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.

Module 3 Tar Sands, cancer and becoming an Elder: Stories from Fort Chipewyan

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In my quest to understand more about the issues of FNMI, this blog and the story of Alice Rigney, as written by Emma Pullman, became very powerful and meaningful. In describing the tension between the First Nations values and the “cultural genocide”, I am once again haunted by what is happening in our world today. Greed and power and the disrespect for the land and the peoples is a theme we have discussed in our course. Here, through the medium of personal stories, we can gain greater understanding about the issues surrounding the tar sands and the effects on our First Nations peoples.

http://www.vancouverobserver.com/opinion/tar-sands-cancer-and-becoming-elder-stories-fort-chipewyan

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 🙂

 

Language Nests

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Module #3, Post #3

http://www.ece.gov.nt.ca/early-childhood-and-school-services/early-childhood/language-nests

This website link is from the Northwest Territoritories Education, Cutlure and Employment website. I came across it looking for more information about the language nest immersion approach used in New Zealand. This page gives a nice explanation as to what a language nest is and how they have been operating the NWT.

This website also gives information of official languages, healthy children initiatives, income security, etc.

Module 3- Post 4: Taino facts

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The Taino are yet another indigenous people that has resurrected themselves from extinction in the westernized  history book of the Caribbean . The Taino facts is a good starting point for those interested in learning more about these people. As noted on the site it is “An extension of the United Confederation of Taino People’s premier online news service the “Voice of the Taino People Online”, this educational initiative is dedicated to increasing the visibility of Indigenous Peoples from throughout the Caribbean region and the Diaspora in the Spirit of Our Ancestors”. It provides information on United Confederation of Taino People’s,the culture of the Taino people and the issues they face . In addition it provide links to other Taino site as shown below which makes a great resource for the subject.

This a another great example of how indigenous people are leveraging  web technology to recover their identity.