Tag Archives: colonization

Module 3 Weblog

Keywords: decolonization, research methodologies, colonization, law, traditional knowledge, Indigenous youth, curriculum, technology, language, culturally responsive education

1.Stand Film

http://standfilm.com/video/

This documentary film touches on important issues pertaining to the Great Bear Rainforest and Haida Gwaii. Centered around paddleboarding as a vessel for action, we see how some Aboriginal youth in Bella Bella learn to make paddleboards in school as a way to connect to the land and to make something purposeful. Their engagement in evident in the way they speak about the boards and their connection to place. Their personalized boards, and they way they speak about them demonstrate how important their culture is to them.  In connection with elders in the community, the youth are inspired to take action against the potential of oil spills on the Northwest Coast as a result of the Northern Gateway Pipeline by speaking at cultural gatherings and participating in a hunger strike. As the youth make their paddleboards and take action, it becomes evident that this is a project that is culturally responsive.  

 

Pictures of the boards:
http://www.paddlesurf.ca/2011/06/bella-bella-board-builders-update-boards-finished/

 

2. Aboriginal Worldviews and Perspectives in the Classroom:

This is the BC Ministry of Education’s 2015 document on Aboriginal worldviews in the classroom. Pages 39-57 focus on “Attributes of Responsive Schooling”. As an educator, this section of the document is less theoretical and more practical. It consists of participant responses to each principle of responsive education, with advice and suggestions to support educators. What strikes me with regards to this document, is the difficulty in which I had to find it on the BC Ministry of Education Website. Although Aboriginal education is integrated throughout the revised BC Curriculum, this document provides educators with practical information which lends to the visualization of responsive schooling.

http://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/education/administration/kindergarten-to-grade-12/aboriginal-education/awp_moving_forward.pdf

 

3. In Practising Culturally Responsive Mathematics Education by Cynthia Nicol, Jo-ann Archibald, and Jeff Baker, the following concepts are introduced for culturally responsive mathematics education: grounded in place, storywork, focused on relationships, inquiry based, requiring social consciousness and agency. Simon Fraser University’s Math Catcher Outreach Program uses the concepts of place, storywork, and inquiry to engage students in mathematics. They also offer classroom visits, workshops, and summer camps for Aboriginal children. The digital resources include youtube videos in English and one or more Indigenous languages and are all based on real life situations. They could also act as a math catalyst between school and home. I wonder how these resources are being implemented in the classroom and if they are being used with the other concepts of culturally responsive mathematics ed.

http://www.sfu.ca/mathcatcher.html

 

4. In the following TEDx talk entitled Aboriginal math education: Collaborative learning, Stavros Stavrou explains how he takes an “anti-oppressive math education” approach. He co-teachers with an Aboriginal teacher and attempts to incorporate Indigenous knowledge and principles of knowing with mathematics. Watching his lecture, his approach seems to echo the concepts of culturally responsive math education as outlined by Cynthia Nicol, Jo-ann Archibald, and Jeff Baker in Practising Culturally Responsive Mathematics Education. As an educator, this sounds like an amazing situation, where a non-native teacher specialist is able to collaborate and co-teach with an Aboriginal teacher. Stavrou provides an example of how he connected with a student on a cultural, mathematical, personal level. He illustrates for us what we hear echoed in the messages of Inuit youth in Alluriarniq – Stepping Forward, students are motivated and engaged when teachers connect with them personally.  

 

4. Designing Games with First Nations Youth

https://www.rit.edu/gccis/gameeducationjournal/skins-designing-games-first-nations-youth

This is a project, entitled Skins, conducted by Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace (AbTeC) (Concordia University), where Aboriginal youth, in partnership with game experts learn to create digital games based on stories from their communities. Upon reading the paper, it becomes evident that much thought has been put into this project through consultation and connection with the Aboriginal community. Protocol is important as noted in the article and in the references which demonstrate depth of research around appropriate methodologies. There is evidence of the principles of culturally responsive education: “ 1) flexible curriculum, 2) a dedicated instructor connected to the community, 3) defined roles, and 4) creative freedom”. In addition, upon completion of the project researchers were able to conclude that, “Stories from the community came alive for the students in both the telling and discussions about them, and, ultimately, in the game itself. They were then able to synthesize their own original story, and furthermore, transform that narrative into a gamespace and gameplay.”

DECOLONIZING ABORIGINAL EDUCATION IN THE 21ST CENTURY

https://www.erudit.org/revue/mje/2013/v48/n2/1020974ar.pdf

This article looks at the connections between First Nations education and the 21st century.  They look into the unique ways of First Nations knowing and those found in the 21st century movement.  Historically, the Aboriginal ways of  educating were diminished in very oppressive ways, such as Residential schools and now an effort is being made to decolonize education. Efforts have been made to  make necessary changes by way of adopting more Aboriginal perspective; however, there is still a lot to be done.  It looks at taking colonization head on and addressing it directly.

Module 2 post 5

Module 2.4 “We Are Still Here”

This is a short documentary about three young Native Americans who tell their story living in Minnesota.  They each speak about what it was like growing up in Minnesota that was different from their cultural way of life.  One young man gave an example about the way they use to get their meat from the grocery store and that he had no idea he could buy beef.  He thought everybody hunted and fished or went into the woods to get their meat.   Another girl felt she was more assimilated and didn’t practice her traditions/culture, while another mentioned that going to sweats and being ceremonial was not a part of her lifestyle.  It wasn’t until much older when each of them began experiencing their culture more.  Everyone was affected by colonization differently, and reminiscing about the “boarding school era” where the children grew up not knowing anything about their culture reinforced that the dominant culture is what you see inside of everybody. The historical trauma is still affecting people today and now it’s about trying to figure out how to move on, but more importantly, letting everyone else know that they are still here and have a strong culture to preserve and share.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnPKzZzSClM