Personal Experience:

This question arose for me because of a documentary we watched and a guest speaker we had in my Education Studies (EDST) 401 class. The film, Precious Knowledge, features teachers in Tucson, Arizona, high schools who teach Chicano ethnic studies classes to Mexican-American students (Palos & McGinnis, 2012). The Arizona state superintendent bans the teaching of these classes on the misconstrued opinion that they are racist and anti-American. While the film has a strong theme of social justice, what it also highlighted for me was how much more engaged and successful students are in their learning when the material and teaching methods are culturally relevant to them. I aim to make a class full of students with diverse cultures, experiences, and precious knowledge feel appreciated and respected by me, and by their peers.

Significance:

In 2015 the student population at my practicum school was made up of 12.9% Aboriginal students, which is consistent with what it has been in previous years (BC Ministry of Education, n.d.). In British Columbia, only 54% of Indigenous students graduate, compared to 83% of non-Indigenous students (BC Ministry of Education, 2012). McIntosh, Moniz, Craft, Golby, and Steinwand-Deschambeault (2016) state that a reason for this (other than structural risk factors) is the disconnect between Indigenous cultures and the dominant Western culture. In the region I am teaching in, there are two dominant First Nations groups – Stó:lo First Nation and Ts’elxweyeqw Nation (City of Chilliwack, n.d.). Each group consists of multiple Bands, and is a microcosm of a wide array of diverse cultural practices. While it is not possible to teach to every culture represented in my classes, I can incorporate the First Peoples Principles of Learning into my lessons (FNESC, 2015). These principles of learning were created by the First Nations Education Steering Committee, and aim to encompass the values that are present in all First Nations groups, such as spirituality, story-telling techniques, and themes of colonization and sovereignty (Chrona, 2015).