Focus Question #1- Teachers, Knowledge, Building Relationships: Invitation and Hospitality.
Throughout my educational experiences in my kindergarten to grade 12 years, my teachers honored different ways of knowing and doing in the classroom in many different ways during my time there. For example, every year the Grade 8 class would be assigned to create mini mosaic displays for the school and the community to come see. Each student would choose a different culture/country to research; and would learn about the culture, food, government, art, sports, money, ext. and had to create a presentation to show and educate other students and peers in the community about the culture they chose. We also had the treaty 4 territory announcement read every morning before Oh Canada was played, and our school participated in orange shirt day every year. In my school, we had students read off the announcements so everyone became situated in knowing the whole treaty 4 territory announcement. We also had many indigenous guest speakers come to our school to do presentations, like for example we had a hoop dancer presentation where we were shown the different tricks they do and the meanings for them. We have also had the opportunity to have the blanket exercise be shown in our school which was a really amazing experience. My teachers gave us a sense of community in the classroom by allowing us to work in groups and clusters. This allowed us to grow a better connection as a class because we would all be able to help each other when we needed it and we would be able to work on assignments together. We also participated in lots of class discussions where each student got a chance to express their feelings and thoughts about certain topics. I think that teachers could create a more hospitable and inviting educational experience in the classroom by creating a safer atmosphere for the students. They could create surveys for the students to do, that cover topics like mental health; this way the teachers in the school know how to help their students in certain situations. Another way could be creating more inclusive décor that creates a welcoming environment for students with different ethnicities, disabilities, and issues.
Focus question #2- Students & Learning Environment: Focus on places, spaces, and boundaries.
Throughout my elementary to high school years, the learning environment varied from grade to grade. In elementary school the teachers always decorated the rooms with bright color’s and seated all the students at circle desks or in pods. When the classroom was arranged like this it allowed all of us students to feel welcomed, gave us a chance to communicate, and gave us a sense of equality in the classroom. This formation showed us that there was a bit of equality between the teacher and the students, and allowed the students to communicate with each other but at the same time let the teacher hold the main power in the classroom. As I grew older, I noticed that the welcoming decorations faded and instead of sitting in partners or in pods we would be seated in neat single-spaced rows; limiting the communication between students, and gave the teacher complete power in the classroom. I found that the high school rooms gave off a very gloomy feeling when you walked inside, which made learning very difficult to many students. The space in my classrooms provided me with a very mixed opportunities to communicate with other students. When I was in elementary school the teachers allowed us to sit in pods, circle formations, or in partners so we were consistently given opportunities to communicate with other students. But as time progressed, we were put in more isolated seating formations and were only able to talk to other students when the teacher allowed us to. The elementary classrooms gave off a very welcoming sense of worth and equality just by the way those classrooms were decorated and the formations we were put in then. Where as in high school the classrooms made me feel very alone due to the isolating seating formations and the lack of expressiveness in the room. I think teachers could make spaces more relational by creating a more welcoming seating plan, asking the students how they want the space organized and decorated, and always allow the students some time to talk within class. I think this would help the students feel more welcomed and make learning more enjoyable when they are there.
Focus Question #3- Truth & Reconciliation
The Indigenous history being taught throughout my K-12 schooling was always told from a white person’s perspective, so all the information I was told was very white washed. My first memory I have of learning about First Nations culture was in the 3rd-4th grade, during this time I learned about the medicine wheel, the buffalo, and the spiritual aspects of the culture, where we continued to learn about these topics until I was in high school. But as I moved into higher grades, I was introduced to more difficult topics like residential school’s treaties and the negative effects early settlers had on indigenous people. But up to then I couldn’t truly explain what happened or why the situations were so detrimental. Compared to what I’m learning now and the new information I’m obtaining in my university indigenous class we barely even touched the tip of the iceberg in High school. I also found that the information I was taught in high school was always repeated year after year, instead of introducing new topics into the curriculum we just stuck with the same material. Now that I am in university, I find that throughout my elementary to high school life the information I had known about first nations people was always very limited. And just recently I have started widening my horizons about the culture thanks to my university classes and with what the government is opening up about First Nations history. Because now I’m learning about new philosophy’s compared to a continuation of the same subjects I was taught back in high school. Through reading the truth and reconciliation booklet I found that it shows me that we need to be more openminded and need to search for the truth within all the false information that has been taught throughout the education system. It shows the progress in the process of reconciliation and how we can continue to grow moving forward as a community. The younger generation is growing to be more accepting because of the steps made so far, so its up to us teachers to continue to teach them about the truth and reconciliation movement.