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September 29

I feel like I’m starting to get a better understanding of environmental education I have been making time to go to my special place as much as I can to just sit and observe, and over time I’m watching as things change the trees are starting to lose leaves, the grass is starting to become a browner colour instead of its light green. My favourite “story” that I have been watching unfold is with the local prairie chickens for the past couple weeks I have only been seeing one or two at a time but the last time I was there there were more than 20 all waddling around looking for bugs to eat and sleeping in bushes. I enjoy watching them go from a small number to a whole group who made a home in the bushes and land there. the spirit I feel in the place is a very calming one, nothing bad seems to happen there as if its almost protected.

for this week I read citizenship in maple nation and am to answer these questions

what does it mean to declare citizenship in maple nation?
I believe this means that a person allegiance is with nature. he describes that a person often has to choose where they want to become a citizen because it is very difficult to become a dual-citizen. meaning that you can be on the side of nature or simply help world governments destroy it. while of course there are people that care deeply for the environment while they reside in a government but will do what they can to help the environment and protect it.

In what ways have the maple trees been contributing to the well-being of the community?

the trees provide clean air, maple, warmth and shelter to the people. it is also linked to there way of life, as he describes maple is in their blood and in their bones. they use it for baking in almost all aspects of their life but it also helps the community of animals. The trees supply seeds and food for the animals to eat, As-well as homes for birds and small animals to build and make their nests. Animals such as deer graze through the grass under the trees protection. almost everything in the community relies on the maple trees.     

I didn’t want to damage any part of my special place since there were so many different animals around so instead, I tried to get a good picture of a couple of squirrels who were enjoying a snack

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September 22

this week we discussed a documentary about agriculture and the effects that it has on earth. this is something that I have learned about many years ago but it’s nice to get a reminder to have a better understanding of your current global footprint. I oftten forget about the transportation of the food, I like to try and eat things that arent to factory prossessed in order to reduce my footprint, but even if food is not highly procesed there is still so much damage being caused to the earth, the use of GMO’s the chemical spray they use on crops, the big vehicals such as tractors that are used to maintain and harvest crops then, then the packaging and transportation emmisons all add up. I do realize that not buying these products wont stop their creation and trasportation but if fewer people choose it then hopfully it can reduce the amount that is manufactured. It really comes down to the major corporations to inatute a major change to their product line which won’t happen unless forced.

I went to my special place and tried to see how many plants I could identify, I did a bit better that expected, there were pine trees, chokecherry bush, daisys, dandylions, and grass. the only thing I couldnt identify was some kind of fern.

I have always felt that honesty, understanding, and support are my key values not only as a teacher but as a person. I feel a student cant learn unless they are comofrtable in there space, i want them to be able to speak their mind without me our their peers shooting down their ideas or projects.

the story of stuff is a very interesting video, definitely an eye-opener for how much a single product can take its toll on the environment. this would be a great resource for any teacher and it could have many different lessons and assignments linked to it!

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September 15

During class, we broke up into small groups to discuss one of the readings. We talked about the possibilities and constraints of a classroom that adopted a more environmental learning mindset. we felt that the possibilities would outweigh the constraints if done correctly. I bring up a story on how in about grade 2 we did a simple assignment about the different types of clouds. we all went outside with blankets and watched the clouds as the teacher would explain the differences between Altocumulus, Cirrocumulus, Altostratus, etc. and this simple lesson was so impactful that about 20 years later I still remember it. I also believe if it was simply done in class with pictures I would have not retained that knowledge and would have forgotten completely about the assignment. it also made me have a better understanding on the natural cycle of water.; which further made me understand the idea of everything being connected together as we all live on the same planet, walk the same earth, drink the same water, etc One major constraint about environmental education that we felt is that if not done correctly it could be overwhelming if the student has many different ideas and concepts being thrown at them at once. And can also be a major distraction to some students who have trouble focusing when the environment changes for them.

I am also currently tracking the different types of food that I consume throughout a week and it definitely is not ideal. most of it is pre-packaged meals, fast-food, sweets, or simply missing meals. I feel like because of the way I eat it affects my energy level, my mood (which is usually pretty grumpy) and also my ability to keep my focus on one task.

I wasn’t able to watch the documentary but i tried to answer the questions the best I could

– What are the problems resulting from industrialized farming practices?
there are many problems with this, the biggest one, in my opinion, is the environmental effects, it can take so many nutrients out of the ground which often never gets returned, also the heavy use of pesticides and other chemicals can cause acidic rain and plays a major part in our carbon footprint.
        – What is regenerative agriculture?
I believe this is when farmers use more environmentally conscious decisions that help keep the soil alive and keep harmful pesticides out or to a minimum
       

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September 8th class response

Before starting the class I was not sure what environmental education was really going to be about. But after the first class I think I’m starting to understand the idea behind It. to put it simply, it is about how the environment teaches people lessons that are not strictly being forced upon someone. This is not strictly tied to a natural environment such as forests, creeks, mountains etc., but also the environment in which we live. We can learn many things about ourselves and the world around us just by observing the space around us. we have been instructed to find a place close to home that we can fist on a daily/weekly biases. I have chosen a small little park near my home where there are a few trees, a big field that has a small walking trail that runs through it.

On my first day I didn’t notice to much, I watched as the trees dance in the wind while small animals such as prairie chicken pecked the ground looking for bugs. I cant say I have learned anything new in the past few days that I have sat their but I’m sure given more time and classes I will start looking for things I wasn’t before

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September 3 class reflection

We are still getting class started so I’m not really sure what I should be writing about for these blogs, I’m still deciding on what I want my special place to be but I think I will choose a nearby park that I often walk to and skateboard in.

I like the animated video that was given to us, it portrays humans as an infection to the earth and cutely shows how much we are damaging the planet. It would be a good resource to show students in a classroom setting, but it may be too short to build an entire lesson around.

I’m definitely excited about this class and eager to learn more about environmental education.

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Week 9

  • How has 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?

This is kind of a hard question since most of a person’s “biases” are unknown to themselves. I’m sure I have many “biases” that I live my life with every day and am completely unaware of.
My time in elementary and high school was very multicultural and was surprisingly inclusive to other sexual orientations. I feel because of my experiences in school I became more accepting and understanding of other people’s culture and sexuality.

other than that I often see the world around me as a very white-dominated environment where company greed will often squash and oppress people around them. I personally see corporations as “the bad guy” this is likely due to the views I have gained from school when reading about poverty, sexual assault white supremacy, and cover-up stories related to companies and businessmen. I know that my thoughts on this are very extreme and have recently been trying to be more understanding and openminded when dealing with large corporations but still have this view on them.

Like many people, I don’t like reading information about things I do not agree with. So for me as an educator, I’m sure I will read many papers from students and teach topics that I will not agree with politically. I will have to learn to contain my personal opinion so the students are able to develop their own.

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Week 8

  • What examples of citizenship education do you remember from your K-12 schooling? What types of citizenship (e.g. which of the three types mentioned in the article) were the focus? Explore what this approach to the curriculum made (im)possible in regards to citizenship.

I remember doing lots of different activities during my time in school that would be considered citizenship education. Throughout elementary school, we did different types of charities as well as community activities to spread awareness. We took part in terry fox day where we were taught about cancer, what it is and how it affects people’s lives, so we as a school went for an hour-long walk to raises awareness and also raise money to donate for cancer treatment. I would consider this to be the Personally responsible citizen, the students didn’t do any of the planning but did donate some money and also help raise awareness, the teachers, on the other hand, was Participatory Citizen. they were teaching us (the students) about the issue and did all the setup for the event to happen.

We also took part in Earthday, during this time I remember my teacher telling us all about the environment and the key role it plays for humans and animals to live, and what we can do to keep it a clean and healthy place again this is the same type of citizenship happening here.

I don’t recall there being any examples of The Justice Oriented Citizen being present during my school experience. the only thing that I could argue is that through the education that they gave us some students may have felt inspired to tackle main issues head-on. but we were never explicitly instructed or encouraged to find these issues. Maybe it’s too large of an issue for a standard lesson plan to be built around? for example its a bit challenging for a teacher to build a lesson about tackling how we as a society use so much unnecessary waste, packaging and plastic that it’s damaging ecosystems around the world, and its giant manufacturing companies that are ignoring the facts of there actions to maintain profits.

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week 7

I could not access the student’s email it said I didn’t have permission, so I will instead answer the prompts

  • What is the purpose of teaching Treaty Ed (specifically) or First Nations, Metis, and Inuit (FNMI) Content and Perspectives (generally) where there are few or no First Nations, Metis, Inuit peoples?

I feel there are two major reasons to have treaty education be taught even if there aren’t many people of that culture. the first reason is to eliminate some of the misconceptions and stereotypes that first nations people have, such as getting everything free, not having to pay taxes etc. while some of these things are truly many people don’t understand the full extent in which they apply. And some people don’t even know why the treaties were created in the first place, so having a better knowledge of our shared history will only benefit us as a people in the future. secondly, even if there is a small amount of the people living in the society they still have the right to learn about their history, benefits and even trauma that the treaties have given. A first nation’s person who is educated on what happened to their ancestors and how they can live with the treaties will not only be a benefit for themselves but for all, a more happy and educated society will benefit any community.

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

When I was growing up learning about treaties and how the land we are on was taken by miscommunication and lies that the Canadian government strategized to take the land diplomatically, I did not care at the time since it wasn’t affecting me. but then I realized how it affected my friends. many of them told me about having to go to the reserve on a regular basis or else they would lose their property on that land, or if they wanted to buy a major purchase they needed to get shipped to the reserve land or they won’t get tax-exempt. these things again never affected me. now it affects me more, if I were to have a child with my partner they would not have Indian status since my partner is a 6(2) “Indian” my child would not get dental coverage, education, tax exemption, right to hunt, etc so the saying “we are all treaty people could not be truer. Even if you feel like it doesn’t affect you now, it might one day.
The treaty was made between the first nations people, and the newcomers. today these treaties are still between the first nations people and those “newcomers” have become the government and the people who live here. So the treaties affect everyone; we are all treaty people.

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Week 6

Part 1)

What I understood from the reading is that changing and creating the curriculum is a complex task. It has a mix of educated people and uneducated people to create the curriculum, they often look at how to teach life skills to help the next generation take over running the country. A large portion of the decision making comes from political leaders and those who have the most power. With their power, they have the influence to quickly change the curriculum. in ways that they feel fitting, this often leads to personal bias which leads to uneducated decisions being made. There is also the influence of communities, sometimes they form groups to express their thoughts and concerns to the government or simply having communication with schools that their children are enrolled.
I never really thought that the community had a say in how education is done but it does make sense and is reasonable for a government to listen to community feedback.

the only big concern is the implementation of uneducated opinion, this is a slippery slope to not having sex education, less lgbtq2+ representation etc. I feel we need to get our personal opinions and bias out of the picture but it will happen no matter what.

Part 2)

I personally feel like the implementation of treaty education is doing very well currently in Canada. So far every class that I have had in the university of Regina has talked about the history of the first nations people or acknowledged the land that they are on. aside from that growing up my elementary school and high school often bring in elders, had environment walks, did projects such as beading and setting up Teepees. Ironically I am displaying my own personal bias saying that the treaty education is being done well, even though it was luckily done well for me, but it may not be good in other schools across the country. I know that from my First nations friends in highschool felt they were being portrayed in a harsh light, constantly making them sound like a weak and defeated people who are still trying to get back on their feet. he felt the way that it was being taught was almost causing more harm than good since it was giving people notions of their culture based on history and not what is happening now.