Category Archives: Module 3

Mandatory Indigenous “Content” or “Pedagogy” – Search is on – Mod 3, Post 3

Based on Heather McGregor’s article and audiocast this week – I have been researching which provinces in Canada have some kind of mandatory first nations curriculum – but more importantly – how is the content taught? Like the article about the curriculum changes suggests in Nunavut, is the content and curriculum taught based on traditional indigenous pedagogical values?

The values are focused on listening to elders,

The document offers a source of Inuit Elder knowledge and an application of that knowledge to the context of schooling, including: a vision for the purpose of education based on an Inuit story; explanation of the Inuit beliefs that provide a foundation for Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, including referring directly to the laws of relationships, cycle of seasons, cycle of life, and circle of belonging already described in Inuuqatigiit; the philosophy of a learning continuum and stages within the continuum, described in traditional Inuit terms of individual life-long learning and development; cross-curricular competencies based on principles of IQ ; and Inuit educational philosophies regarding inclusive education, language instruction, assessment and pedagogies

The strands in Nunavut curriculum policy are based on:

•Nunavusiutit

: heritage, culture, history, geography, environmental science,

civics, economics, current events, world news.

•Iqqaqqaukkaringniq

: math, innovation, problem-solving, technology, practical arts.

•Aulajaaqtut

: wellness, safety, society, survival, volunteerism.

•Uqausiliriniq

communication, creative and artistic expression, critical thinking.

(McGregor, 2012, p.13)

I have started with BC (no mandatory credit course) . This is the link to an article about the attempt to promote a mandatory course on First Nations http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Education+group+asks+mandatory+aboriginal+studies+course+schools/7819205/story.html

I also found this information about the legislation of a First Nations Education Act http://www.fnesc.ca/national-legislation

Alberta has no mandatory course.

The general focus on learning about indigenous cultural content – and not on pedagogy. More work to be done!

Verena 🙂

References:

McGregor, H. E. (2012b). Curriculum change in Nunavut: towards Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit. McGill Journal of Education, 47(3), 285-302 .

Module 3, Post 1

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I’ve been reading the book “Our People, Our Land, Our Images” and something that Hulleah J. Tsinhhnahjinnie said is where I think I’ll be developing my thesis…”The very same medium that exacerbated colonial tensions is now used as a tool for Indigenous empowerment and sovereignty by exerting an authority over how, when, and why Indigenous peoples choose to be imaged.” This little statement can be further examined in terms of technological intent of the camera, which is something that philosopher Willem Flusser discusses…because it’s a Western technology, does that necessarily change the empowerment and the sovereignty Indigenous people have recovered? What I mean by this is the self-representation afforded to them adulterated in some way so that it’s almost a facade, a shadow of the true representation? I suppose this could be said of all photographs. In the long run Aboriginal self-representation, will, I believe move into the realm of art, which is something that Ursula Johnson alludes to in her TED talk:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HHvaZKFgRA

My fear is once in the realm of art it becomes again an object to be placed inside a museum or a gallery. This is where a fine line between living out cultural obligations/aspirations becomes important to self-representation. The photograph itself is merely a representation, and that must never be forgotten or supersede what goes on in the real world.

Tsinhnahjinnie, H., & Passalacqua, V. (2006). Our people, our land, our images: international indigenous photographers. Davis, Calif.: C.N. Gorman Museum, University of California, Davis

Weblog of Websites for Module # 3

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I decided to focus my paper on the Ojibway, otherwise spelt Ojibwe or Ojibwa, First Nations communities. This weblog concentrates on their relations with the environment, which is the topic of my essay. It begins with technology-based media that represents Ojibway culture, including information on their traditions related to the land. It then provides links related to Ojibway treaty rights and land claims, which have significance for their connections to the environment and territory-based rights.

Website # 1: http://www.ojibweculture.ca

The website for the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation provides information on the people of the Robinson Huron Treaty area in Ontario. This organization aims to preserve and protect Ojibwe culture. It provides information on cultural events and workshops, and ways to learn about the Ojibwe peoples. It also has learning resources for children, particularly an animation of Nanabush, who is a figure in Ojibwe legends. These resources teach oral traditions and the native language and can be found through the following link: http://nanabush.ca. This website presents information relevant to the environment, such as hunting practices and seasonal changes.

Website # 2: http://www.ojibwe.org

This link provides six video clips from a television series that depicts the history and traditions of the Anishinaabe-Ojibwe tribe located in the Great Lakes region, which includes 19 bands. The majority of these videos relate to Objibwe cultural connections with the environment, such as the one entitled “We are All Related”, which describes pre- and post-colonial environmental interactions.

Website # 3: http://www.tribalyouthmedia.org

The Tribal Youth Media website enables First Nations children to showcase videos they created about the natural environment. In particular, the website focuses on the Ojibwe peoples of the Great Lakes region and includes information on their treaty rights and hunting practices. I found the following video about how climate change affects the Ojibwe culture particularly informative: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=9y7er2ebQTE#at=25.

Website # 4: http://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1100100028667/1100100028669

This website, provided by Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, has a link to the Treaty No. 3 document, which is the treaty that pertains to the Ojibway peoples. This treaty explains their land claim rights, which are of importance for Ojibway relations to the environment and their cultural rights pertaining to their homeland. In addition to the treaty document, this website provides an interpretation of the treaty, including a historical background of its development, an explanation of its negotiations and a description of its implementation. This interpretation also contains information on dealings with land ownership between the government and Ojibway peoples.

Website # 5: http://www.gct3.net

The link for the Grand Chief’s Office of Treaty No. 3 provides the Ojibwe perspective to the treaty, contrasting to the government standpoint provided in the above weblog entry. This website provides contact information for the bands applicable to the treaty and links to their community websites. It also explains the history of Treaty No. 3 and contains a document with Chief Powasson’s logs from the initial signing of the agreement. Furthermore, the website has information on laws that pertain to the treaty, including those related to land rights.

Module 3- Post 5: The Indigenous Caribbean portal on Ning

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The Indigenous Caribbean portal on the Ning platform @ http://indigenouscaribbean.ning.com/ is a great example of how the indigenous people of the Caribbean are making use of technology both to reclaim and preserve their culture. The welcome message on the site encourages one to: create their own on-site blog; a new discussion on the network message board; music; video and photo slideshows that can then be played on any site across the Web. With so many options at their disposal the members of this site have produce a resource that has something for everyone from researcher to tribe member. For example Maximilian Forte is a professor of anthropology in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Concordia University who’s research interests have focused on the Carib Community of Arima, Trinidad is found here, so also is the Turabo Taino Jaguar Warrior Society of Puerto Rico are also on a quest to honor their Boricua warriors the Boriqueneers that fought for the US in world war two. Ignacio G. Rivera’s question “where do we fit in? It seems like we are constantly fighting to prove that the Taino exists” in one of the discussion forums speaks for many indigenous people of the Caribbean and the world. Finally the article Guyana Police batters Indigenous Family on their Traditional Land… mining is now a problem to indigenous peoples in Guyana uses video to graphically illustrates an encounter of one indigenous group with the police as they tried to protect their lands.

Braiding Histories

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Dion, S. D., & Dion, M. R. (2004). The braiding histories stories. Journal of the Canadian Association for Curriculum Studies, 2(1), 77-100.

I started reading the work of Susan and Michael Dion because Heather McGregor recommended it, on hearing of my enthusiasm for the power of story. This sibling pair has published many articles, and it was difficult to choose just one for this weblog. I’m very interested in Susan Dion’s work with adolescent girls, their self-image, and their stories, but as far as I can find out she has presented that work verbally at conferences and it has not been published. If anyone knows differently, please let me know!

I identified with the position that the Dions find themselves in, culturally. They are of mixed Indigenous and non-Indigenous heritage, and they ask themselves the following questions – “Can you be Aboriginal if you didn’t grow up within an Aboriginal community? If you had no access to Aboriginal languages, to cultural practices, are you still Aboriginal? What does it mean to be Aboriginal?” (78). Those are important questions that many urban Indigenous students struggle with.

Like the previous article that I posted, the authors here provide stories to their audience, so that the audience can ponder the meaning and learn from the stories. The stories show the realities of Aboriginal life, and the systemic discrimination that Aboriginal people still face.

A Few Stories (of many)

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Mancini, R. (2007). Telling their stories. Education Forum, 33(2), 15-17.

“Take [this] story. It’s yours. Do with it what you will. Tell it to friends. Turn it into a television movie. Forget it. But don’t say in the years to come that you would have lived your life differently if only you had heard this story. You’ve heard it now.” -Thomas King

This article opens with King’s thought-provoking quotation. The meaning that I take from it is that there is power and responsibility in sharing stories, in being a storyteller or an audience.

Mancini then quotes startling statistics about violence against Indigenous women in Canada, including the fact that, in the last decade, more than 500 Indigenous women have gone missing in Canada, and that Indigenous women are “eight times more likely [than their non-Indigenous counterparts] to be killed by their spouses after separating, to be forced into a life of drugs and prostitution, or to contract HIV” (15). These statistics are particularly relevant to me, as my students are all female, but they should be repugnant to all. The article then offers the stories of women who have been traumatized by the colonial government, through loss of status, residential schools, and other horrors. Although the article isn’t specifically about education, it relates to the idea of culturally responsive schooling:

“Kerrie and Sara were educated in systems where not one of their teachers looked like them or taught in a manner that was culturally like their own. In class they were often asked to provide the “Indian” opinion, as if they could speak for all Indigenous peoples… Janie struggled within the mainstream education system. She didn’t see how the knowledge she gained there related to her daily life. Her classes were not taught in her native tongue, and the traditional ways of her people were “add-ons” to course curriculum” (16).

What will the audience do, since they’ve heard these stories now?

Culturally Responsive Schooling

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Castagno, A. E., & Brayboy, B. M. J. (2008). Culturally responsive schooling for indigenous youth: A review of the literature. Review of Educational Research 7 (8), 941-993. DOI: 10.3102/0034654308323036.

This article is much more than just a literature review. Its 192 source (!) reference list could function as a library shelf of relevant literature – I invite you to scan it looking for sources to support your own research and projects. Incidentally, it cites our own Dr. Marker. Further, the article does not just review the literature; it critically analyzes the common themes presented and the areas that can still be improved.

“Culturally Responsive Schooling” – the title caught my attention because teaching methods that enhance teacher-student relationships are the focus of my research. Because of the broad spectrum of research reviewed, however, this article is relevant to all ETEC 521 students. I think everyone should use this as a reference!

The review begins with dismal statistics for Indigenous student achievement in the United States. The authors acknowledge that most teachers and districts are interested in ways to address the disparity, but state that the plethora of research can be daunting. Their aim is to gather, condense, and synthesize the literature to make it more accessible. Included are a history of Indigenous schooling, a rationale for culturally responsive schooling, an overview of culturally responsive curriculum and pedagogy, necessary teacher attributes, issues and challenges that arise with culturally responsive schooling, and a summary of the most successful culturally responsive schooling methods.

The authors stress that truly culturally responsive schooling will be a lengthy process of change involving the effort and goodwill of many intricate systems. The knowledge exists, as they show: implementation must begin/continue.

Indigenous Renaissance – Naturalizing Indigenous Knowledge

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Battiste, M., & Henderson, J. S. Y. (2009). Naturalizing indigenous knowledge in eurocentric education. Canadian Journal of Native Education, 32(1), 5-18.

This article is primarily focused on how indigenous languages are a source of indigenous knowledge. For those of you interested in the study and preservation of indigenous languages, I highly recommend this article. Its positive and powerful diction is infectious – the article will get you excited about the “Indigenous Renaissance”.

There’s another reason this article is exciting, too; remember the previous discussion thread where we discussed the idea that some math (i.e. straight lines as the shortest route from A – B) was contradictory to Indigenous knowledge? That inspired me to learn more about ways in which the curriculum was Eurocentric, and this article speaks to that. The authors assert the idea that “through its applications and teachings, [Eurocentric knowledge] has long ignored, neglected, or rejected Indigenous knowledge as primitive, barbaric, and inferior, centering and privileging European methodologies and perspectives” (6). That idea is not new, but this article goes further, exemplifying ways that teachers can avoid these harmful practices. It concludes with concrete suggestions for teachers who want their classrooms to be more culturally inclusive, creating “potential for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal learners in trans-systemic ways that European knowledge alone cannot do” (13).

“Storywork” – Add it to the lexicon

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Archibald, J. (2008). Indigenous storywork: Educating the heart, mind, body, and spirit. Vancouver BC: UBC Press.

This ebook can be accessed via http://site.ebrary.com/lib/ubc/docDetail.action?docID=10348906

I’ve been looking at ways for non-indigenous teachers to teach more sensitively to indigenous students in mixed-culture classrooms, to improve teacher-student relationships and to increase indigenous student retention. ‘Story’ is something that continuously appears – the power of story to re-frame history, to teach, to draw students’ attention. It’s a way that indigenous philosophy can become more fundamentally entrenched in the learning of students. However, story, like any other cultural tool, must be handled sensitively. This book is written expressly to that purpose. It informs readers of the nuances of story – whose story is this? Can it be shared? What’s its purpose? It also helps readers learn to effectively use story as a teaching tool – storywork. It looks at how story can be incorporated into the classroom at every age level (from primary to adult). Best of all, it tells some stories!

This book will be helpful to any teacher wanting to include more Aboriginal viewpoints and education into their own practice. Chapter Four, “The Power of Story to Educate the Heart” (pp100-117) is particularly relevant to teachers of secondary and adult learners.

Adventure Learning – Mod 3 – Post 2

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At the #EdMedia Conference last week I was lucky enough to be at three sessions presented by Jeni Henrickson from the University of Minnesota, USA. She presented on behalf of Aaron Doering, Charles Miller and Cassie Scharber as well.

This is the video from Aaron’s TED talk:

Sorry -can’t seem to embed the video today, here’s the link: http://youtu.be/hfrIUoGqxfw

I used the video in my discussion post last week.

What Jeni introduced me to was the concept of, “adventure learning”. It means that students can learn from around the world by following on “adventures” of others. Technology is used to support the communication between students and educators to help everyone learn and explore together.

What appealed to me most was the evidence of learning from primary sources in first nations communities.

We learned about the following projects which can be found on the LT Media Lab’s Homepage: http://lt.umn.edu/

and in this video from a talk Aaron Goering did last month:

http://youtu.be/MCL5lQgTcv8

I am now reviewing the two papers that appealed to me most:

Designing for Learning Engagement in Remote Communities Worldwide

and

Toward User-Driven Adventure Learning: Combining Inquiry-Based Adventure with Technology-Enhanced Learning

This week I plan on writing up notes to share with others and review the possible options that this group has already created.

Verena 🙂