Category: ECS 210 Blog Posts

For my ECS class I was required to write about my take away from the course and what I learned throughout the semester. Below is the script I wrote for my digital story. Due to the format of my video, I am unable to share it on this platform but I hope the document I shared is still helpful and worthwhile.

Prompt 1: At the beginning of the reading, Leroy Little Bear (2000) states that colonialism “tries to maintain a singular social order by means of force and law, suppressing the diversity of human worldviews. … Typically, this proposition creates oppression and discrimination” (p. 77). Think back on your experiences of the teaching and learning of mathematics — were there aspects of it that were oppressive and/or discriminating for you or other students?

Prompt 2: After reading Poirier’s article: Teaching mathematics and the Inuit Community, identify at least three ways in which Inuit mathematics challenge Eurocentric ideas about the purposes mathematics and the way we learn it.

One of the main memories I have in math class is during my grade 8 year. My class was divided into two math groups, one taught by the high school math teacher and one half taught by the grade 8 homeroom teacher. I was in my homeroom math teacher’s class. The reason this math class sticks out to me was because I had a lot of issues with it. I remember when I was in elementary school, I had issues with math in general and lots of the concepts confused me so I was always encouraged to ask for help because I would get too frustrated trying to do it on my own. However, I was told differently in grade 8. I would ask the teacher and TA for help on questions and I would always ask for clarification on questions. My math teacher thought I did this to waste time and he got frustrated with how many questions I asked. He ended up throwing a large calculator at me, along with various whiteboard markers, and told me I had a limit of 3 questions every math period to ask. I hated this. I couldn’t ask for help so I routinely fell behind in class and had homework and I felt as though asking questions were bad. To this day I still struggle to ask questions and ask for help because I think back to this memory. The rule my teacher instilled was oppressive because it limited me and only me, no other person in my class was affected by this rule.

            The Inuit use a base of 20 and sub-base 5 system instead of base 10 like the Eurocentric way. This can be troublesome when trying to do math work in a Eurocentric way since the bases are different. Bases can be converted but to do so can be challenging, especially for younger minds. The Inuit also use their body parts to measure instead of Eurocentric units. I found this interesting since I know a few tips and tricks when it comes to measurements and clothing. For example, the distance from your wrist to the crease of your elbow is the size of your foot and if you button a pear of jeans and wrap them around your neck, they should fit your waist. The Inuit use language to teach their mathematics as well. Since they are a very oral language, math gets taught the same way most things do in their culture. They also bring in an elder for students to listen to and observe.

Prompt 1: How was your upbringing/schooling shaped how you “read the world?” What biases and lenses do you bring to the classroom? How might we unlearn/work against these biases?

Prompt 2: Which “single stories” were present in your own schooling? Whose truth mattered?

I grew up in a small town most of my life. The people in this town as I grew up and for many years after I left, it remained a white, privileged, middle-class community. Because of these aspects of my home town, my upbringing was relatively sheltered. I had a hard time understanding some things about the world and why some people were treated differently. I suppose this caused me to develop biases about my culture and how dominant it can be in our education system. Since I grew up in the situation I did I feel as if I look through a white, privileged, middle-class lenses. I hope to change this as I work in classrooms so that I do not miss out on any opportunities or offend someone. I want to break the stereotypes associated with the many groups or people, including the ones I fall into. I want to introduce other styles of literature into my classroom and have open discussions with my faculty/staff members, students, and parents so that I can get as much assistance and guidance as possible in order to break the stereotypes within my contexts. I feel like one of the best ways to break these biases is to discuss them and educate ourselves on the truths, ignorance is the biggest influencer on biases.

            For the most part as I went through school, I experienced books and readings that were predominantly written by and about straight, male, middle-class, white folk. The only content I witnessed in school that had other groups of people was written in negative ways. This causes my single story to be predominantly that of middle-class white society. This mirrored my own experiences. This setup also caused me to have minimal content to develop a single story of other groups or people. I suppose my single story for other groups was predominantly negative causing me to believe the biases created. This changed as I came into university when I was exposed to other literature and experiences.

Part 1) According to the Levin article, how are school curricula developed and implemented? What new information/perspectives does this reading provide about the development and implementation of school curriculum? Is there anything that surprises you or maybe that concerns you?

Part 2) After reading pages 1-4 of the Treaty Education document, what connections can you make between the article and the implementation of Treaty Education in Saskatchewan? What tension might you imagine were part of the development of the Treaty Education curriculum?

            Levin explains in his article that curriculum is organized in frameworks: issues, actors, processes, influences, and results. He then dives into each framework to better explain them. Elements of curriculum are organized around two central objectives “very general or broad goals and much more specific learning activities and objectives” (Levin, 14). This helps shape curriculum since the documents and policies involved may or may not support the above ideas. Extending off of the elements are the politics of curriculum. Levin explains two kinds of politics in his article – the first is the overall shape of the school, this includes what will be taught, how much of each subject will be taught, and so on; the second kind of policy is the debate over the content of each subject (Levin, 14). These two policies help develop the foundation of the curriculum for each course taught. A strong point made in Levin’s article is the impact outside factors have on curriculum and what is taught. People tend to influence curriculum based on their educational experiences, their fundamental ideas about their country, and influential experiences such as drinking, drugs, or sexual promiscuity. Curriculum involves many people including teachers, parents, students, professionals, and government officials. These levels all have different powers and responsibilities but each influence the development and implementation of curriculum regardless. Many teachers influence the curriculum because they are the ones teaching it but in most secondary schooling the influence of curriculum is placed by tertiary, or post-secondary institutions since they require certain courses for programs and faculties. Curriculum is also influenced by other policies such as student assessment policies (Levin, 16). Levin states that curriculum decision processes depend on governance systems (Levin, 17). This process involves many experts and representatives working together in order to refine or remake a curriculum. Redoing or renewing a curriculum could take months or even years to complete since the groups of people working have to examine existing data, look at the current strengths and weaknesses, and consider new changes.

            To quickly summarize the above paragraph, the article written my Levin states that curriculum is implemented and developed through many components and processes. The policies surrounding curriculum help shape and revise curriculum but are also influenced through several people who also shape the curriculum. Developing curriculum involves senior administrators, teachers, parents and community members, professionals, and federal/government officials. Levin points out that the involvement of experts in curriculum development can be problematic. This concept surprised me since I thought they would be involved deeply. I was a little shocked to find out that the work done by experts in curriculum can cause the subjects to become too difficult to teach and learn and therefore making it only possible for experts to teach the courses they built.

            After reading the Saskatchewan Treaty Education document I noticed that the document outlined the respects towards the content and acknowledged/recognized the treaty rights for First Nations peoples and the Aboriginal rights of Metis people in Canada (Treaty Education, pg.3). I noticed that this document also outlines the four K-12 goals that are to be identified as the basis for building understanding of this course. I do not get the same concepts from this document as I did from the Levin reading. When I read Levin’s work I felt as if it focused itself around public policies of government and using it to explain the policies of education. The Treaty Education document seems to focus more on the goals that need to be reached as well as the background of the Treaty Ed course. I feel like creating this course/subject curriculum could cause tension because it can have very sensitive and sometimes controversial topics. Deciding what aspects of the history to teach to which grades could potentially cause issues if, for example, a parent is uncomfortable with their 3^rd grade child learning about the effects of residential schools and the trauma that was inflicted through the schools. I also feel that tension may occur when this content is introduced into schools causing some people to misunderstand why it is being implemented. This is a very important topic to the Canadian history and should be taught in our schools as a process of reconciliation and to gain better understandings of the ways of knowing. (For more on the topic of why I believe Treaty Education should be taught in schools, check out my blog post “Importance of Treaty Education” https://edusites.uregina.ca/krh238/2019/10/11/the-importance-of-treaty-education/ ).

Response Prompt: “As part of my classes for my three-week block I have picked up a Social Studies 30 course. This past week we have been discussing the concept of standard of living and looking at the different standards across Canada. I tried to introduce this concept from the perspective of the First Nations people of Canada and my class was very confused about the topic and in many cases made some racist remarks. I have tried to reintroduce the concept but they continue to treat it as a joke. The teachers at this school are very lax on the topic of Treaty Education as well as First Nations ways of knowing. I have asked my Coop for advice on Treaty Education and she told me that she does not see the purpose of teaching it at this school because there are no First Nations students. I was wondering if you would have any ideas of how to approach this topic with my class or if you would have any resources to recommend.” -Anonymous 

Consideration 1: What is the purpose of teaching Treaty Education (specifically) or First Nations, Metis, and Inuit Content and Perspectives (generally) where there are few or no First Nations, Metis, and/or Inuit peoples?

Consideration 2: What does it mean for your understanding of curriculum that “We are all treaty people”?

Dear Anonymous,

It is important to teach Treaty Education and the Indigenous ways of knowing and understanding. Generally, it is important to teach these topics because it is a HUGE part of Canada’s history. The relationships made and broken are crucial to the development of this country and shaped it in ways we still don’t fully understand. Clair Kreuger states in one of her videos, Introducing Treaty Education, that her school has few Aboriginal students and because of the small Indigenous student body MORE effort should be put into the cultural programming, teaching histories, and building relationships. It is important to teach the students of our schools the Indigenous ways of knowing and understanding so that they can gain knowledge about their country’s history and the people it still continues to affect. Dwayne Donald speaks about the importance of Treaty Ed in his lecture “On What Terms Can We Speak.” He states that the past and present are intimately tied together. Dwayne also quotes his colleague and friend, David Smith, who says “if you are going to think about the future, you are going to have to work backward.” These statements are a staple in my opinion that the past is an important place to start if you hope to accomplish something in the future.

Treaty Education is also Settler Education, as Clair Kreuger puts it. This means it is all of our history and education. It has become a big part of the Sask curriculum, and rightfully so. As educators and future educators, it is important to be honest about this subject to all people, even young children. It is important to own the history of our country as well as explain how it effected the people of this country in order for us to move forward. Years ago, I was told by a wise woman that it took 7 generations for us to be where we are now and it will take 7 generations to get us out of it. She spoke of Residential schools when she told me this but it resonates with the topics at hand now. For us to get those 7 generations ahead, we need to work for it by learning about Treaty Education and Aboriginal content and perspectives.

Relationships are a huge way for all peoples to come together. For Indigenous peoples, relationships have always been important. As educators and schools, we can get involved by acknowledging these Treaty relationships. We can all participate in Tipi raisings or ceremonies, heart-to-hearts, assemblies, or even something as simple as wearing an orange shirt to show your support. An Indigenous guest speaker in one of my other courses spoke about relationships in the context of Indigenous peoples, she explained that they are a very important part to their culture and may take time to develop. She also explained that circles and hugs are a great way to develop said relationships. I believe the circle is an important concept because it shows the never ending structure of love, caring, friendship, education, and so much more.

As each year passes it is more and more important for us as educators and teachers, schools, communities, and country to acknowledge the topic of Treaty Ed. This is not going away. It will only become more predominant. A good way to reach to parents and community members is through the above listed ideas as well as sending home emails and notices to families about what is being taught in class, proving them with the content you’re teaching so they can follow along with their kids, and being transparent with those around you. Part of our job, as Clair Kreuger puts it, is to teach parents the knowledge they lack on this subject. “We are all Treaty people.” When asked what this means to my understanding of curriculum, it becomes a hard question. It is important to acknowledge Treaties, the past of colonization, and everyone’s place in this history. I think it is crucial for us to work backwards in order for us to move forward. I suppose my answer for this is written above through my response to the other questions. As a person who is part of Treaty, I don’t know a lot about it and this is true for many people. As I move on to my next few years of school and into my career, I plan to look into Treaty Education more. This is a topic that is here to stay and I have a long way to go in learning my place and how to teach this to others.

The article suggests that a “critical pedagogy of place” aims to: a) identify, recover, and create material spaces and places that teach us how to live well in our total environments (reinhabitation); and (b) identify and change ways of thinking that injure and exploit other people and places (decolonization) (p.74). List some of the ways that you see reinhabitation and decolonization happening throughout the narrative. How might you adapt these ideas / consider place in your own subject areas and teaching?

            The article Learning from Place: A Return to Traditional Mushkegowuk Ways of Knowing by Jean P. Restoule, Sheila Gruner, and Edmund Metatawabin mentions the process of Reinhabitation and decolonization. These two processes can be seen throughout the text. A few ways that reinhabitation and decolonization can be seen are on pages 70, 71, and 73. Of course there are many more examples but I’m focusing on only a select few. On page 70 and 73 the authors talk about economic exploitation and large-scale extractive development. This is harmful to the land and the culture of the Mushkegowuk peoples. These are ways of exploiting and injuring the land which the Mushkegowuk people find sacred and important to their culture and teachings. On page 71 and throughout the text the discussion of involving the youth and adult generations as well as fostering dialog and respecting the community are brought up. These concepts are important for regaining intergenerational discussions and to discuss ways of changing how people treat the land as well as the beliefs associated to them.

As I move into my teachings, I plan on incorporation the ideas from this narrative to better my lessons and classroom. I can help students gain an understanding and appreciation for the land and for other cultures and beliefs. I would like to create an environment that can educate students on how they could work in and with intergenerational groups as well as large-scale groups. Overall, I wish to foster respect in my classroom and allow my students to involve themselves in discussion.

Looking beyond my ECS 210 course, I can see this article being a useful and beneficial tool in my future. As mentioned above, it gave my a list of ideas for future use in my classroom. Additionally, this article made me think about how I can integrate these concepts into my life right now as a student. I can use the information provided to me in this text in future assignments and to relate to other material in other courses, I can create intergenerational environments for myself to work in and engage in, and I can put myself in large-scale groups to work on assignments and cooperative learning experiences. I was able to learn how important it is for an individual to participate and be an active individual in a group setting. I hope to develop the skills from this text in my life now so that when it comes time to use them in a classroom with students, I will be able to help them on their journey and experience.

What does it mean to be a “good” student according to the commonsense?

I had a hard time thinking about what a “good” student is according to commonsense in Kumashiro’s text. He started off this chapter with a story of a girl, M. M didn’t listen or act in the same ways as the other students so they were deemed as troublesome and unable or unwilling. Another story told was of a boy, N. He was also a student deemed as unable or unwilling because he wasn’t as interested in the mainstream learning styles or approaches and he would much rather question these approaches than follow them. These anecdotes in Kumashiro’s text lead me to believe that a “good” student is one who listens intently, follows directions laid out before them, works hard at achieving good grades and test scores, and by learning norms and idealized behaviours they are shaped to be a desired student by society.

Which students are privileged by this definition of the good student?

Based on the definition of a good student under the commonsensical ideal there is only a small select bunch of students I feel benefit the most. These students seem to be the ones who are already privileged by society. The reason I feel this way is because the traditional approach to school and teaching/learning is laid out to benefit those who are already in a position of privilege so these students get labelled as good students. On the reverse of this, those who do not succeed at the traditional approach to school or teaching/learning is already at a disadvantage. These students may struggle more and not succeed as well as the others making it seem as if they are bad students and thus being labelled as such.

What is made impossible to see/understand/believe because of these commonsense ideas?

I think the commonsense idea makes it hard for educators to adapt their teaching strategies to accommodate “good” and “bad” students with trying to reach their requirements set out before them. I also think this idea of commonsense makes it hard to change the routines in which you use everyday when it comes to teaching. It can be difficult to understand the oppression associated to this commonsense idea and I think if you have a hard time understanding it, it could be because you’re more privileged under the commonsense idea than others.

My Experience as a “good”/”bad” student

Looking back into my experiences in the K-12 school system I consider myself as a “good” student. I always got my work done on time, I completed my homework by the due dates, I put in effort, I listening in class, I asked questions and contributed in group discussions, I attended class regularly and overall, I was at an advantage. Besides growing up on the poorer side of the working class scale, I was a pretty privileged person in the eyes of the education system. I was at a greater advantage than most children and I feel like this helped me become a “good” student. I hardly ever argued with my teachers and I always did what they asked, this is one of the main reasons why I feel as if I fit the “good” student narrative. I seemed, and still do, fit the idealized concept of a good student in the eyes of society.

Kumashiro (2010). Against Common Sense, Chapter 2 (pp. 19 – 33) – “Preparing Teachers for Crisis: What It Means to Be a Student”

As children reach the adolescence stage of their lives, they become more interested in sex. This age range is usually around grade 7 or 8. Looking at the statistics laid out in the article “Factors Affecting Sex Education in the School System”, it is notable that like other developed nations, the United States has high rates of sexual activity. But they also have one of the highest rates for teen pregnancy, birth, and abortion. These teens and young adults face 10% of all births in the US as well as 9.5 million new cases of STI’s (Woo, 142). Any efforts to delay sexual interactions among adolescence are often done through sex education through the school system.

Argued throughout the article is whether or not schools are including enough in their curriculums about sex education. Most schools incorporate topics that are deemed necessary, such as HIV/AIDS or STIs and abstinence but lack information for contraception, abortion, or sexual orientation. There is a lack for established sex education curricula (Woo, 142) and many school districts allow teachers to pick and choose what they want to teach. The study done within the article states that nearly 20% of health teachers for grades 7 and 8 do not cover any sex education topics and only 50% integrate a comprehensive sex education curriculum.

            To further my take on this subject I want to dive further into why curriculum is so vague for sex education. I also want to look into why some school districts think it is unnecessary to teach sex education to impressionable students. I would like to incorporate some curriculum scholars into my paper as well in order to further my understanding of this topic. I think it would be beneficial to look into what some educational scholars have to say about sex education and its connection to the curriculum.

Woo, G. W. “Factors Affecting Sex Education in the School System.” Journal of pediatric and adolescent gynecology Vol 24. Issue 3 (June 2011): 124-146. Libproxy.

doi-org.libproxy.uregina.ca/10.1016/j.jpag.2010.12.005  

What are the four models of curriculum described in the article, and what are the main benefits and/or drawbacks of each? What model(s) of curriculum were prominent in your own schooling experience?

            The four models of curriculum described in the article are curriculum as product, curriculum as process, curriculum as praxis, curriculum as context. Curriculum as product is dependent on the setting of the behavioural objectives as well as “influenced by the development of management thinking and practice” (Smith, 3). There are many issues with this approach including the assumption of importance, the dependency of measurement, an inability to examine educators, and finally not knowing the results of the approach. Curriculum as process sees curriculum as what actually happens in the classroom and what things are done to prepare. This model has many elements that interact constantly and that links with ideas from Aristotle. Some possible drawbacks or problems include an issue for those who want “some greater degree of uniformity in what is taught (Smith, 8), a lack of attention towards context, dependency on the quality of teachers, and this approach does not look at the commitments in depth. The process model is driven by general principles and focuses on meaning-making. Curriculum as praxis model of curriculum theory and practice benefits from human well-being and emancipation of the human spirit. The actions put forward in this model is informed and committed. This model of curriculum theory and practice looks to individuals but also pays attention to a collective understanding, there is commitment towards the exploration of educators’ values and practices. With that all said, praxis is said to not put enough emphasis on context. Curriculum as context, with the introduction and attention to milieu, draws a focus to the impact of multiple factors as well as formulating a grasp on the impact of structural and socio-cultural process on teachers and students (Smith, 11).

            In my past schooling experiences, I think I witnessed curriculum as context and curriculum as praxis. Some of my schooling has been heavily focused on context. I find that my educators have drawn from socio-cultural processes which is one of the significant statements of context according to Catherine Cornbleth in Smith’s article. I also feel as if I witnessed the praxis model. I have witnessed an attention to collective understanding from my educators and past schooling experiences as well as a commitment expressed to the action of exploration. Many of my schooling experiences reflect the idea to explore the practices or concepts of a topic with peers.

How does Kumashiro define ‘common sense?’ Why is it so important to pay attention to the ‘common sense?’

            In my opinion, I think, Kumashiro defines common sense as a way of knowing that is common among a group of people. For example, Kumashiro explains how the people of Nepal use rice or lentils in their cooking and that cooking without them means you don’t know how to cook. In this example, if you do not cook with rice or lentils it is assumed you do not know how to cook. In Nepal is it “common sense” to solely teach out of the textbook and prepare for end of term exams where as in the US or Canada it has become “common sense” to incorporate other ways of teaching and learning.

            It is important to pay attention to the ‘common sense’ because it has become such a regular way of thinking. Common sense has become routine for many people, whether you are from Nepal or from the US, it goes unnoticed. I think it is important to pay attention to this concept because some aspects, as stated in the reading, need to be challenged. For example, it is common for the schools in the US or Canada to use new and innovative teaching ways, so when Kumashiro was to teach in Nepal he/she was faced with the realization that there was “a failure to critique the unspoken assumptions about US superiority” (XXXI). It is important to realize that we as a people use common sense in our daily lives without question. Sometimes our personal idea of what should be common sense can differ from that of someone else’s idea of common sense. Neither person is wrong when it comes to common sense knowledge, it depends on who you are or where you are from that shapes our ideas of what is commonly thought or should be thought of independently.