Category Archives: MODULE 2

M2 Entry 2: AR/VR Technologies and Indigenous Practice

In the study by Wallis and Ross (2021), it is mentioned several times that the involvement of Indigenous people when designing, developing and creating Indigenous media is essential, as self-determination and authentic experiences are brought in. After learning about the importance of place-based knowledge and stories related to real experiences with sensory interactions, I started to wonder if the integration of AR/VR technologies can support sharing and creating digital Indigenous media that can also be applied to STEM education.

I’ve found some valuable resources on how AR/VR technologies were utilized by community members, elders, and Indigenous creators to tell their stories and make connections between the past, present and future (Wallis & Ross, 2021), which provided more direction for my final project:

I also came across an Indigenous VR game, Ksistsikoom which is a Canadian VR story game made in 2019 that takes you through the journey of a man who must challenge the powerful spirit, Thunder (Ksiistsikom). I would love to try this game out!

References

Wallis, K., & Ross, M. (2021). Fourth VR: Indigenous virtual reality practice. Convergence (London, England), 27(2), 313-329. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354856520943083

Module 2 Post 1: Taking appropriate action

Non-Indigenous educators are encouraged to take responsibility to acknowledge our lack of knowledge, learn about Indigenous history, and take action. But it has to be done in the right way. We are often reminded that mistakes will happen and that fear shouldn’t stop us. Susan Dion talks about appropriation. I believe this means adopting elements of one culture by members of another culture. Susan also discusses teachers being empathic, which is good, but it has its limitations. She brings out interesting points in this video series. A few things that stood out for me included (Lakehead University, 2021):

Teachers need to teach from the position that they occupy.
If you live on this land, then you are in a relationship with Indigenous people.
We all share this country’s history.
We feel most comfortable talking about the past. This is troubling because Indigenous people are not just people of the past.

I encourage you to watch this video series. Is there anything that Susan brings out that would help make you feel more comfortable with the Indigenization process as a non-Indigenous educator?

https://www.lakeheadu.ca/teaching-commons/indigenous-pedagogies-epistemologies/exploring-indigenous-education-a-video-series

Reference:

Lakehead University. (2021). Exploring Indigenous education: A video series. Teaching Commons. https://www.lakeheadu.ca/teaching-commons/indigenous-pedagogies-epistemologies/exploring-indigenous-education-a-video-series

M2 Entry 1: Culturally Inclusive EdTech

As I was researching ways to bring Indigenous knowledge into the classroom, I wanted to look into the potential negative impacts of technology and/or focuses when doing so. My previous posts have outlined the positive outcomes of using technology and STEM education to bring in Indigenous cultures but I wanted to explore more on how to carefully and mindfully implement a culture-based STEM curriculum. What are some things that should be avoided? How would I analyze if the process has been done the correct way?

Dyson et al., (2007) outline some guidelines and focuses for developing culturally inclusive education. In particular, I would like to share these three focuses:

Enable learning in wholes
Encourage observations and imitation
Utilize vernacular metaphors and languages

I liked that these focuses were wide enough to be implemented in different contexts but most importantly, that they emphasize bringing in the community, the region, and the whole place instead of the individuality of the cultures.

Other resources:

References

MODULE 2-Entry 1: Being a Non-Indigenous Ally

Public Domain Picture by John Hain

This video clip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2RP4V30h60, introduces Hannah Morikawa who talks about how being a non-Indigenous ally can change the world. What is ally-ship? Being a non-Indigenous ally takes a lifelong process of learning and building of relationships in order to amplify value and support to those voices that are wanting to be heard. Having the privilege to NOT speak for the Indigenous peoples, rather to use your privileged platforms and opportunities that many do not have so that we can all responsibly help implement systemic changes that includes and reflects Indigenous ways and knowledge. So we can all help begin to reverse the systemic and individual racial issues, stereotypes, discrimination, colonialism and the inter-generational traumas that the underrepresented Indigenous peoples have been subjected to for generations and will be subjected to for generations to come, if things do not change for the betterment of the people.

We can continue the healing process once we as a whole country and world begin to recognize that Canada was and still is a settler colonial country. Killings, rapes, kidnappings and enslavement of the Indigenous peoples-happened, how settlers manipulated nations to sign treaties to take their land-happened, to the controlling of resources/trades and profiting from it aka stealing-happened, the breaking up/separation of countless families happened,and the creation of reservation schools by government and church-happened, stereotypes and discrimination produced by mass media about the Indigenous culture-happened, how they were seen by most of the non-Indigenous public as ¨problematic/unacceptable¨-happened, and subjecting children to the worst forms of abuse, unfortunately also happened. (In regards to the very recent devastating news about the Kelowna reservation school, and what happened there…my eyes well up and my heart continues to break as I write this blog, for all the children and lives lost due to hate and/or ignorance.)

This resulted in the eradication of the Indigenous peoples, and the repercussions of these events leads us into the state we live in today. Where natural resource companies have more rights than the Indigenous peoples, where thousands of Indigenous girls and women are murdered/missing and no one was/is helping, where the majority of Indigenous communities have still have no access to food nor clean water, where half the children in foster care are of Indigenous descent-my list can go on. My question to you is, do you feel this country and its government are currently working for or against the Indigenous peoples? And can ally-ship help begin to rectify the wrong?

Reference:

TEDx Talks. (2018, May 28).Being a Non-Indigenous Ally -Keynote Speaker, Hannah Morikawa. TEDxCarletonUniversity. [Video].YouTube. Retrieved May 24, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2RP4V30h60

Teacher’s wear orange to bring awareness to Kamloops residential school

Module 2 – Entry 1 – Tyler Ohashi

This morning, I was reading CBC as I usually do and I read this article about school across BC are going to have their flags at hast mast from May 31 to June 4 and teachers are going to wear orange to help bring awareness to the atrocities that happened at a Kamloops residential school.

Image source: CBC News

The article was very impactful because it made me think of our responsibility as teachers to our students. We are a safe person for our students, someone they can come to if they need help, someone to look up to NOT someone they fear. I cannot imagine being fearful of school.

The horrors the students of these residential schools faced every day, left lifelong scares. Rich Joe, a member of the Chilliwack school district puts it like this,

“Joe’s traditional name is Skalúlalus and he is member of the Lil’wat Nation. He says he has family members who attended Kamloops Indian Residential School where the remains of 215 children were discovered this past week.

“I’m still dealing with it,” he said upon learning the news on Friday.

“I attended Indian Day School, so I’m a survivor as well and my grandmother attended that school … and I believe my grandfather did as well and I was devastated. I cried probably about 10 times yesterday.” (Pawson – CBC News, 2021).

Having found the remains of 215 children buried around the residential school in Kamloops residential school is a confirmation that students of this school had a real reason to fear school.

Hate is a strong word, but I hate that these students had to endure such a poor environment.

Reference:

Pawson, C. (2021, May 29). Teachers in B.C. to wear orange, hold special ceremonies over discovery of children’s remains | CBC News. CBCnews. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/teachers-in-b-c-to-wear-orange-hold-special-ceremonies-over-discovery-of-children-s-remains-1.6045964.