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After reviewing Interaction Vol. 27, No. 1 (Spring 2013), I gained excellent insights into numerous elements of early childhood education, with a special emphasis on child care in Canada.

One of the most striking topics for me was the emphasis on culturally responsive methods, particularly in caring for Aboriginal children. The essay on Inunnguiniq, an Inuit child-rearing tradition, emphasized the necessity of tapping into cultural assets to help children develop resilience and emotional well-being.This approach to child development, founded on respect, community support, and traditional values, reaffirmed my belief that early childhood education should always respect and include cultural practices, particularly in varied contexts such as Canada.

Another major lesson was the emphasis on the health of early childhood educators (ECEs). The Quebec-wide survey of whether child care staff are anxious or joyful was eye-opening. It demonstrated that stress levels differ depending on the environment (home-based versus group centres) and years of experience, which has a direct impact on total job satisfaction.This serves as a reminder of how important it is to create supportive and nurturing settings for both children and instructors. It made me consider how circumstances at work in ECE settings can affect both the standard of care and the mental health of employees.The importance of temperament in early childhood settings and inclusive methods were also discussed in the text. The conversation about how teachers might reconsider the categorizations we typically give kids, such "easy" or "difficult," was especially enlightening. I discovered that, in order to ensure a "goodness of fit" between the child and their surroundings, it's critical to address each child's temperament from a strengths-based perspective.With this method, children can flourish according to their unique requirements in a more inclusive and respectful learning environment.

The memorial service for Dr. Clyde Hertzman also served to emphasize the significant influence early experiences have on long-term health and wellbeing. I was reminded by his studies of how important early childhood educators are in influencing favourable developmental outcomes.

In general, this Interaction issue reaffirmed important concepts like the value of cultural sensitivity, the support of educators' well-being, and the encouragement of inclusive, child-centered methods in early learning environments. It broadened my perspective of the opportunities and challenges associated with early childhood education in Canada, which I found to be both inspirational and educational.

Thank you

Khushpreet Kaur Tatla

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When I first arrived in Canada in 2013 via the federal skilled worker program, I was completely unaware of the deep-rooted issues of land disputes and brutality faced by the First Nations people. It wasn't until I came here that I realized the extent of the injustices that have been inflicted upon them for centuries. I feel ashamed that I had no knowledge of this dark chapter in Canadian history before coming to this country.

I was handed a piece of paper with some information about the First Nations, but it was only a surface-level introduction that barely scratched the surface of the ongoing struggles they face. As a parent, I can't help but empathize with the pain of losing loved ones, having their cultures destroyed, and being forcibly removed from their ancestral lands. It is a heartbreaking reality that continues to impact their lives to this day.

I am grateful for the opportunity to live on the lands of Stolo and Kwantlen first nations but I am also acutely aware that I am an illegal alien on land that rightfully belongs to the First Nations. I am committed to educating myself further on their history and experiences. It is my moral duty to be a part of the truth and reconciliation process and advocate for their rights to their ancestral lands.

Allan DJ

CSU - Technical Services

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I came to Canada as an international student in 2014 and studied in Edmonton, Alberta. It was during a first year "Canadian" History course that I was introduced to land acknowledgements and even made aware of the brutalities of colonization.

However, it wasn't until I moved to BC, that I really started to think about the importance of land acknowledgments, and it was because I noticed that instead of saying that we were on "Treaty Six land" in Edmonton, we would name the specific nations of whose land we were on in BC. I learned there were no treaties made with First Nations in the area of BC I was now living.

This opened up my eyes in a whole new way to other atrocities committed by colonization. While the treaties were problematic, there wasn't even an attempt to negotiate with the people who had been living on these lands since time immemorial. I've started to think about what my personal treaty should be, and how I can reconcile with living on land I have no legal right to even be on.

Josh (from the CSU)

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Since moving to Canada as an international student, I’ve begun to learn about the rich history and cultures of Indigenous peoples. However, much of what I’ve encountered so far has been heartbreaking.

Before coming here, I had little knowledge of these histories, but it has become clear how important it is to recognize and acknowledge the truth. And since, I have learned about their cultures, way of life, the true history of lands, and tradition, and not just for academic grades or to fit in when doing the land acknowledgment at the beginning of a meeting or class, but because this is the first step towards reconciliation and healing.

Ashneet Kaur (CapU student & CSU staff)

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I recall being back in high school several years ago, and signing up for an "Indigenous Studies" class, because it was something that always interested me, as I worked with many children from various Indigenous backgrounds in my previous job. I was told at the beginning of that next school year that they wouldn't be running that class because there was not enough students enrolled. So, I tried again the following year, and the SAME thing happened, so I was again left to take a different social studies class that skimmed over a very light and positively framed chapter of Indigenous history.

Over the last couple years, I have started to look into more stories and history of the Indigenous community, and am lucky that I get to continue that learning through my work at the CSU. This is my commitment to keep asking questions and listen to more lived experiences.

Dayna (CSU)

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I've come to learn that the quick chapter glazed over in highschool was no where near adequate as a summary of what history has looked like for the Indigenous community. It's often that I hear "land acknowledgements are just a checkbox" or uncertainty about what Land Back demands from settlers. In my time here at the students' union, I've been privileged to hear some very personal stories from survivors of Indigenous injustices, learn some of the why of land acknowledgements, and lean into the uncomfortable conversations. There is immense historical weight being carried by the Indigenous community, but also a sense of hope that as we reflect on the powerful stories they share, we choose to do better.

I think it's easy to want everyone to care because they really should and forget that not everyone has made it deep into the conversation yet. As frustrating as it is to not be further along, the truth behind reconciliation speaks for itself if we are patient enough to invite in those that are just starting their learning journey.

A simple thank you to those who have shared their stories or teachings never feels like enough.

Ann (CSU)

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Beyond the Scripted Land Acknowledgement

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Beyond the Scripted Land Acknowledgement

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At the students' union, we've spent some time this week hearing deeply personal and heartfelt stories from an Indigenous community member about a family member's experiences navigating an "Indian day school" and "Indian day school." These stories—shared so generously with our student leaders and staff, many of whom are newcomers to these lands—shone light on Indigenous experiences in a way that I have seen engage these student leaders so much more effectively than many of the other ways we've tried sharing information. This was a reminder, to me, to look to oral history and storytelling as authoritative ways of learning and educating our leaders.

I also want to share that we used the Raven Trust resource (that the Truth and Reconciliation Working Group shared—thank you!) at our monthly staff meeting to have some good discussion about land acknowledgements and, in particular, prioritizing becoming comfortable and confident enough to offer land acknowledgements that go beyond the "script" that you might find printed on meeting and agenda packages where the words can start to just become muscle memory and lose meaning. I think it's important that leaders (at both the CSU and the university) can speak these acknowledgements from the heart and without the aid of the written "script" (accessibility accommodations accounted for, of course). This created space for some really important conversations, and I'm grateful that your work prompted this.

Thank you!

Chris Girodat (from the CSU)

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In returning to work at CapU this week after a leave, I was yet again struck by the beauty of the environment surrounding our main campus, and yet again reminded that this beautiful land is and has been stewarded by the LíỈwat, xʷməθkʷəỷəm (Musqueam), shíshálh (Sechelt), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and SəỈílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations since time immemorial. I chose to watch Nikki Sanchez' TED talk and appreciated her call to consider how we/I can ensure that my grandchildren can be proud of the work that my generation took part in to dismantle the harmful colonial and capitalist systems that my grandmothers' generation ingrained in the dominant culture in Canada. I am inspired and looking forward to my work within the People, Culture, and Diversity team and our move towards embedding a commitment to T&R within our actions that will concretely impact all employees and therefore, the students and learners in the CapU community.

Thank you to the T&R Working Group for this opportunity for reflection.

Sally Hart

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I used to see learning as a strictly linear process. I acquired information, processed and stored it, and used it as a foundation to continue building upon. Learning was then, in effect, the construction of a tower of knowledge in my mind that was structured and directional: onwards and upwards throughout the course of my life.

But in the process of constructing this tower, I learned truths that revealed cracks and gaps in my foundation, and unsettled my linear approach. The limited information I had acquired as a child about Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island and the creation of the settler colony of Canada through settler textbooks and cultural anecdotes was utterly dissonant to the reality. For all that I had been taught in high school, colonization was a successful endeavour that took place long ago and is now too late to change. It was not until I was unsettled by the truth—that colonization is an ongoing process that has tried for centuries to exterminate Indigenous Peoples and cultures and failed time and again to overcome their resilience—that I realized I was part of the problem. My linear (or, in other words, colonial) approach to learning was trapping and preventing me from reconciling with and decolonizing myself, which in turn made external reconciliation and decolonization impossible.

I am now on a journey to change not just what I know, but how I know it. Learning from and working with the incredible Dr. Justin Wilson and David Geary in INTS 345: Reconciliation in Action; reading Unsettling the Settler Within by Paulette Regan and All Our Relations by Tanya Talaga; conversing with Riley Bizzotto, Grace Kim, and Skel7áw̓s Naomi Narcisse; being part of this wonderful Truth and Reconciliation committee; and hearing the incredible accounts and works of Indigenous artists and scholars such as Dr. Kim TallBear, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, and Robin Wall Kimmerer, has opened my eyes to the circularity of learning and the importance of unsettling. As Justin taught me, meaningful learning is reflective and reflexive—it is an endless cycle of learning, doing, reflecting, relearning, and redoing that connects me to and grounds me in the world.

I am no longer constructing a tower of knowledge, but nurturing a dynamic web of information, thoughts, and emotions. This circular, integrated approach grants me the flexibility to grow over time, both in new information that I learn and preconceived notions that I unlearn, and allows me to address colonization at one of its roots—myself.

Thank you to everyone who has, is, and will travel on this journey with me; I appreciate you more than I can say.

Casper

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EXAMPLE REFLECTION: Reconciliation as an ongoing journey...

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EXAMPLE REFLECTION: Reconciliation as an ongoing journey...

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Since June 2024, I have had the privilege of being a part of a group of volunteers that developed the above invitation/learning resource. Our motivation was simple: Learning more is important, and it is work non-Indigenous Canadians need to do for ourselves, with each other, as a first step toward meaningful and lasting Reconciliation with the Indigenous peoples of Canada.

As a member of the CapU community, I could not be prouder and happier that I found this likeminded group of staff, students, and faculty, all committed to "Doing the work" to grow our own understanding, and then share back these learning opportunities with our greater community members. Together, we can do the work, and together, we can shape what reconciliation will look like at CapU.

Thank you.

Volunteer Member, CapU Truth & Reconciliation Working Group

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Non-Indigenous members of the CapU community are invited to participate in Truth and Reconciliation.

1. Access the resource (above) offering meaningful engagement opportunities.

2. Engage with a resource prior to National Truth and Reconciliation Day on September 30, 2024.

3. Reflect, document, and share your experience with others on this community board, by:

1. Press the "+" [plus] button on this screen;

2. Add a subject for your post;

3. [Optional] Add a picture, video, audio file, link, etc.;

4. Add a reflection into the body of the post (i.e., "What did you learn?" "Why is this learning important?" etc.);

5. Press "Publish".

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Truth & Reconciliation Pre-Work Resource Sheet_sharing