Educators respect and value the history of First Nations, Inuit and Metis in Canada and the impact of the past on present and the future. Educators contribute towards truth, reconciliation and healing. Educators foster a deeper understanding of ways of knowing and being, histories, and cultures of First Nations, Inuit and Metis.
At the start of my second practicum I made a goal for myself to include more Indigenous perspectives and First People’s Principles of Learning. Then I got placed at a school that was more rural and I was hit with the challenge of balancing this goal of mine with the diversity and personal perspectives of my students. This class and the community that they are located in (still PG but farther out of city limits) held lots of catholic, Mennonite, and atheist families where they did not believe in Indigenous perspectives, and the students were not afraid to voice their opinions on this matter. After talking with my coaching teacher, we decided to take small steps in introducing Indigenous contect such as little short stories or talking about how people can believe in different stories or religions or perspectives while still respecting that not everyone has to believe in the same thing. An example was how the world was created talking about God creating the earth or the creation of Turtle Island.
Following this, in my final practicum I again set this goal of including more Indigenous knowledge and was not going to take no for an answer. I started a word wall in my classroom with our Dakelh word of the week and taught my students how to ask to go to the washroom and get a drink in Dakelh. I also chose a novel study that was about a girl who was trying to fit back into her community after returning from residential school and the struggles and obsticles she faces to fit back in with her family and community.
These students were so open and inquisitive to know more that it fuelled my want and need to include more First People’s Principles of Learning into my classroom. My continuous goal is to develop a confidence in including and teaching Indigenous perspectives in a proper and respectful way.