Category Archives: Growth in Teaching

EDUC 440: The Berger Inquiry

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Uploaded on Flickr Creative Commons by Chris Blakeley

 

Visiting and sitting in an EDUC 440 class was very rewarding for me. The class had a guest come in, Drew Ann Wake, who talked about the Berger Inquiry. I understood the general idea about what the Berger Inquiry was, but I did not know what to expect when I stepped into that class.

Drew Ann first talked about how she was related to the Berger Inquiry. She told us stories about her experiences and being the youngest reporter there. We were then each given a profile on a person that was at the Inquiry, and asked to read about them and “know” them. Afterwards, we took the stance of our person, “debated” with another student, and then shared with the class what we debated about.

I learned a lot from this experience – not only about the Berger Inquiry, but about how to teach Aboriginal education and issues. In this class, everyone was participating and very engaged in the activity, and there were not any harsh/disrespectful comments that usually transpire when discussing these issues.

My ideas on the reason for success of the class:

  • For those who feel uncomfortable about the topic, or do not like to talk about their own views on Aboriginal issues, students were given a profile to “become” that person. This allowed all students to participate in class discussions, without needing to input their own ideas. 
  • Most of the time, students are uncomfortable with Aboriginal Education because they are fearful of the judgement that may be placed on them, depending on their views. Since students “became” another person in this activity, that judgement was placed on the character, rather than on the student. This allowed for the fear to dissipate and for discussion to take place.
  • Although students’ own views are not said, a lot of learning took place. The profiles that were given out had a wide variety of different views. This allowed the class to hear all the different ideas that were present at that time.

I was one of the students who felt uncomfortable speaking about my own views, so this activity allowed me to be engaged and participate in the class discussion. This class also gave me an idea on how I can educate my own students on Aboriginal issues – how to take away that fear of judgement and foster comfort for class participation. This may not work every time for every issue, but I believe it is a good idea to have in my teaching toolkit.

 

Truth and Reconciliation

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“Truth and Reconciliation” is what leads to healing, understanding, love, and friendship after a long and hurtful argument or fight, in any shape or form. One example of this in our history was when residential schools were put in place in 1875. This was definitely a very long and hurtful fight that Canada’s government imposed onto Aboriginal peoples.

I believe that truth comes before reconciliation – the truth needs to be heard before things get better. Similarly, in relationships, there needs to be communication and dialogue with each other about the issues, and there may be a lot of arguing and hurtful things said and done, but only then can true understanding happen and the road towards a better friendship walked upon.

At this point and time in my life, I am still on the path of truth. Just when I thought I knew everything there was to know about residential schools, I find out more. Currently, I am in the Elementary Education Program at UBC, and it was mandatory that I take the Aboriginal education class. Here, I learned for the first time what residential schools were. My teacher brought in a speaker to talk about her ancestors’ experiences, and I must admit, a lot of the teacher candidates in that class were resistant and repelled by how the speaker spoke to us – angry. I was one of these teacher candidates, resistant and unwilling to learn because I was put in a situation and a mood that I was not comfortable with. Needless to say, I completed that class knowing more knowledge about Aboriginal peoples, but my views were not always positive and I was still fearful of teaching Aboriginal education and speaking about these issues.

Now I am a practicum student at the CTLT at UBC, learning from Amy Perreault for three weeks. We had a discussion about my experiences in the program, especially the one mentioned above. What really impacted me was when Amy talked about how “anger” is an emotion that is allowed to be felt, and that it is part of the healing process. This made me reflect upon how I expected the speaker that came into my class to tell me more about the truth, but I wanted her to speak to me in a a specific way – a way that I’m used to. My definition of truth at that time was a synonym for knowledge. I disregarded the “emotion” that comes with truth, not accepting her anger or thinking that it was appropriate. I realize now that I had a great opportunity, right in front of me, to learn the truth about residential schools. I could have learned and felt so much more from the speaker if I truly understood what truth was. Now, only a couple of days after that discussion with Amy, I am learning so much more than I expected here at CTLT, partly because my eyes are now open. I am more comfortable with dialogue about these issues and about Aboriginal peoples, I am more willing to ask questions, and I now feel I am starting to understand the truth.

My journey so far at the CTLT allowed me to think about my own teaching on Aboriginal education. I went through 22 years of my life not fully understanding what was happening, and not taught the real truth. When I start teaching, my hope is that I teach about emotion and how they are natural things to feel. To fully understand the truth, a balance of emotion and knowledge is needed – if I do bring in an “angry” speaker, there must be a discussion on “why”. Only then can the road to reconciliation be closer in view in the long distance ahead.

Education for Aboriginal Students at UBC: Historical Timeline

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This historical timeline is a really great way for students to learn about Canada’s history, alongside UBC’s history. Quite often, students feel a sense of distance when learning about history, thinking that it isn’t relevant to their lives today. However, looking at the timeline (which shows Aboriginal Students at UBC, Events at UBC, and BC/Canadian Context categories side-by-side), I found that I was able to relate a lot more to my country’s history because I recognized names like First Nations Longhouse and Totem Park under the “Aboriginal Students at UBC” column.

While comparing what was happening at UBC and Canada, I found that there were some discrepancies – it was surprising to see that at times, the history did not match. For example, in 1927, Musqueam house posts were presented to UBC as a gift, but in the same year, the government added Section 141 into the Indian Act, which did not allow Indians to hire lawyers or legal counsels. It seemed that the Musqueam were trying to be welcoming to UBC, but on a bigger scale, the government passed a bill where they were not allowed to fight for their rights. This was odd to me, but interesting at the same time to see how history and intentions can be so different in two places at the same point in time.

Going back to the idea that this timeline is much more “relatable” to students, I found it really fun to place myself in the timeline. I really enjoyed reading about what was happening when I was born, when I was in grade 1, and especially when my grandmother and mother were born. Since my family is from China, they did not know what was happening on this side of the earth. Yet, what was happening made a huge impact on their lives today. Placing myself in the timeline also made me realize how oblivious I was to everything that was happening around me. For example, in 1996, I was in grade 1 at 6-years-old. This was also the year that the last residential school closed. Knowing this fact now, I do not know why I was never taught about residential schools, especially when I, myself, was in school. It’s a very weird feeling realizing that when I was attending school without any problems, there were Aboriginal children attending schools too, but in a completely opposite setting.

I definitely learned a lot through this timeline and activity. History was quite “fun” when I put myself onto the timeline to see what was happening during those years. If I were to do this activity in the classroom, I would get my students to make a timeline of their own lives first (just to get used to the idea of what a timeline is), and then try to mesh their timeline with the Historical Timeline. I would set expectations that they choose a certain number of historical events to mesh onto their timeline, and to explain and reason why they chose those specific events. I want my students to be able to relate to history, and not just memorize it. Giving them a set number to put on their timeline will allow them to really focus on those events, really relate to it, and to reason why they chose it.

Teaching Perspectives Inventory (TPI)

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I took the Teaching Perspectives Inventory (TPI) to reflect upon and find out my teaching style. I found the TPI quiz exciting, but very challenging. Exciting, because (well, let’s be honest) everything related to “teaching” is exciting! At the end of this quiz, I was able to find out more about who I am as a teacher and my teaching philosophy. It did come with challenges, though…

Looking at my results, at first, I was appalled at how “low” I was on Transmission and Social Reform. I thought to myself, “How can that be?” But reading through the descriptions of the Five Perspectives, I realized that it’s not that I don’t find Transmission and Social Reform important, it’s that I find the other perspectives more readily related and more important to my class at the time. Reading on Apprenticeship, Developmental, and Nurturing, I realized that those three categories are what truly differentiates my experience at Charles Dickens Elementary from any other school. It thrives on seeing each student as an individual, learning at different paces, being at different places, and coming to school with different experiences and knowledge. All teachers need to have “Transmission” in one way or another, because that is traditionally what a teacher was to do (in my opinion). Teachers teach things in a timely manner, assess and evaluate, etc. And in terms of the “Social Reform” perspective, I want to improve this in my teaching. It’s possible that I didn’t think much about this during my practicum because I was in a K-2 classroom and “Social Reform” seems to be more of an intermediate trait, but then I’m forgetting about the power of a child’s voice and the changes that can be made with that voice.

I’m really glad that I took the TPI quiz because it gave me a chance to really reflect on what I did during my practicum and the philosophy that I took away with me.

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