator. When you mentioned how in schools it is “even more important within less diverse schools” – this makes sense. The way the educator teaches treaty education will ensure fairness is within the classroom for all. Well done on tying in the readings/viewings into your own understandings!