My response to anyone trying to teach treaty ed or dealing with students/ co-workers that don’t take it seriously is to take a few steps back and start with why it is important. As obvious as it is to you it may not be obvious to other people. Start with a video or group discussion, and maybe have some kind of assessment before you get too far into teaching. One of the common misconceptions about treaty ed is that you should only teach it if you have FNMI students in your classroom but as discussed in We are all Treaty People, that is not the case. It is important to emphasize that treaty education is just as important if you have no FNMI students or all FNMI students, it affects and applies to everyone, it is a large part of Canadas history therefore it is important for all Canadians to learn about it. Many people have the mindset of us and them and believe that it has to be one or the other. For example, the idea that treaty ed is FNMI history and culture and they are the only ones who should know about it, when is reality it is Canadas history and should be learned by all Canadians/ people living in Canada.
My understanding of the curriculum in terms of treaty ed is that it is not very well integrated into the curriculum. It has some places where it is in the curriculum, however it is not very well infused, there are some treaty ed outcomes but as for being infused into the curriculum, it is not. My experience in school was that the only classes that really dealt with treaty ed was English and social studies. Math and science didn’t really have any treaty ed components/outcomes.
Her Sarah!
I liked the point you made about how different people’s understanding of Treaty Ed may not align, and what may be obvious to you is not obvious to all. I think reflecting on colleagues differing understandings is something that we often forget to do. As you mentioned later in your post we often end up with this “us” vs. “them” mentality, and that can happen here too.
Your ideas for integrating Treaty Ed into the curriculum are thoughtful. You mentioned opening with a group discussion or a video. I’m curious about how you would approach that group discussion (i.e. how you would you open, and what talking points would you make sure to include), as well as if you have found any good video recourses on this topic?
-Mack