Module 4 – Entry 3
Tyler Ohashi
Acknowledgment is necessary to move forward
My research statement has me looking at Indigenous knowledge closely. As a middle-aged, white educator, when I think back on going through the school system, I had relatively few problems. As I research and learn about Indigenous experiences with the school system, it is clear that they did not have the same experience. Many (all) Indigenous students experience racism as it is built into the system (Lanson-Billings and Tate, 1995) and that a lot of the racism is invisible so it is difficult to bring it to the surface and address it (Hogarth and Fletcher, 2018). This is why my experience in school when I was younger was a pleasant experience, I did not know I was in a system that oppressed Indigenous people. I was in a system that legitimized the exclusion and segregation of Indigenous people into horrible institutions such as residential schools. Therefore, that horrible truth lived in the background until it was “found” by the news stories that are revealing the truths about residential schools. “We cannot begin to right a wrong, or grieve a loss, or mend a system, without first acknowledging the wrong that has been done, the loss that has occurred and the system that is broken (Hogarth and Fletcher, 2018).”
When I saw Manitoba’s new Indigenous relations minister’s comments about residential schools, I was a bit shocked! Is he a product of the same education system that I experienced? Does he really believe that residential schools had good intentions?
“Residential schooling was intended to root out and destroy Indigenous knowledge, languages, and relationships with the natural family to replace them with Eurocentric values, identities, and beliefs that ultimately were aimed at destroying children’s self-esteem, self-concept, and healthy relationships with each other and their families (Battiste, 2017, p.56).”
Therefore, I am validated in the importance of reworking my practice to be inclusive of Indigenous knowledge. I would like to expand my practice to be more inclusive to all my students. Historically, teachers are the ones that have been used to try to assimilate Indigenous peoples (Jones Brayboy & Maughan, 2009) so we can be the ones to make a change in a positive direction, one that is more inclusive.
References:
Battiste, M. (2017). Decolonizing Education: Nourishing the Learning Spirit. Purich Publishing.
Ladson-Billings, G., & Tate IV, W. F. (1995). Toward a critical race theory of education. Teachers College Record, 97, 47–68.
Hogarth, K., & Fletcher, W. L. (2018). A space for race: Decoding racism, multiculturalism, and post-colonialism in the quest for belonging in Canada and beyond. Oxford University Press. (Read Chapter 1- Race, racism and antiracism in Canada– pp. 1-23).
Jones Brayboy, B. M., & Maughan, E. (2009). Indigenous knowledges and the story of the bean. Harvard Educational Review, 79(1), 1-21.