Intellectual Production 1: 3-2-1

Cats and portals: Video games, learning, and play (Gee, 2008)

3…

Gee argues that common forms of play, including video games and popular card games, effectively promote learning of real-world skills (including cooperation, problem-solving, and mastery of jargon) that are applicable to learners’ future endeavors after they leave school. He emphasizes that many of these games provide ‘tools’ that help players discover new ways of engaging with possible worlds beyond the real world. He notes that some of the things we define as play are similar to what is being taught in schools, but because they are not considered work, learners enjoy taking a deep dive into the subject matter and become ‘Pro-Ams’.

2…

Although Gee writes from the perspective of a linguist and makes compelling points about play being a strong motivator for players to master complex language, the paper lacks concrete suggestions for how educators might apply this knowledge to their teaching. He assumes that students are unable or unwilling to learn the terminology required to master school subjects because they view it as work but does not provide an explanation for students who perform well without having developed a passion for each subject.

1…

Gee brings a constructivist perspective to the topic of learning and play, with prior knowledge of the real word informing players’ exploration of the digital world; how does behaviorism fit into his ideas?

 

Games as distributed teaching and learning systems (Gee & Gee, 2017)

3…

In this paper, Gee & Gee suggest that distributed teaching and learning systems, which have only very recently in human history begun to exist in a virtual world, are as effective as the conversations with the world that humans have been having for thousands of years. They argue that digital games, as an interest around which affinity spaces are developed, can initiate deep learning around a myriad of topics related to the game. The authors place an emphasis on learning through social interactions with members of affinity spaces, as both teacher and learner depending on context, and note that the learning ecologies and interests of individuals can lead to different degrees of and areas of learning.

2…

Although they do note that criminals may develop and maintain highly sophisticated affinity spaces, Gee & Gee assume that the individuals interacting in affinity spaces act solely with the intention of communicating ideas about the topic around which the community is built. When interacting with others in a virtual space, there is a risk of engaging with those who purposely spread misinformation or push an agenda; it would be worthwhile to discuss how this could affect learning in the affinity space.

1…

In this paper, Gee & Gee use Portal as an example of the many different topics that can spark interest in learners depending on their learning ecologies; what elements of game design make a game such as this appealing to a wide array of different learners?

 

Bridge

The authors of both articles agree that engaging with digital games and the communities of players can initiate deep learning; however, Gee (2008) focuses on the new tools afforded by the medium and Gee & Gee (2017) focus on the social aspect of learning. Both papers suggest that much of the learning that stems from playing digital games happens outside of the classroom and is informed by each learner’s interests and passions, but there may be a place for the use of digital games in formal learning as well.

 

References

Gee, J. P. (2008). Cats and portals: Video games, learning, and play. American Journal of Play, 1(2), 229.

Gee, E., & Gee, J. P. (2017). Games as distributed teaching and learning systems. Teachers College Record, 119(11).

Truth and Reconciliation Assignment

The Assignment

This assignment challenged us to select searchable educational history-related works, search the texts for representations of Indigeneity and Indigenous people, and explain the potential impact of the text on educational history and/or teacher professional development.

For my document, I chose to download the Canadian Plains Research Centre’s (now called University of Regina Press) The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan entry titled “Education,” written by Ken Horsman. I was interested in this text because it attempts to provide an overview of public education in the province from before confederation to the present day. Before reading the entry, I started thinking about education “before confederation” and wondered how the author would describe it. Unfortunately, there was less than a paragraph discussing the traditional education of Indigenous youth before colonization. The rest of the document was dedicated to describing the evolution of schools. In fact, that single paragraph about traditional education ended with a sentence that jumped forward in time to 1840 with the creation of the first school in Cumberland House.

The Question

Realizing that the document was written from a Western perspective, I endeavored to see if the language used throughout would give clues as to the relationships between Indigenous people and western education in Saskatchewan between 1840 and 2006 (the date the Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan was published). I searched the document for occurrences of the following words and phrases: First Nations, Indian, Native, Indigenous, Aboriginal, Métis, and then Cree and Dene as two of the major Indigenous language groups in Saskatchewan.

The Results

First Nations Indian Native Indigenous Aboriginal Métis Cree Dene
20 16 4 0 6 11 1 1

 

Initially, I was surprised to find the word Indigenous was not used at all. However, I recall that as recently as 2018 the University of Saskatchewan officially used the term Aboriginal for any programming aimed at First Nations, Métis, and Inuit students. I believe it has been only the past few years that people in Saskatchewan have adopted the widespread use of the term Indigenous, and considering the text was written prior to 2006, I understand why the word did not appear.

The words Cree and Dene each appeared only once, both in the same sentence that mentioned language courses offered as a part of the Northern Teacher Education Program (NORTEP). The term Native produced only 4 search results, all in the context of either courses in Native Studies or as part of the name of educational programs or schools (e.g. Saskatchewan Native Teacher Education Program and Saskatoon Native Survival School). The author used the word Aboriginal six times, sometimes in the context of non-Aboriginal. It seems to be used as a general term throughout to differentiate students of Indigenous ancestry from those of settler ancestry.

The most-used search terms were First Nations (20 times), Indian (16 times), and Métis (11 times). First Nations was used throughout to refer to specific groups of Indigenous people and individuals from those groups. Indian was used once in reference to the title of an 1879 report about “Industrial Schools for Indians and Half-breeds,” once in reference to Indian residential schools, once when the town Indian Head was mentioned, and the rest of the time to indicate legal entities (e.g. Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations). Finally, the word Métis was used throughout, often in the context of “First Nations and Métis students,” seemingly to include all students of Indigenous heritage.

Limitations

In hindsight, the major limitation to answering my question with the word search was the medium that I chose. My initial reasoning of choosing an encyclopedia entry was to have a searchable document that spanned educational history over more than a century in my home province. However, I failed to take into consideration the fact that an encyclopedia entry is authored by a single person at a certain time in history. This means that wherever possible, the document was written with the most appropriate terminology at the time and does not reflect how language changes over time.

Analysis

Although my methodology was flawed, I still got an overall impression from this document of the changing nature of the relationship between Indigenous groups and western education. The overall trend was a long history of settlers “othering” Indigenous people and attempting to assimilate their children through the teaching of western ideals, most often in church-run boarding schools. Over time, Indigenous youth began to be recognized as students with individual needs and values, but unfortunately this is a recent development in the overall and the church still had a residential school in operation as recent as the 1990s. Finally, Indigenous people can work towards reclaiming control over what and how their children learn, and western educational institutions are starting to work towards a pedagogy that is inclusive and welcoming for Indigenous children. However, there is much more work that needs to be done to unlearn too many years of systemic racism in education.

Conclusion

If this encyclopedia entry is any indication of what kind of educational history is being taught to teachers in training, I think that it may be doing a disservice to our future students and educators. While the historical documents written by settlers from the 1800s onwards are important to study (after all, we need to know about residential schools so that we can work towards reconciliation), it is also important to acknowledge the hundreds of years of educational traditions that were happening in what is now called Saskatchewan before colonization. I think that to produce culturally sensitive learning environments, we as teachers need to be willing to consult with both Indigenous knowledge keepers and engage with western educational history.

Authentic Engagement of First Nations and Metis Traditional Knowledge Keepers in Saskatchewan

The more I read about about Traditional Knowledge and Indigenous Science in education, the more I have come to realize that the wisdom of Elders and Knowledge Keepers is an invaluable resource to educators. Speaking from personal experience, I know that it can be difficult to ask for advice or information from Traditional Knowledge Keepers if one doesn’t know the appropriate protocols for respectful engagement. I was very happy to find this resource that is the result of a meeting between 24 First Nations and Metis Knowledge Keepers from the Cree, Saulteaux, Dene,
and Métis nations across Saskatchewan. I believe that the information contained in this resource can help educators to initiate respectful conversation with members of the Indigenous nations in their local regions.

From the document:

“The goal of this document is to outline the consistencies in protocol that emerged from across the province of Saskatchewan. Therefore, this document is intended to only be a starting point for community agencies to begin working collaboratively with First Nations and Métis Traditional Knowledge Keepers.”

Find the document here.

Western Science Finally Catching up to Indigenous Knowledge?

https://www.macleans.ca/society/how-western-science-is-finally-catching-up-to-indigenous-knowledge/

This article from Macleans was an interesting read. George Nicholas from Simon Fraser University takes a look at the differences between Western and Indigenous science and Western science’s reluctance to accept traditional knowledge. He acknowledges that both sciences have value, which makes me think about how valuable it could be to incorporate multiple ways of knowing into science education.

Indigenous Cultures and Astrophysics

This article from National Indigenous Television, News, and Programs (a division of Australia’s Special Broadcast Service), explores how Indigenous oral histories have preserved scientific knowledge for generations. Krystal de Napoli, a Gomeroi astrophysicist, explains how the Dreaming stories of Torres Strait Islanders contains ancient knowledge about stars and astronomy.

I really enjoyed this read and thought it did a wonderful job of explaining how stories can contain multitudes of knowledge from many different interconnected subject areas and allow for a deeper understanding of the environment.

You can find the article here.

Meshing Laboratory Science with Traditional Ecological Knowledge

The following article by Natalie Rademacher discusses post secondary educators who are combining their laboratory science courses with Traditional Ecological Knowledge. Some of the educators who are named include Gregory Cajete, who we know from our course readings, and Samantha Chisholm Hatfield, who teaches at Oregon State University.

Read the article here.

From the article:

“By meshing laboratory science with Traditional Ecological Knowledge, college professors aim to cultivate better environmental decision makers — and decisions.”