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What irony that Dion didn’t feel comfortable expressing his culture in a nation that supposedly celebrates “multiculturalism”!

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The discussion surrounding identity and not feeling connected to a culture or ancestry really resonated with me. I was not close with my extended family growing up and my parents didn’t talk about our heritage. We’ve been in Canada for so long but, then here is a homogenization that exists in our country and I long to “belong” somewhere and do have a community.

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Oh my gosh. This talk about the perpetuation of homogenization through the school system is so close to my heart. I grew up trying SO hard to mask my Taiwanese heritage. I feel a special connection to the reflexivity/experiential aspect that is promoted in the FPPL for this reason

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Love the idea of connecting Indigenous learning and Indigenous pedagogy into reflections of one's own identity. I hope to do this with my own students as well.

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I remember 2 years ago the Vancouver Public Library holds a special event called "borrow a human book," where participants had a chance to have conversations with people of different backgrounds  who have their own stories to share. I think a lot of learning and insights could be found through meaningful conversations, and that is lacking in our school system where there's not a lot of opportunity for students to connect with each other and develop closer relationships. I think there's a lot of value to making a classroom into a space for conversations and collaborations rather than a place where everyone only look at their own work and do things independently. One of most important things schools offer is the People. Everyone carries their own unique perspectives, knowledge, culture, and experiences and being able to connect with others brings these things together.

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I really like what Robert said about any work that we can do to lift each other up makes it easier to do this work. I think the sad truth is that so many teachers just get burned out. They start with good intentions but, feel like they are swimming upstream against government, administration, apathy, and all the other pressures of being an educator. If everyone involved was actually working toward the same goal, it would be amazing how much that would change the narrative.

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I loved Robert's explanation of when we share the load in education, things become easier to lift. Most educators have relayed how burned out they are with the pandemic and how destructed the community is. I would agree, if we can share the load, we can carry more together in our journey together.

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I really enjoyed hearing more about the topic of authentically incorporating Indigenous education into our teaching and avoiding "checking boxes". In order for reconciliation to occur, I believe that it truly needs to be meaningful and NOT just following steps. For example, I can personally tell when professors are doing land acknowledgments in meaningful ways, and when they may just be doing it "to do it". Although I think that, no matter what, the good thought behind the action is there - we need to be more genuine and thoughtful in order to properly reconcile.

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I agree with Sam about schools using student families to help learning. I remember my mom putting together a whole tray of goodies to bring to school for students to learn about Chinese New Year and that it was a meaningful experience for me to have my mom talk about our culture to my class. My classmates loved trying new foods and candies and it really opened the door for learning about other cultures and backgrounds. Teachers should definitely be trying to incorporate members of the community who can come in and authentically talk about a topic to students as it can be a great learning experience for all parties involved.

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I really liked the mention of Grandparents. I think incorporating that in the classroom as "homework" support students to connect and learn from their elders.

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I resonate with the idea of trying to do things in an authentic way and not just trying to check boxes. It feels like a lot of teachers just fall in the trap of doing things because they know they are expected to instead of trying to meaningfully address it. Also, it seems like some of this BEd program falls into the same trap of having us check boxes in order to complete it and pass. It seems unfortunate that a program that encourages us to be authentic teachers and change the aging education system still requires us to literally have specific boxes checked in order to pass the practicum.

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Teachers 100% use the community and students families as tools for conducting history, culture, and other forms of learnings. My mom would always come to explain hannukah or passover in elementary school. This kind of cultural exchange is such an important thing in schools and I feel like teachers are a bit hesitant to use community members, or encourage students to go out and seek information in the community, but I think teachers should encourage this.

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I think the schools and the meetings they have are beginning to introduce Indigenous perspectives into their subject. In my experience during the practicum, I was able to witness the department hold a meeting discussing the implementation of Indigenous perspectives and resources into their teaching. Thoughts and opinions were shared in the meeting, building upon the community of the department. In my practicum school, I have also seen the FPPL being purposely implemented into the classrooms through different means. It seemed to me that we can incorporate the FPPL and Indigenous perspectives throughout our teaching without difficulty.

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I really like the comments made about collaboration in high school. I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately. As music teachers, one way we are taught to keep our programs relevant is to find ways for cross-curricular transfer. There are so many opportunities for collaboration between departments. Teachers and students would feel less alone if there was more community. Not to mention the positive influences on more uniform curriculum and assessment practices.

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I love the idea of pairing students with an elder in the community and interviewing them. It's even better that they turn these interviews into poetry; they're playing with language and representing these stories in a more interactive, spoken form. I would like to do a similar activity in my classroom, as it is a great, authentic way for students to experience stories that are place- and land-based.
I also agree that we should prioritize the practices and ways of seeing/knowing that Indigenous peoples value over teaching content. We've been discussing in this class how we can incorporate FPPL in the everyday classroom through valuing and embodying these principles, especially.the 5Rs.

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The point regarding Indigenizing school content really spoke to me. I feel like in high school, teachers are merely hitting checkboxes by only saying which First Peoples Principles of Learning rather than actually incorporating it into their lesson. Even during my high school experience, I took English 12 First Peoples expecting to know more about the Indigenous culture and history, but I was shocked to see that it was not what I imagined. We were just reading Indigenous-themed books, but did not incorporate any of the FPPLs or anything else. Segueing to the point regarding teacher conferences. I believe that teachers should meet and agree upon how to Indigenize content without it being just hitting checkboxes.

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I agree with the statement that classroom structure and values are a meaningful way to incorporate indigenous knowledge into the classroom. I think this is important to remember for teachers in cohorts other than socials. There are ways to incorporate indigenous principles and learning without explicitly talking about indigenous content. All teachers are capable of indigenizing there classroom regardless of the content.

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It was very nice to hear that this school collaborated with everyone in the school. I think this creates a sense of community that supports everyone. In my opinion, we don't see this too much in schools today, but I definitely think it is something we need to incorporate. We learn from each other, support one another, and need each other to succeed in school. In my perspective, so many students and teachers rely on only themselves, which can potentially lead to burnout, stress and etc. We are all in this together. We need to create communities like this in order for all of us to succeed holistically.

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I love the idea of connection and relationship. Like Raymond says, we often lack this element in our school systems. In my short practicum, I cannot even remember how many times I was told to make firm boundaries with my students: "don't let your students manipulate you", "don't be friends with your students" . Not once was I encouraged to connect with my students or spoken to about building healthy relationships with my students. My heart breaks for that–students are pushed out before they even walk into the room. I think too many people look at "Truth and Reconciliation" as a means of division–Indigenous versus everyone else. That is SO obviously not the point. The point is connection and relationship. Existing together.

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What I learned from this class is that it's really not that difficult to include Indigenous pedagogy in our classrooms. I really hope to connect with my coworkers to incorporate the First Peoples Principles of Learning. I haven't attended a department meeting so I wonder if teachers talk about this during those meetings.
I really want that sense of community!

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I really like the distinction between content and practice, particularly how it connects to perhaps some generational divide within the teaching profession (e.g. older teachers maybe relying more on content than practice). I think it's an important perspective to keep in mind as we go about indigenizing the classroom.

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What can we do to create community, to celebrate community?
I think it is implementing a system where everyone wants to be together, feel comfortable and trusting of one another. There needs to be an openness.

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I like the point about the disconnect that occurs in Secondary education. this is something that we as new teachers need to work hard to change while understanding that change like this is difficult and that there are lots of ways that people can object to this kind of connection for reasons that are perfectly reasonable. It is often the most reasonable objections that can stop a useful change dead.

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I like Dion's point. Schools are organized in a way that segregates students. This happens according to age, ability, even gender. It's hard to build a community like this. When every student can come together in an event like this, you can recognize the sense of belonging in the air--it's a beautiful thing!

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I like the statement that this program allowed for the community to fully engage rather than have the students be separated. I like how this relates to the FPPL where it really builds the community and treats everybody participating in the activity very holistically. I think it would be amazing to introduce this into a high school, but more so having all students in elementary and high school work together and make this a truly all encompassing community event.

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The connecting of the graade levels made me think of big buddies/little buddies in elementary school where older kids are paired with younger kids to do activities which makes me think of interconnectedness between generations

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Love the idea of bringing the school community together within the high-school setting to foster community.

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This article beautifully underpins the relationship of first peoples principles of learning and the connection to indigenous and non indigenous peoples. The assignment that was undertaken throughout this article of having students reach out to interview community elders, transcribing the interviews to then turn them into poetry is a meaningful exercise that deeply connected the community. This assignment heavily touched on the principles of recognizing the role of indigenous knowledge and learning is embedded in memory, history and story. Too often do people have bias based on media or hearsay. This type of connection bypasses any contorting of judgment and places the students with real people and real history.

I loved how thoroughly connected the curriculum was in regards to the powwow. The school prepared students for several months and incorporated knowledge of tradition and history in social studies class and Physical Education class. I think this led to a much more meaningful experience for the students and everyone involved. I remember when I was in high school and we had the semiahmoo people perform a powwow in the gymnasium. From my recollection, there was no mention of this powwow happening, nor was there any education to prime students for the experience. I think that is the reason my experience was less meaningful. Schools and educators can learn from the experience at Grandview (¿uuqinak’uuh) Elementary. This holistic community experience deeply touched everyone involved and showed a great deal of respect to the indigenous community.

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https://decolonialfutures.net/portfolio/wanna-be-an-ally/

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The text below emerged from the experiences of many bodies who have been systemically impacted by the violences of colonialism. It took the current form through a collaboration between Elwood Jimmy and Vanessa Andreotti on the difficulties of decolonization.

As a living text, it calls us to welcome a thunderstorm ancestor coming with heavy rain, and teenage and elderly winds that can help us move to a different space in our relationships, perhaps opening up possibilities for new forms of co-existence.

We invite you to create a quiet space to hold the text and request close to your heart for a while and to witness your own responses to the rain and the wind.

If you feel moved, please share what you have learned or felt below in any form you like. You may also be asked by the thunderstorm contribute extra verses or write another version of the text.

wanna be an ally?

don't do it for charity, for feeling good, for looking good, or for showing others that you are doing good

don't do it in exchange for redemption from guilt, for increasing your virtue, for appeasing your shame, for a vanity award

don't put it on your CV, or on facebook, or in your thesis, don't make it part of your brand, don't use it for self-promotion

don't do it as an excuse to keep your privileges, to justify your position, to do everything except what would beactually needed to change the terms of our relationship

do it only if you feel that our pasts, presents and futures are intertwined, and our bodies and spirits entangled

do it only if you sense that we are one metabolism that is sick, and what happens to me also happens to you

do it recognizing that you have the luxury of choice to participate or not, to stand or not, to give up your weekend or not, whereas others don't get to decide

don't try to "mould" me, or to "help" me, or to make me say and do what is convenient for you

don't weaponize me ('I couldn't possibly be racist')
don't instrumentalize me ('my marginalized friend says')
don't speak for me ('I know what you really mean')
don't infantilize me ('I am doing this for you')

don't make your actions contingent on me confiding in you, telling you my traumas, recounting my traditions, practicing your idea of 'right' politics, or performing the role of a victim to be saved by you or a revolutionary that can save you

and expect it to be, at times, incoherent, messy, uncomfortable, difficult, deceptive, contradictory, paradoxical, repetitive, frustrating, incomprehensible, infuriating, dull and painful - and prepare for your heart to break and be stretched

do you still want to do it?

then share the burdens placed on my back, the unique medicines you bring, and the benefits you have earned from this violent and lethal disease

co-create the space where I am able to do the work that only I can and need to do for all of us

take a step back from the center, the frontline from visibility relinquish the authority of your interpretations, your choice, your entitlements, surrender that which you are most praised and rewarded for

don't try to teach, to lead, to organize, to mentor, to control, to theorize, or to determine where we should go, how to get there and why

offer your energy to peel potatoes, to wash the dishes, to scrub the toilets, to drive the truck, to care for the babies, to entertain the kids, to separate the trash, to do the laundry, to feed the elders, to clean the mess, to buy the food, to fill the tank, to write the grant proposal, to pay the tab and the bail

to do and support things you can't and won't understand, and do what is needed, instead of what you want to do, without judgment, or sense of martyrdom or expectation for gratitude, or for any kind of recognition

then you will be ready to sit with me through the storm
with the anger
the pain
the frustration
the losses
the fears
and the longing for better times
with each other

and you will be able
to cry with me
to mourn with me
to laugh with me
to "heart" with me
as we face our shadows
and find other joys
in earthing, breathing, braiding,
growing, cooking and eating,
sharing, healing, and thriving

side by side
so that we might
learn to be ourselves
but also something else
something that is also
you and me
and you in me
and neither you nor me

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The text below emerged from the experiences of many bodies who have been systemically impacted by the violences of colonialism. It took the current form through a collaboration between Elwood Jimmy and Vanessa Andreotti on the difficulties of decolonization. As a living text, it calls us to welcome a thunderstorm ancestor coming with heavy rain,...