Tag Archives: culture and learning

Module 4 Post 3: Teaching History from an Indigenous Perspective: Four Winding Paths up the Mountain, Michael Marker

Marker, M. (n.d.) Teaching history from an indigenous perspective: Four winding paths up the mountain. [Course Materials] Retrieved from http://connect.ubc.ca

This chapter by Marker gives key insight into the development of a culturally responsive curriculum from the context of teaching history, though its application is in many ways cross curricular. Marker identifies and elaborates on four themes of indigenous historical understanding that do not integrate well into Western world views and pedagogies. These are:

“the circular nature of time and the ways oral tradition is integrated with recurring events…
the central theme of relationships with landscape and non-humans
an emphasis on the local landscapes as containing the meaning of both time and place rather than on analyses of global social and political change; and
indigenous narratives and perspectives on the histories of colonization that have attempted to displace and replace indigenous knowledge.”

Frequent within these themes are colonial dichotomies that minimize and devalue indigenous world views and limit the opportunities for indigenous self-determination and decolonization. These appear to develop from the differing world view in which the dominant culture strives for “progress” in an objective materialistic sense –“bigger, higher, newer, faster being preferred over smaller, lower, older or slower” and the indigenous cultures’ world view of primarily seeking to live better in a holistic sense that honours relationships with place, people and non-humans alike. The resulting values and beliefs (of both the dominant culture and the indigenous) are thus cemented in childhood–long before formal First Nations Studies courses (BC Curriculum) in high school address them. This emphasizes the necessity for culturally responsive curricula much earlier in elementary, both to slow the (sometimes unintentional) colonization progress by the culturally ignorant dominant culture and provide legitimacy to aboriginal students making sense of their traditional world view within the Western hegemony, as colonization is not only a physical, social and economic occurrence, it is a cognitive one as well.

Module 4- Post 1: The indigenous portal website

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As the end of my ETEC 521 journey draws near and I am hammering away at my final paper the indigenous portal website is among those that I am looking to draw inspiration from. Here in a story entitled American Indian students find refuge in cultural curriculum I learned how tribal colleges came into being in the United States of America and the role that the government played in this. It started with the Tribally Controlled Community College Assistance Act that was signed by President Jimmy Carter in 1978 and authorized federal assistance to American Indian colleges. Next came the designated as land-grant institutions in 1994, giving them the opportunity to apply for millions of dollars in grant money. As a result of these there are 37 tribal colleges in the United States that are created and chartered by American Indian people with the specific purpose of offering higher education based in American Indian culture. We can definitely learn from this in the Caribbean.

Module 2- Post 5: Teaching and Learning for a Sustainable Future

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Teaching and Learning for a Sustainable Future

http://www.unesco.org/education/tlsf/index.html

This is by far the most interesting website I have encountered in this part of my journey into the world of education of indigenous people. It is essentially an online multimedia teacher education program by UNESCO that provides professional development for student teachers, teachers, curriculum developers, education policy makers, and authors of educational materials. It is made up of 27 professional development modules, organized in four thematic sections. Of special interest to this blog is the module Indigenous knowledge & sustainability that covers topics such as:

The wisdom of the elders;
Why is indigenous knowledge important?;
Living by indigenous knowledge;
Indigenous and formal education;
Enhancing the curriculum through indigenous knowledge.

These make this module an invaluable resource for any teacher that is new to indigenous education but what is more important is that it shows how the web can be leveraged for professional development of educatiors. Which is a concept that those involved in the education of indigenous people can exploit for their own needs.

Module 2- Post 4: Cultural Responsiveness and School Education: With particular focus on Australia’s First Peoples.

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Cultural Responsiveness and School Education: With particular focus on Australia’s First Peoples.

http://ccde.menzies.edu.au/sites/default/files/Literature review Cultural Responsiveness and School Education March 2012 FINAL.pdf

One discovery that I made from doing this blog is the amount of work done by the Australians with respect to the education of their indigenous people from which any educator with an interest in indigenous education can learn a lot from. This document is testimony to this being a review of over forty(40) pieces of literature it gives valuable insights into what cultural responsiveness education is and how it can be accomplished thus arming the educator with the knowledge to better cater for the needs of indigenous people in their system.

Module 2- Post 3: Closing the Gap in Education? Improving Outcomes in Southern World Societies

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Closing the Gap in Education? Improving Outcomes in Southern World Societies

http://books.publishing.monash.edu/apps/bookworm/view/Closing+the+Gap+in+Education%3F/55/xhtml/title.html

This online book that is published by Monash University served as gentle reminder of the power of the internet and the objectives of this blog within the context or this course. The book is the result of a 2009 conference of the same name. It was the third international conference in a series of partnerships between the Monash Institute for the Study of Global Movements (MISGM) and Monash South Africa. It looked at the pressing challenges facing education systems – Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. These countries have considerable underlying similarities, including colonial settlement histories, multicultural societies, and separate dualistic pockets of poverty and affluence. This provides a wealth of information for educator and stakeholders who are looking for solutions for the problems associated with the education of indigenous people. Below are the links that I preferred but the entire book can be a useful resource.

Section 1:The scope and substance of marginalisation in education

Section 2:The structure and entrenchment of disadvantage

Section 3: The challenges facing Indigenous education

Section 4: Enhancing social justice and equity

Learning from the experience of indigenous people

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My research question at this point “What African American societies can learn from the experience of indigeneous people in the world of education.”

Background

There are no indigenous people in most of the Caribbean, but here, like all of the Americas is settled primarily by a migrant population of people of many different origins. The migrants who descended from the colonists have emerged to be the domininant economical and political force of the Americas and as such has been able to dictate the way of life for most of the contries. The remaining migrants and the indigenous people in the larger north American Countries are usually lumped together as “minorities”

These minorities have a lower standared of living and a lower success rate at education than the “majority”. The dropout rate for minorities from poverty stricken areas are as follows 81% of Native American, 73% of African American, 66% of Latino, and 34% of Whites (APA, 2012).

Minorities such as African Americans and Native Americans are both stereotyped in traditional media with their heritage and culture ignored by traditional education.

So far we have looked at how indigenuos people are using media to present themselves to the world and the issues that sorround this from our stand point as educators. I suspect that the lessons learned here can be transferred to the classroom of those who teach minorities other than indigenous people

Reference

American Psychological Association(APA). (2012). Facing the School Dropout Dilemma.American Psychological Association . Retrieved June 1, 2013, from http://www.apa.org/pi/families/resources/school-dropout-prevention.aspx

Module 1 – Post 5: Indigenous Education and the Prospects for Cultural Survival

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http://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/united-states/indigenous-education-and-prospects-cultural-s

What makes this article different for me is that it provides insights in to the education of indigenous people by chronicling the complex history of an indigenous people educational institution from a boarding school to a university. Because is focuses on an institution rather than a program it provides a working example both how the thinking on the education of native people has evolved over the years and the challenges that arose over time. As I read I became convinced that more institution that caters for the need indigenous people are needed in the world of education.

Module 1 – Post 4: Education in the International Decade of Indigenous Peoples: Bringing education back into the mainstream of Indigenous Peoples’ lives

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http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/jpc/echoes-16-02.html

I am convinced that English is not first language of the author of this article because it is titled as a poem. Nevertheless it is a useful for people interested in the education of indigenous people. An interesting point made here is the fact that in indigenous education are not inspired by sheer nativism alone but also because Indigenous Peoples also want to learn “modern” sciences, but in the context of their own culture.

Module 1 – Post 2: Education, indigenous knowledge and globalisation

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http://scienceinafrica.com/old/index.php?q=2003/march/ik.htm

The interesting thing about this page is that it presents a model for education that was developed through collaboration between young and old, and between rural Africa and the industrialised world, which might serve as a catalyst for other grassroots organisations to develop educational strategies appropriate to their own circumstances. This was done in an effort to counter the still a widely held view that anything associated with culture and hereditary values is pagan. It reminded of the efforts Inuit Broadcasting Company in the screen memories article.

Recording and pronunciation of the Secwepemc language

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The following is a video of the Secwepemc (Shuswap) language that demonstrates what the elder is doing with her mouth in order to pronounce the words. I’ve heard only a handful of words being pronounced here in 100 Mile House but I’ve never actually listened to a recording like this which goes through the basic vowels and shows how to form words. I think it’s time that I start studying videos like this and appreciate learning this local Shuswap dialect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l23LOp0OUys

The woman speaking Secwepemc on this video is from the Splatsin Shuswap nation which is located near Enderby, B.C. The following is a link that explains a little bit about this community.

http://www.splatsin.ca/about/

It must be a real challenge for the young people who are learning this language to be able to learn it and speak it correctly and fluently. When you think of “true immersion”, you need to be surrounded by the language 24 hours a day and not be influenced by other languages, especially English. The French Immersion system experiences the same phenomenon. The majority of the students speak English already before entering the program, so therefore, when they arrive in French Immersion Kindergarten, the teacher is the only one who actually speaks French (which is really not “true immersion). Of course the most ideal immersion would be to take French Immersion students and drop them into a French Kindergarten class in France for a year. Unfortunately for Shuswap (or other aboriginal students), this is almost impossible, unless they have the opportunity to attend a Shuswap language immersion school like Chiet Atahm on the Adams River reserve. However, even under these circumstances, English and other languages are always present, especially once the students leave school. It doesn’t help either that there is a lost generation of aboriginal speakers due to the damaging affects of the residential schools. I sure admire these people for their determination and courage to try to revive their language and traditions in today’s society. However, this is where they are probably very grateful to have the modern technology of video recorders, tape decks or even iPads so that they can record the precious stories of their elders.