Tag Archives: IndigenousPerspectives

M4, P2: Storytelling and Perspective through Film

I have shared how I have explored ways to help students tell their stories, whether through different accessible tools or resources online. I think it is also important for students to view examples of the power and impact of digital storytelling, such as through film. I found the website, Short of the Week, which offers, through their YouTube tab, access to various short documentaries, dramas, comedies, etc. that tell stories about serious issues and themes that could be discusses in class. When looking through the site, I was able to find films from Canada and the film, Gas Can caught my eye. It is a short drama about “a Cree family who run out of gas [and] ask an old farmer for help while moving to the city,” set in Saskatchewan in the 1970’s. It is created by a non-Indigenous filmmaker, Mattias Graham and deals with racism. When reading more information about it and the filmmaker’s point of view, I found it interesting that Graham was trying to tell the story through the perspective of an Indigenous person through this empathy, but he shares that in his first attempt and test screenings, he actually made the audience “ very sympathetic toward the white farmer” and “in trying to make a film about racism, [he’d] inadvertently made a racist film.” He had to then re-examine the film and put the focus on the Cree family and not the white farmer. I think this could be an important discussion or topic to address when it comes to filmmaking and perspective prior to beginning the storytelling process.

Short of the Week. (2021). Gas Can. Short of the Week. https://www.shortoftheweek.com/2020/06/09/gas-can/

M3, P2: Incorporating Indigenous Perspectives in the Classroom

Growth

“Growth” by AdamSelwood is licensed under CC BY 2.0

My final paper explores how to embed the First Peoples Principles of Learning in my classroom community, which involves incorporating Indigenous perspectives within my teaching practices. When looking into ways this has been implemented, I found an article based in Australia, which shares some of the same ideas we have been talking about in our discussions within this course when it comes to our problematic educational system. Neil Harrison’s chapter, “Teaching Indigenous Perspectives in the 21st Century Classroom: An Exploration of Quality Pedagogy in Australian Schools” (2009) reveals that within education, Indigenous people are often referred to in the past tense and there is not enough of an understanding of Indigenous knowledge or ways of doing to be appropriately shared or represented within teaching and learning. Harrison reveals the importance of the role teachers play in developing relationships and understandings between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. He also asks teachers to “reassess their own place in history” and invest in learning, both during pre-service teacher training and after. I think this is very valid as I know  reconciliation really does start with us educators and the education system.

Harrison, N. (2009). Teaching Indigenous perspectives in the 21st century classroom: An exploration of quality pedagogy in Australian schools in V. Green & S. Cherrington (Eds.), Delving into diversity: An  international exploration of issues of diversity in education (pp. 99-108). Nova Science Publishers. http://ndl.ethernet.edu.et/bitstream/123456789/28470/1/1.pdf.pdf#page=130