Module 2 - First Nation, Métis
and Inuit Education Today
South "relate to it"
What are my specific thoughts,
reactions? How am I feeling?
Deaths of 7 First Nations Students in Thunder Bay
This is so upsetting! Were the families of the Indigenous
transfer students not vetted? How does this happen?
Yikes! When I read this quote I felt ashamed and a bit
embarrassed. “[we] are beyond popsicle stick teepees
and dream catchers…we need to think outside of the box” (Beyond Shadows, p.15)
How many times have I made teepees and other artifacts in
a classroom without going deeper into the heritage and ways of knowing of our FN peoples. This is a huge wake up call!
Thought/Revelation
Readings and research in this task (and module 2 in general) point to a clear area of focus. We need to make a change in how we approach learning, student support and gaps in education.
With education specifically, righting the wrongs of the past, closing gaps and improving the overall lives of FN people is only possible through connection, empathy, growth and a true focus on learning the ways of knowing of the FN peoples. We need a genuine and wholistic plan of action in the schools (popsicle stick teepees are not cutting it anymore).
The school boards MUST work with the teachers in order to set us up for success. This is a nation wide issue that teachers
can work to improve in the classroom, but need support from the top to elicit REAL change.
There is SO much information about the history of
the FN peoples. How will I choose what to share? What is most important, what is age appropriate, how can I use this information to plan engaging and relevant lessons for an intermediate classroom?
Searching for a way to highlight events of the past
with the actions and decisions of the future.
Connections made between past atrocities, governmental decisions, Church choices to hide important information. This is so HUGE. I feel very heavy.
I am feeling a NEED to make the lessons I will teach
and the assignments my students will complete, meaningful.
"Those with power cannot see it and those without power experience it." (Beyond Shadows, p.5) There is definitely a "hidden barrier" and the more I read the more connections I make
I am baffled by the thought that during the French Expansion between 1542 and 1670 there was a war between the English and the French over land that wasn't even theirs to fight over!
2008 - Why did it take SO LONG to
receive a formal apology? This is so
frustrating to me.
Things are starting to become more
clear. A lot of the history of FN and what is going
on today is all connected.
I am curious. I notice that the apology in 2008
also coincides directly with the time
that the Indigenous people were finally
given the right to make human rights complaints,
which was also in 2008. Is this coincidental? Hmmm?
I am so overwhelmed right now. The timeline just continues to get increasingly upsetting, with more and more devastating detail about the atrocities that the FN people went through.
I am actually having a hard time finding the
words to express how angry, sad, sick I feel that
even after everything we have learned about
the mistakes we have made and the harm we have
caused our FN communities that we are STILL making
the same mistakes over and over, especially with respect
to education.
This looks and sounds like residential school!
Indigenous parents have no choice because there
are not enough schools.
FN children are lonely, sick and living in pour conditions.
What type of person hands a contract to someone as expects
them to agree with the contents if they can't even READ it!
I am so absolutely disgusted by the actions of the Canadian Government as well as all the religious leaders and teachers that participated in, ran and funded the Residential Schools
West "figure it out" What questions do I
still have and what am I thinking and analyzing?
Task 5:
First Nation communities in our country STILL don't have high schools. We are sending our students to Thunder Bay to have
an opportunity at a better education, yet the racism is so prevalent, how have we not addressed this better?
Haven't we learned from our past mistakes? How are children still dying after being sent away to school.
As a parent, I would be so sad to send my child away
especially after learning of the conditions the students are
living in. What choice to those parents have? They must feel
trapped, I would!
We cannot guarantee the safety of the boarding students? Seriously? It's no wonder why some of these children are developing drug and alcohol problems. They haven't been set up for success. They are stressed, lonely and afraid.
Does it make sense to have a FNIM parent on the schools parent council? CAn they provide access to culturally relevant events and celebrations? Is it appropriate for me to attend those events if I am not FNIM?
Becoming true allies to the FN community directly speaks to the standards of practice in teaching. By making a commitment to the FN ways of knowing, we are committing ourselves to our students, to ongoing learning, to being professional and to being leaders.
Task 4: According to Indigenous Education in Ontario website, every school should have ai full-time Indigenous Education Lead who:
1- focuses on student achievement and well being
2- improve knowledge and awareness of FNIM ways of knowing and histories
Question:
1- Who is part of MY Indigenous Education Council, who is the lead for my school and and how do I get in touch with them?
2- Can they help my school get resources and materials?
3- Can they help me find an Indigenous Elder and set up a school visit?
Task 3: Education and Employment off the Reserve
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/89-653-x/89-653-x2013001-eng.htm
Statistics Canada: The educational attainment of Aboriginal peoples in Canada
Statistics Canada states that as of 2011, 60.2% of FN peoples had completed at least high school . So why the dip when you
get to post secondary? Funding? Needs to investigate.
Analysis: Unless the percentage in Indigenous people with
post secondary education increases, these individuals and
communities will continue to suffer low wages, productivity,
and will lack foundational skills to improve living situation.
Why is post secondary so important?
"The skills required to develop and adopt new technologies, processes, and other innovations depend on both technical and general knowledge acquired in post-secondary education." (Inclusive Innovation Monitor, 2021)
Understanding Indigenous
people today Task 1 considerations
Indian Act: I'm wondering why we
are still using the term "Indian" here? Among
many changes that need to take place
within this document perhaps this is
also something that needs to be considered?!
1844 - Assimilation
Question: How did the Europeans
convince the FN parents that removing
their children was the best way forward?
1831 - Mohawk Residential
School Question: What did the conversation
look like between the Chiefs and the Europeans?
What if any considerations were taken into
account when they agreed to send their children
to school for technological training? What time of
training did they THINK they were going to get?
East "see it"
What did I learn from my readings, tasks and research? How did I respond (e.g. changing views, growth in learning)
Task 5: Failing Canada's First Nation Children
Growth in Learning:
Mistakes are still being made with respect to funding,
government involvement, supports for FN communities etc.
- no HS schools in Indigenous communities
- removal of FN children from families to attend school far from home
- children are still dying while away from home, suicide, alcohol and drug issues
- unsafe and unsanitary conditions at schools they DO have in
their communities, no heat, no clean water
- our students NEED to know this so we can work together to make a change
- I was unaware, ignorant to the FN challenges in Canada today and teachers have a responsibility to inform their students about the facts of the current situation, not just the past issues
We have failed in many ways, however, after researching success stories online I learned that there are Canadian companies trying to do the right thing by helping our Aboriginal graduates find work. This is a small step in the right direction.
https://indigenousworks.ca/en/resources/success-stories
There are SEVERAL documents, including the Memorandum of Understanding, that speak to the joint agreement to focus on improving academic achievement, preserving the cultural needs and overall well-being of the FNIM peoples in Ontario.
Task 4:
Beyond Shadows, Indigenous Education Ontario,
Indigenous Education Strategy learning and responses
The only way for schools and school boards to be successful at Indigenizing learning (i.e., closing education gaps, increasing academic success, becoming more culturally sensitive, preserving the FNIM history and making classrooms safer for FN students) is by building up the student-teacher relationships. School need Indigenous focused resources in the classroom. They need to work directly with the FN community. We need to bring the FN community INTO the classroom, open our doors, hearts and minds and make room for the experts to help us. We cannot do this alone.
There are a wide range of resources available to teachers but we just have to know where to look and who to ask.
Example: Elders, historical maps and significant places (in and around our cities, websites, books and videos (many of which we learned about through this class.
The Ontario government seems very focused on the elimination of racism, closing gaps and wanting to incorporate culturally relevant lessons and materials in the classroom but we are not as effective as we could be. We have a plethora of resources available to us, yet many teachers don't even know the information exists and where to find it. How do they expect us to be successful if we don't know how to acquire the knowledge or sift through what is appropriate?
Not everyone will take this ABQ - so how can everyone else get the resources they need? Should this class, or one like it be mandatory for all teachers?
There needs to be a school Indigenous Lead, not a school board Indigenous Lead. Revelation: Is it me?
Task 3: Indigenous Education Statistics
https://www.inclusiveinnovation.ca/dimensions/indigenous
STATISTICS:
Average wage Indigenous people: $37,188
Average wage non-Indigenous:$47,537
Unemployment rate Indigenous: 13.4 %
Unemployment rate non-Indigenous: 6.1 %
Post Secondary Education as of 2016
Indigenous: 45%
non-Indigenous: 70%
(Inclusive Innovation Monitor, 2021)
These statistics are absolutely eye opening!
Growth in Learning:
Unless we actively work to change these statistics
this community of people will forever be at a
disadvantage. What can I do to help with this?
Task 3: Indigenous Rights in Canada
https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/rights-indigenous-peoples.html
"...in part to section 67 of the Canadian Human Rights Act. The legislation was finally repealed in 2008; this means that First Nations individuals can now make complaints of discrimination to the Canadian Human Rights Commission."
(Government of Canada, 2017)
It will take a significant amount of time for
FN communities and people to recover from the lack of
human rights and freedoms. Growth in Learning: Closing education gaps is not that simple. Generations of people have lost out on opportunities and only in healing will we make it possible to close gaps. You can't better education and opportunity without first understanding WHY it is happening in the first place.
Task 1: Key Point on Timeline
1908 - I learned that not only was the government
aware that the mortality rate of children in residential schools
was between 30% - 60%, BUT they hid most of their findings!
1996 - The last Residential School is closed
1993-94
The Anglican and Presbyterian churches were the first to apologize. Learning: It took the Catholic churches much longer, and the government of Canada even longer (2008) to apologize. Need to find a way to address this in class, appropriately, and ensure that facts are shared.
1884 - Laws limiting fishing and hunting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8QmxU6IZHw
Did you know?
Indian Act was never translated
and there is no way the FN could have
known what they were signing
As per The Indian Act Aboriginal people were not
even allowed to kill and eat the animals on their farms.
How did the government expect them to feed themselves?
VOTING RIGHTS: According to the Status of
Women in Canada website, women were given
the right to vote in 1916, with the province of Manitoba
Other provinces followed there after.
1885 - FN people voting right then repealed
1960 - FN given right to vote!
Growth in Learning:
FN people seen as less than women
which provides huge perspective into
reality of how they were viewed and why
they were treated so badly
North "do it"
How will I use what I learned
and what do I still have to learn?
Task 5: How can we help?
1- Encourage students to self identify
2-Caring adults can attend protests to show support
3-Make letter writing to the Canadian and Ontario government part of your long range plans. They need to know that we will not stand for this negligence.
4-Engage students and administration at our school to participate in Shannen's Dream
Native Child and Family Services of Toronto
https://nativechild.org/community/indigenous-resources/
Excellent one stop shop for Indigenous information.
Teachers/Parents can make a donation
Everyone can attend event
Teachers/Students can continue to education themselves on FN histories, culture and ways of knowing.
Use the MANY links to access documents, activities (blanket exercise), videos etc. and use them in the classroom.
Donate to True North Aid
https://truenorthaid.ca/first-nations-donation-html/
Task 2: Engage in regular PD focusing
on FNIM knowledge and teachings
*Perhaps find PD that will provide
classroom resources for students
Task 4:
1- Participate in local FN activities and celebrations
(where appropriate) and learn some of their customs and
greetings in order to be more culturally sensitive and share
findings with the classroom.
Task 4:
Identification of Indigenous Student Engagement Factors
1- Use available resources to learn more ways to help create a safe and comfortable learning environment for students
2- Involvement of FN families and supports in combination with school staff (information nights, volunteering in the classroom etc.)
Task 4: Incorporating Indigenous Knowledge Into Classrooms
1) get new resources into the classroom (books, maps, videos etc.) by reaching out to IEC, TCDSB Indigenous Lead, local library, school library, and equity fund to buy supplies (materials) necessary to deliver quality lessons.
2) Invite a local Elder into the classroom to share history, knowledge, personal experience
Help achieve goal of: 1) Sharing culturally appropriate and historical FNIM information with students
Task 1: The timeline video is an concise way to
highlight the many challenges, hardships
and issues the FN people had to face in
Canadian history.
Assign different years (group of years)
to students to research and
then have class perform a gallery walk
around the room. Have students use
images, photos and short points to
highlight facts of the events they researched
Teacher use video to pull out significant
events through out history and ask
students to participate in sharing
circle to discuss
Tie information from timeline in
with statistics around FN education,
current rights.
Students can do some inquiry based
activities and research to investigate the
coloralation between events of the past
and current gaps in education and
rights and freedoms of Indegenous people.
Show video to class
and ask students to choose one, or more
important points on the timeline to
research in depth. Present orally to class, create
presentations in PP or other, and have students
analyze impacts on Indigenous communities.
