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Tim emphasizes the importance of building personal connections within the school system. For example, he pointed out how having a live speaker is different in comparison to learning from books. I agree with this point as having a live speaker is quite a different experience. Students can benefit from first hand speakers as well. Further, the circle engaged in meaningful dialogues about the importance of parents engagement within the classrooms. Parents are more likely to engage when you're talking about their children's positives/strengths so then, when something negative or of concern is brought up they are more likely to respond positively. In my practicum I felt my SA did a beautiful job of including Indigenous ways of knowing throughout her every day lessons. At the end of the day we would debrief and often, she would do it so effortlessly because as she wouldn't notice she had done a lot of things. Also, she was very open minded and loved how I was taking an Indigenous class this semester as she got to learn from me.

I appreciated everyones comments around building a sense of community within the schools because meaningful connections are crucial and the more we engage with one another, the more we learn!

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I think it’s important, as educators, to be culturally responsive.  It’s our responsibility to foster reciprocity with our students and their families.  To be an ally for Indigenous communities, we need to build trust before truth, be reliable and do the work all the time.  You can’t pick and choose, you have to show up in meaningful and respectful ways all the time in order to show Indigenous communities that schools can be a safe place for them.  As teachers, we have to be allies, which means being supportive, understanding, non-judgmental, and educated.

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I think it is very important to consider that parents who did not go to residential schools, still were not able to express themselves and their culture at school. For indigenous students today, their two worlds of community and schooling are still disconnected and need to be brought closer together. That's why as teachers we need to consider what we can do to rebuild trust and bring these two worlds together. It is clear that there is a greater need for indigenous resource teachers and support than what is currently being offered. I like Tim's idea of zooming with another class that does have an indigenous resource teacher. But I agree that face to face, personal interactions are much more beneficial for the students. I like what Robert said about rather than bringing indigenous communities to us, why are we not going to their community? This is a good way to involve the parents, grandparents and elders to start to rebuild trust.

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When I went to elementary school, the only memory that I had of learning about indigenous cultures and history was a single class unit in third grade. We briefly learned about the traditional art forms of the Haida people and made button blankets during class. A field trip was planned for the Museum of Anthropology at UBC where we visited the longhouse and saw the totem poles and other artifacts in the exhibits. Indigenous content was incorporated into the curriculum only for these few months in my entire K-7 school experience. I think I would have a deeper and less superficial understanding of the importance of indigenous peoples in Canada if there were more inter-community events that allowed students to meet and talk directly with various indigenous nations. In Richmond, there are not many indigenous students and the activities in Nelson's paper would be difficult because of the lack of families and elders available. One thing I would like to continue exploring is how to bring indigenous content into the curriculum aside from daily morning land acknowledgments, which is the only difference I see today compared to my experience in elementary school.

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How do we as educators build a level of trust that makes our students and families feel comfortable and safe sharing their cultures in the classroom? I love the discussion about having an open door policy and welcoming parents and families into the classroom where appropriate and the impact that can have on the relationships you build with them. As Sean mentioned, it's so important for us to take the proper steps to incorporate our elders into the classroom as there is so much knowledge and wisdom we can learn from them, and creating this type of classroom environment is a great step towards accomplishing that. Additionally, building these types of connections is another step towards creating a cohesive and collaborative sense of community.

Touching on the discussion about Indigenous pedagogies present in our practicum schools, I'm at the same school as Tim and was also quite surprised at the lack of Indigenous acknowledgement and pedagogies for such a large school. It's inspiring though to hear Brandon's experience at Holly and the efforts that school is making to incorporate Indigenous education into their curriculum and everyday school life.

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Tim's idea of having a Zoom class with students in an Indigenous classroom was such an interesting idea to me. Though I like the idea, I wonder what the best way to approach this would be and how well would it be received? Would it be welcomed or would it feel that Indigenous students are still being "used" to educate non-Indigenous students? Despite this, I find it so valuable to connect and to humanize Indigenous peoples to students to avoid students mistaking these communities to be those of the past the way a lot of us grew up.

I really appreciated Robert's comment about going into communities instead of asking communities to come to us. This idea really excited me because it shows that non-Indigenous people are making the effort instead of continuously asking Indigenous peoples to come to us. I overlooked this idea but it makes a lot of sense and is probably a better way to work towards reconciliation and building trust and learning truth.

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A student spends a lot of time in school throughout their life and if there is a big disconnect between the education system and their home life, I think it will be tough on the students to think about the connections that can be made. Students should feel safe whether they're at school or at home and I think if theres a disconnection it would be thought of as living two lives. I like what Sean said about contacting parents for positive reasons because I do feel like parents are only contacted when something bad happens. This doesn't build a positive connection between students, parents, and their school. If parents are being contacted occasionally with good news about their children, I think that will help build trust and form a connection that will benefit everyone.
Most of us are doing our practicum in Richmond and I feel that Indigenous peoples and culture are not talked about very often. My school does land acknowledgements which I think is a good first step into incorporating Indigenous studies but I feel like the school district of Richmond is capable of more. I'm grateful that my school has an Aboriginal support worker but not every school in Richmond has that opportunity. I hope during my long practicum I can witness the support worker teaching Indigenous studies in all the classes in my school.

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Something that was mentioned is the disconnect between students' experiences in their community versus when they're at school. They may have to be abiding by a set of different rules when they're in their community and I think it's important that as educators, we are familiar with those rules. I don't think it's fair for us to expect our students to act one way in their community, but when they come to school they have to behave in a different manner. It seems that the school community and their home community are very separate and we should be inviting students' families to be more involved with the school. This made me think about what we can do as educators to foster a sense of community among students' parents and families. How can we make parents feel more comfortable having their kids at school. I like that Sean mentioned phoning parents about positive things too regarding their kids.

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I appreciate Sean’s connection to Dallas’ teaching about children’s perception of the school system playing an integral role in the ways that students will be open to learning. Indigenous students often come into the westernized school system with colonial effects present and a lack of cultural representation. As Tim stated, the fact that these concepts were being discussed in 1990 and it is now 2021, yet have we actually seen change? Policy and recommendations on paper compared to what is actually being implemented across schools is vastly different. Hearing about the lack of Indigenous support and resources within the Richmond School District is frustrating when I know that they have an official Aboriginal Education Enhancement Agreement. I agree with Brandon elaborating on the way to truly make strides towards obtaining reconciliation is to bring in Indigenous culture, family, community members into the classroom, and entering into the community with your classroom.

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One point that was brought up that I've really been thinking about is where have I been taught/what has taught me that parental involvement my classroom is bad or something to avoid? Why must I be the only grown up/authority in my classroom? Especially when we consider how we can purposefully and meaningfully connect with Indigenous students in our classrooms we need to consider the relationship we form with parents and families. As Sean was saying, if the families have had experiences of trauma, hurt, and disrespect in schools, we are an important part of showing that we are trying to change the education system and provide a safe and empowering environment that works with different cultures and families. As we have been saying - education got us into their mess, education (including us!) must get us out.

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Thanks Sean for reminding us to contact the parents for positive reasons! As teachers, if we can build connections with parents is also beneficial for times when things aren't going well. This allows everyone to communicate openly and collaborate with parents for long-term problem solving.

I also relate to Tim's point that the place where we can take immediate actions is our classrooms. But we need to make connections, use district resources and perhaps collaborate with other teachers to enhance the Indigenous education and experience in our classrooms. I remember Dallas saying during the field trip that it is believed it will take 7 generations for the Indigenous and Canadians relationships to heal. I am hopeful that the work we do today will continue to heal the relationship for years to come.

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My curiosity based on what the group has said about the involvement of parents in the classroom is how parental involvement will change as we eventually transition back from COVID. When I was young and as Robert mentioned in his classroom, parents were heavily involved in our classroom and our activities. I think that parents can really help with building the community and work towards reconciliation, especially if we are communicating with them for positive things as well. But with COVID, parents aren't allowed in the classroom anymore. I'm curious to see how community, involving parents, will rebuild in the coming years.

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A few questions discussed today are all very important considerations to learn about. One is how to develop trusting relationship with families and community members where some see school as a place of threat as Robert reminded us. Patience, humility, listening ears, trying to be ok with where everybody is at, and be open to learning what I could do to be a good supporter of Indigenous children and families and to integrate opportunities to learn about our identity, culture, community and to build a sense of community and belonging. I feel we need to be explit in our support in order to create opportunities equitably. Also, I think it’s important to view our roles as an educator as part of a community, where each has its own role to take, accepting the different ways to contribute, and building trusting and reciprocal relationship that help one another to rely on one another for the collective aim of supporting children’s learning and development.

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Sean made a great point about making a call home for positives instead of negatives. Many educators think it is the Indigenous student's fault that they're acting out or misbehaving or untrusting. There are a lot of negative stereotypes yet educators forget the history of Indigenous people and schools. It is not a given that Indigenous students are trusting of white institutions so instead of making those negative phone calls home, educators can build a relationship with that student. The two worlds do not just co-exist but need to be interrelated and a sense of community needs to be established.

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Something that struck me was the way Tim repeatedly emphasized his need for "a connection". This made me think about the circles of belonging activity we did and continue to add to. How can we reimagine our involvement as teachers in building a classroom space where students can express their Indigenous backgrounds? What is the role of collaboration with Indigenous community members? What Tim shared made me reflect on how creating a sense of belonging and connection for Indigenous students and families in schools may be one of the keys to repairing distrust. For instance, in the Generations Project, family members were invited to be the focus of a class project and complete an interview at school. Other examples provided in the article include reaching out through a letter and letting families know you are seeking cultural collaboration.

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“what can we do to help our schools be a safe place for Indigenous students?”

Robert put forward this powerful question to the group. Tims response really struck out to me. He mentioned that schools still are not a safe place for indigenous students. Schools can put up posters and send out newsletters of support, but that is not bringing any real change - especially in individual classrooms. Majority of teachers are still unequipped and uneducated on how to teach Indigenous students, and thus contributing to unsafe school environment. The system is broken and was created to cater to white students. Changing the entire Canadian school system is a daunting task that we cannot individually complete, but as educators we have the opportunity, as well as the responsibility, to do our part in our classrooms. We have our classrooms, and that’s a great place to start by being educated and taking measures to help Indigenous students in our class to feel safe.

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Robert's experience on how the school system never gave space to express indigenous background as it is centred around fitting in and colonizing the classroom is important for the meaningful inclusion that is needed moving forward.

So what are we doing to help build trust? What are we doing to show indigenous communities that is safe?
Have we even made approvements?

I connected with Sean's and Tim's point of how cultural inclusion is such an important aspect of how us as teachers and individual can contribute in our own classrooms. By having personal sorries rather than books is just one way of incorporating perspectives and connection, as Tim mentioned, which is one step closer to building community and an inclusive environment.

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Hearing Sean talk about how when parents get a phone call from the school they automatically think "oh no" reminds me of my own parents, where one of their fears is answering a phone call from the school saying that we (their children) got hurt. But to me if we "heal" the relationship between schools and parents by sometimes calling the parents for a positive note, would the parents still be so willing to answer the first time the school calls? If it isn't urgent, would they consider it to be 'spam'? I connect with Tim how that we should have a personal connection for ourselves and for our students to learn about Indigenous matters. I agree that a personal connection personalizes the experience rather than reading an article or reading a book, even watching a video could work as well to show that this is happening in present day and that the Indigenous peoples could be our friends or neighbours. Especially in Richmond, there is little talk about Indigenous peoples and when the matters are discussed, it's a lot about history and the past so students get confused how these matters still are important in the present day. I like how Brandon mentioned his experience in the delta school district for his practicum.

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I agree with Sean talking about engaging with parents about the good stuff that students are doing. I think that parents are an important resource to use to get to know students and having a positive relationship with them could be beneficial to the kids. It would allow for opportunities to share cultures and build trust. I think the educator needs to work to bridge the gap between students' home lives and their schools. I think schools can do so much more to build community and make families feel more comfortable in the place their children spend so much time.

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I appreciate Tim's comments on the critique of schools as a "safe" place, especially for Indigenous students, racialized and black students, immigrant students, undocumented students, queer, non-binary, and non-gender conforming students, economically and socially underprivileged students- basically any students that walk 2 worlds beyond the one the school systems uphold. Schools are not to be assumed as safe spaces, I don't even feel UBC is a safe place.

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Distrust of the education system amongst Indigenous communities should like a real barrier to building between Indigenous and Education. How can I rebuild that trust within my classroom? I really like the comment about calling parents with positive and good reports on students, to help update parents and ensure that when parents hear from the teacher it is not always negative and bad news. The relationship is important, and that is one way to improve the situation. Personal connections are also an important way to rebuild and establish trust between Indigenous and Education.

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Children should not have to live in two worlds as mentioned in today's talking circle. It is sad to think that the school system and greater community often are often not harmonious and because of this, it is important to consider how we can bring community in more. I think that it is the school's responsibility to invite families in and prioritize creating an environment that is inclusive for all cultures. I think a good way to begin making connections with parents is to invite parents in to discuss positive aspects of children's growth and learning, rather than focussing on negative areas. We cannot expect children, families, and Elders to always feel comfortable connecting and trusting schools- and I like Tim's point of connection being the best approach for reconciliation.

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One thing that stood out to me after listening to the talking circle is how teachers shouldn't just be contacting parents when something bad happens with their child, but teachers should also be contacting parents when their child does something good. Doing this helps to bring the parents in on what is going on with their child while they are at school and can help build the relationship between the teacher and the parents. I believe that this could work to build trust and community between the parents and the teacher and as a result the parents may be more responsive in working together to help their child reach their goals.

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I think Sean made some interesting points about how school may be difficult for some Indigenous students because their families and Elders may not feel comfortable and connected to the school based on their past lived experiences. As a result, we need to ensure that there is a feeling of comfort and connection from the Elders in the community in order to provide a safe, supportive and inclusive environment for Indigenous students. There needs to be support for and within the school for Indigenous students and this includes allowing the community to be a part of the school and the students' learning. Make communication between the community and the school positive as opposed to negative.

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One of the things the article mentioned that I truly value is that it is iso important to build trust and connections with the parents on positive feedback and student success. Our connection wit parents should not be centred around negativity.
Another comment that struck me was Tim's experience in a school where the teacher "made" him work with Indigenous students because it was too "challenging" for the teacher. This is extremely disappointing and upsetting because our school systems are supposed to be working towards truth and reconciliation and building Indigenous' students' success, and the comment Tim's teacher said is doing the polar opposite and this is just recently.

The article did a great job of bringing elders into the school and their knowledge, however this was all facilitated with the help of a resource teacher. It is somewhat difficult because resource teachers are in such high demand- there is often one resource teacher for 3-4 schools.

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Sean made an excellent point. We can’t expect students who come from families who are not comfortable in school settings to be able to participate in our classrooms with ease. It is important for us to do the work to decolonize to allow these students to fit into our classrooms and their parents to trust and see that we care for their child and their history/culture. Frequent contact with the parents is a great idea to work towards building up the relationships, especially when it comes to complementing their strengths. All parents should hear more positives about their children. How we perceive our students is really important for how they perceive themselves. If we only report negatives, they might internalize that. That being said- Tim experience with his past schools treatment of Indigenous students is very disappointing. It breaks my heart to consider how these children were internalizing this.

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Historically schools didn’t hold space for Indigenous ways of being. What are we doing to help build trust? How to make schools not seem as a threat when historically it has been a negative place. Aim for parental involvement? Do parents want to be involved? - I like how Carmen asked how much involvement parents truly want? We should be asking the parents.

In addition, I like how Sean mentioned the need to contact the parents for positive feedback and build on students strengths so if difficult conversations arise parents are more likely to respond collaboratively vs. defensively. This also aims to build relationships with parents and show them that you are invested in their child and their well being.

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Space to express own cultural identity but rather would have focused on conformity to the system leading to a breaking of trust between communities and schools. The question of what work should and needs to be done to rebuild the trust is something I feel of enormous significance.

I connect so well with Sean's point also concerning the parental attitudes towards receiving communications such as a phone call with parents being described as "Oh no!"" as compared to having communications that may be appreciated about the strengths of the student.

However in the process of creating positive experiences and finding the support and ability to create these spaces, there must be effort to make the inclusivity of cultures and people meaningful, and not just a surface-level façade of doing something towards this means. In being meaningful in creating spaces whether in genuine support and accountability of resource departments, inclusivity can be truly fostered that will help generate more opportunities for genuine interaction between the school and the community.

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What’s the reparation to build trust again?

I like that Sean mentioned the idea of connecting with parents about the strengths and progress of students. Instead of only calling parents to talk about issues and problems, it would provide more support and sense of community if parents are hearing and aware of the great things their children are doing in school. It would be a more holistic connection between home and school life, so there isn’t this invisible wall that blocks out the two from interacting. It’s just unrealistic to think the two shouldn’t mix. I also like that by talking about student strengths, when there are moments of growth, students and parents will be more receptive to work together to get the student to that goal.

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Meaningful cultural inclusion is so important and welcoming to parents and families who may otherwise feel discomfort. These parents and families may even find threat from the terrible history and current systemic harmful practices that are parts of many systems in all of Canadian society (including but not limited to healthcare, housing, food security, access to clean water, and equitable educational opportunities).
These overtures of meaningful inclusion must be consistent and sincere to make a real and hopefully lasting difference.