Module 3: Saskatchewan Prevention Institute

Saskatchewan Prevention Institute

This site is a wealth of information related to maintaining healthy children through practical education. One of our topics lately has related to parental involvement in holistic education of First Nations children, and this site supports many facets of this education. There are tabs that provide support for parents about how to educate their children on topics such as:

  • Sexual health
  • Alcohol and other substance
  • Prevention of injury
  • Reproductive health
  • Being a young parent
  • Mental health

Interestingly, there is also a tab called ‘First Nations Traditional Teachings’ where an overview is provided of core cultural values; here is an excerpt:

Traditional knowledge is information that is passed down from generation-to-generation, often by Elders and healers, and often shared through storytelling. Historically, First Nations people had protocols, customary laws and social conventions that were negatively overshadowed or forgotten with European contact and more recently with the experiences people had in residential schools. However, many First Nations people feel that it is time to reclaim the traditional cultural values to help prepare young people to make healthy life choices, including their sexuality and reproductive health.”

At the bottom of the page, there is also an overview provided of a DVD called ‘Traditional Teachings: A Journey from Young Child to Young Adult’, along with a series of helpful clips that support many of the main topics from the site, and that relate to topics that have surfaced lately in some of our discussions. I find this particular resource to be quite interesting because it is a way for Elders and parents to educate their children using a modern medium that embeds storytelling and traditional values.

Module 3: ‘Engaging First Nations Parents in Education: An Examination of Best Practices’

‘Engaging First Nations Parents in Education: An Examination of Best Practices’

The interview between Dr, Marker and Heather was very interesting because it caused me to really think for the first time about how the skill of parenting, and the notion of pastoral care within families, was impacted by the removal of children into residential schools. I knew aspects of this history, but, as I’ve said in posts lately, I did not make a firm connection between these two events. I find this resource from Chiefs of Ontario.org to be an interesting address of this issue, and it overviews some policy documents that shows how parental engagement in First Nations education developed. Here is an excerpt from the paper by Lise Chabot:

“Parental involvement in education is not a concept that is distinct to First Nations people in North America nor is it a struggle that only First Nations people embark upon. What distinguishes the First Nations situation from others is the culture, languages and world view that they bring to the equation – none of which exist anywhere else in the world – and the number of stakeholders – Departments, Ministries, School Boards – that must be cajoled to realize First Nations‟ goals. These groups have posed and will continue to pose the biggest challenge to accomplishing a meaningful degree of parental and community involvement in First Nations education. At the same time, however, given the difficult realities these same groups are now encountering in the realm of education, they may also prove to be our greatest allies.”

I find this site to be useful because it shows an emergence in the movement to involve parents in various stages of education (early years, middle and high school). It is also informative about how the Ontario government has integrated parental involvement in First Nations education over time.

Indigenous Knowledge and Pedagogy, Mod 3 -Post 4

Perhaps my first mistake was making the assumption that the word pedagogy could be used to describe indigenous knowledge. After reading Battiste’s (2002) Indigenous Knowledge and Pedagogy, First Nations Literature Review with Recommendations, it became extremely obvious that the idea of pedagogy and literature reviews are both extremely Eurocentric.

My hypothesis – which formed as result of working with FNMI students, learners, elders and communities over the last year-  is that that the traditions, values and key features of indigenous knowledge appears to be what Eurocentric pedagogy is searching for. The way to learn is already out there.

So- I am not surprised that I will have to reconsider my wording, and vocabulary is order to compare and contrast the way we could learn.

Since I can already tell this topic is way too deep for me, I am going to create a project that introduces the common definitions of emerging/current European centric pedagogy, try to create a story about indigenous knowledge and then link current examples of how FNMI educators are integrating technology within these different  frameworks.

Of course – this all developed out of my original question – how do we develop “value” for learning (give credit?) in alternative programs with FNMI youth? When you think about assessment – you have to ask yourself – what is the learning objective and how do we plan on getting there? That’s how my new project emerged.

The project outline is on a wiki and the framework looks like this:

Home Page – Indigenous Pedagogy

Page 1 – Constructivism – Inquiry Based Learning – google Hangout (and examples)

Page 2- Connectivism – MOOCs – open learning OER’s – open practice

Page 3 – Adventure Learning (and examples)

Page 4 – Place Based/ Experiential Learning

Page 5 – Chart comparing pedagogies – Summary – Need a collaboration and awareness of “emerging” and “traditional” pedagogies

Page 6 – Assessment options – Creating programs with alternative assessment practices and integrated technology based on indigenous pedagogy (Brief summary of indigenous assessment research)

Page 7- Examples of possible tech integrated programs based on “collaboration” of pedagogies

Metis Camp Blog example http://www.forwardlooking.ca/wp/

Sister School Exchange  Alaska – http://youtu.be/aQZ_NU5g95M

Page 8 – Resources/References

Any thoughts, examples or links would be greatly appreciated.

Verena 🙂

MOBILE APPS AND INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE LEARNING

I was searching through Google Scholar this morning and was pleased to find a very, recent Master’s paper (written in 2013) that was created by a graduate student, Winoka Rose Begay, at the University of Arizona.  The theme of her paper is “NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN THE FIELD OF INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE REVITALIZATION”.  Winoka focuses on mobile technology and how it can be used with indigenous communities.  She discusses the language learning software that is available for learning indigenous languages.  In addition, she examines online learning, technology-based language projects, language websites and virtual worlds.

It was interesting to see that there are also indigenous language immersion programs in the United States, similar to the Chief Atham school in Chase, B.C.  Winoka also gives examples of communities such as the Navajo, who have community members under 40 years old who are either latent speakers of the language or who don’t speak Navajo at all.  There is a fear amongst community members that teaching the language will only hinder the children’s academic performance.

This is an excellent reference for my final paper, since it goes along exactly with my theme of revitalizing native languages.

References

Begay, W. (2013). Mobile Apps and Indigenous language learning: New Developments in the Field

          of Indigenous Language Revitalization.  Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate

          Interdisciplinary Program in American Indian Studies.  Masters of Arts at the University of

          Arizona.

Some books…

Module 3, Post 4

I’ve found a couple of online e-books (accessible through the UBC library) that deal with photography and representation with an emphasis on Aboriginal people.

The first is titled Reservation X… from the brief glance I had it’s more about photography and art through contemporary Aboriginal eyes. Here’s a website that goes along with the book:

http://nmai.si.edu/exhibitions/reservation_x/intro.htm

The other book I found is Photography’s Other Histories. This one is a bit more broad in its intent, and the essays tend to focus more on social-activist issues in photography within a post-colonial framework. I’ll have to comb through the essays to see if there are any nuggets in there.

[update]

There are indeed some golden nuggets in the latter book. One fascinating essay is Poignant’s “The Making of Professional Savages”. What a tragic tale for those australian aboriginals, specially Tembo whose body was eventually displayed in a museum, and ended up in almost being forgotten in the basement of a funeral home. Who would’ve guessed the circus had such a strong influence on Native American objectification.

Pinney, C., & Poignant, R. (2003). The Making of Professional “Savages” From P.T. Barnum (1883) To the Sunday Times (1998). Photography’s other histories (pp. 55-84). Durham: Duke University Press.

 

The power to name and photograph

Module 3, Post 3

Theresa Harlan’s essay “Adjusting the Focus for an Indigenous Presence” has really helped to focus (no pun intended) many of my thoughts. I really enjoyed the way she ends it:

“While frontier photographers believed they were photographing our demise, anthropologists and historians were elegizing us and tourists were buying images of us at the “end of the trail”–we, as indigenous people, were just beginning to focus the camera for an indigenous presence.

Hot damn! (sorry, I know that’s rather uncouth for a graduate level course) but she really nailed it here. They’ve always been here, but the way they have been portrayed by the dominant society has led them to what she earlier discusses as the “absence of our presence”…in a nutshell they have been here, but have had no platform to share and represent their culture, besides what was given to them by the dominant society.

The camera is a powerful technology because the photographs it can produce have the power, like so much art, to really affect the emotional response of its viewer.

After looking at some modern work, one thing that has struck me by a number of contemporary photographers is there seems to be a passive aggressive stance as to why they photograph. Larry McNeil’s work “Fly by Night Mythology” contains passages that are at times uncomfortable and a turn-off. Rather than represent his culture, he brings up the past and throws it at his viewers expecting them to make sense of it without much context. This is so different from the work of someone like Nadya Kwandibens or Lee Marmon, who represent first-nations in a more positive light, and in a context that shows their character and strengths.

Squiers, C., & Harlan, T. (1999). Adjusting the Focus for an Indigenous Presence. Over exposed: essays on contemporary photography (p. 134152). New York: New Press.

Module 3 – Technology, Community Reality, & Media – Due July 15

http://indigenous.athabascau.ca/ – Athabasca University

This webpage is actually a link to the Athabasca University page.

On this page it highlights programs and courses, resources, as well as the access to information on conferences, guest speakers and a public outreach and education program.  Since Module 3 has begun, we have focused on indigenous knowledge as well as the question “Can an Indigenous person who is educated in a mainstream research university ever be a representative of a traditional Indigenous community?”

This webpage shows the University’s initiative behind individualized study as well as many technology-assisted distance education programs.  This university is taking into account the difficulty of accessing all communities in a country.  They offer diplomas, bachelor’s degrees and graduate degrees (with sufficient student numbers) in locations where university education is not ordinarily offered.  Their aim at this school is to foster the intellectual growth of students through the quality post-secondary education that is determined by the philosophies and values of Indigenous peoples. They mention that they keep indigenous contexts close with history, spirituality, governance, law and health being a main concern in their programs.  They believe in connecting world view and culture and note that indigenous education is a lifelong process which involves traditions and elements not normally reflected in educational settings or institutions.  Therefore to re-address the question above, I do believe that an indigenous person can be educated in a university and be able to hold onto their traditions and culture as well in order to bring new education back to their community.

http://www.unesco.org/most/bpindi.htm – Best Practices on Indigenous Knowledge

The Netherlands Organization for International Cooperation in Higher Education/Indigenous Knowledge (NUFFIC/IK)

This webpage is a database which concentrates in indigenous knowledge covering Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, North America and Latin America and Carribean.

You can see the specific page for Best Practices on Indigenous Knowledge in Canada by looking through the site here: http://www.unesco.org/most/bpik20-2.htm

Currently there are approximately 540 First Nation Bands in Canada with their own culture, dialect and traditional territories.  This site talks about the Generative Curriculum Model: A bicultural, community-based approach to building capacity for Early Childhood Care and Development in Indigenous communities in Canada.  The curriculum was made in partnership with the First Nations Partnership Programs. (www.fnpp.org). The FNPP focuses on Elder Involvement, Community-based delivery and Community-Appropriate training.  The curriculum focuses on community development, cultural identity, education, ethnic groups and teaching.  The program is created to reflect different indigenous knowledge and goals.  This site would be a good reference for corresponding practices and partnerships involving the expertise of different indigenous groups in Canada.

http://www.indigenousmedia.ca/ – National Indigenous Media Association of Canada (NIMAC)

This is a newly formed association in Canada – (Formed in 2012) to represent common interests of Indigenous broadcasting and telecommunications in Canada.

This website was created to strengthen the indigenous communication sector by making sure that indigenous communication service providers are heard and addressed when there are changes to legislation and regulations.

This website identifies key issues concerning indigenous broadcasters, telecommunications, and areas that are under-served by modern broadcasting/internet services.

The website has multiple resources for history of indigenous peoples in broadcasting sectors of Canada.  It also has a timeline of Canadian Indigenous history of media.  Since this Module asked us the question: “Can technology be useful in supporting Indigenous communities’ efforts to de-colonize values and thoughts?” I feel that this website can help answer this question… specifically in the media/technology area.

https://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1100100037493/1100100037495 – Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada

Community reality was touched upon in Module 3.  This really dives deeper into what is the Canadian arctic and how indigenous peoples interact with it.  This website provides information and brings into context the continuing challenges that certain indigenous peoples of Canada face in remote northern regions.  This page provides statistics on percentages of indigenous populations up north as well as issues with economy, physical geography, politics and more.

http://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/?id=9432 – Indigenous Foundations (University of British Columbia)

This is a webpage for a class called Indigenous Foundations through the University of British Columbia.

This page provides information on terminology, aboriginal identity, land rights, government policies, community and politics, culture, and global indigenous issues. What is really important on this page (which ties us into our thoughts on Module 3) is the relationship between assimilation and western education.  This dives deeper into the residential school system (also off the webpage – http://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/home/government-policy/the-residential-school-system.html) which has been a large focus in our last week on Module 3.  This webpage does not only provide a lot of basic and important information on indigenous peoples, but also supplies multiple references, video resources and guide pages into future study of indigenous cultures.

Ginsberg’s Faustian Contract

Module 3, Post 2

Much of what Ginsberg has to state about the faustian nature of using media for self-representation is fascinating. It’s something that other philosophers have alluded to, though not in quite such devilish language.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1525/can.1991.6.1.02a00040/abstract

If you get a chance to read this article, and then try to understand Flusser’s “Technical image” and the science behind it and Van Gerwen’s “Abstract Image” in light of this “Faustian” contract, you’ll see how tricky photography can be when it comes to self-representation.

Here’s a little discussion on Flusser:

http://mandptheory.wordpress.com/2009/03/01/vilem-flusser-the-technical-image/

I think this is where living out cultural obligations can help to fend off the reinterpretation of images. I say this because an image is an object, and like any object, it can be reinterpreted if it’s not lived out/used. I think this goes back to the notion that just because modern society deconstructs everything, doesn’t mean we need to stop living out our moral/ethical and social responsibilities to our communities/beliefs.

 

Interactive Resource: Residential Schools

Where are All the Children? Healing the Legacy of Residential Schools

Module 3: Blog #5

Website: http://www.wherearethechildren.ca/flash/WATCSite.html

I found this site when I first visited “Legacy of Hope Foundation” which is my first blog in module three. The depth of resources available in this site is phenomenal. The site has many links that lead to different sections. Starting with the blackboard, which uses pictures, oral and written text that outlines the history of residential schools and the impact it had on Indigenous Peoples in Canada. Another section examines a map of Canada, moving chronologically showing the location of Residential Schools from Confederation to present. The 3D tour of a Mohawk residential school provides a glimpse into the negative impact of colonialism. This inquiry based site, also use video to digitize the stories of Residential School Survivors.

This site is a valuable resource, which I will use in teaching “First Nations Studies” at Chilliwack Secondary School. I believe, this site represents a proactive approach to revising the lens of colonialism and re-examining the impact that Residential Schools had on Indigenous people across Canada. My project on the Nisga’a website, also examines residential schools, but form their communities’ perspective. Because this site is interactive, set in a Web 2.0 learning platform, there is not any outside links to resources.

This link is pdf found in the bookcase section of the website, outlining how to use the resoucres in found in the site as a education resource within the classroom. I am very impressed with the depth of interactive material within this site.  http://www.wherearethechildren.ca/flash/assets/pdf/TeachersGuide.pdf

Reconciliation through Youth Dialogue: A Federal Government Initiative

Canadian Roots Exchange

Module 3: Blog #4

Website: http://canadianroots.ca/

The Canadian Roots Exchange (CRE) is Federal initiative in Canada that brings together Indigneous and non-Indigenous youth to build relationships and break down sterotypes. The cross-national programs offered by the CRE create a dialogue to foster understanding and reconciliation. However, the cost of the sending youth to workshops, (I day to 2 days) averages about $400., which may put this out of reach for many youth who come from low income families, even though the CRE does offer some bussaries to cover the cost.

The concept of reconciliation, by creating dialogue between Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth is an excellent proactive approach to creating understanding and trust, thus addressing the yoke of colonialism.  However, the CRE is a Federal initiative, and in many ways can be precieved as having a hidden agenda. Although, I would not speculate on this agenda, the record of “Indian Affairs” in Canada is directly linked to colonialism and cultural genocide.

As my journey of research expands, I am trying to examine government sites, while attempting to remove my lens of view as ingrained into my education in regards to First Nations. This site, contrasts the Nisga’a government website, in that it is a blending of cultures as Indigenous, whereas the Nisga’a present themselves; as Nisga’a.

Addition Links: There is various education resources available, from reading list to videos..

This You Tube video is about First Nation Hero’s; I have always examined role models in a good light, but as the concept of hero’s or hero worship is problematic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ul4KmHlzMc

This video comes with a $25 download cost. This is a CRE video that examines the benefits of bring together the two cultures, as an aspect of reconciliation: http://canadianroots.ca/en/photos-videos/?gallery=videos#!prettyPhoto[videos]/0/