Moy Sutherland’s ‘Kaa-in’ (Crow)
This image was retrieved from
here.
Above you will see a link to a video of a performance by a First Nations student (given the pseudonym Rick for this reflection) and his grandfather that I helped facilitate in my practicum classroom.
One day after school Rick’s grandfather approached me about the fact that Rick had lost his sweater. I offered to help him look for the sweater in the school’s Lost and Found. While we dug through the piles of lost clothing and water bottles we began talking about the upcoming weekend. As a result, I learned that Rick’s grandfather had recently been teaching some traditional songs of their nation to Rick.
I had slowly been building a relationship with this guardian and saw this as a great opportunity to meaningfully involve them and their culture in my classroom. About a week later Rick’s grandfather brought in a traditional drum and performed the crow song with Rick. He even instructed the rest of the class on how to perform this song. A number of other parents and guardians also stayed to watch and participate in the performance providing a valuable learning experience for our classroom’s entire community.
During my teacher education program I learned about the difference between the functionalistic and critical theory of multicultural education. The critical theory of multicultural education, as explained by Koustelini, seeks to not only accept various ways of life, but also aims to integrate them into the culture of the school. Part of my teaching philosophy includes acknowledging and incorporating the context of my students into the classroom. I believe that this performance is an excellent example of how this theory has influenced my teaching practice.
At the beginning of this year the incorporation of First Nations culture and knowledge was a new concept for me. Throughout my course work I struggled with how to do this authentically when I did not identify as a member of this community. My professors were a huge help with this and encouraged me to develop connections with members of this community. They explained that, through these naturally developed relationships, I would be able to consult with and bring in others to enhance my classroom community. I was fortunate that in my practicum I was able to have the experience of developing this relationship and having it result in a meaningful performance for the parents, students, and myself.
This experience gave me an opportunity to see first hand the outcomes of involving parents, guardians, and communities within my own classroom. Rick received many accolades from his peers and I could see him grow in confidence, as a result. A number of the other parents expressed how impressed and grateful they were to have had the experience. I, myself, learned skills on communicating with parents and helping facilitate class discussion with a guest. Overall, I found this experience to be incredibly rewarding and believe it to be indicative of my future practice as a teacher.