2/25/2020 1 Comment Treaty Education is importantDear Intern, It saddens me to read the email sent. As a teacher, you have to remind yourself that Treaty Education is in the curriculum, and therefore, it is your job (as the teacher), to teach it. Although the students may have a negative outlook on this subject matter, it is you job to make this subjects presence known for its importance. Secondly, it brings me unhappiness knowing your staff and co-op teacher do not agree or feel the need to teach Treaty Education either. You did state their reasoning was due to there not being any First Nation students in class, but they can still be educated on the matter because in Canada we celebrate multiculturalism and we live on Treaty 4 Land. I am glad you asked for help, but I want you to know that you should not feel turned off or afraid to continue teaching Treaty Education. It is okay to make mistakes and mess up when you teach. You need to learn from your mistakes and make them experiences you can grow from to be a better teacher and move forward. Treaty Education can be an extremely intense and ‘scary’ subject to teach but know that you have support to lean on and resources to help you along the way. Do you have any sources of support? People from University? Family? Other colleagues? These people can help back you up and share information with you on how you can get across to the school you work in about the importance of Treaty Education. It might just be as simple as the staff and co-op teacher not being educated on this subject. Start by telling them that being Indigenous might not be their heritage or culture, but we are ALL Treaty people. We share the land and it needs to be known what was gained and lost when signing the treaties. By sharing simple facts like this, it might begin to get the wheels going. We need to build a strong relationship with Indigenous culture before we can really understand the history in depth. To start incorporating the importance of Treaty Education, I suggest you bring small aspects into the classroom at least once every day. It could be as easy as learning a new word in Cree, like, Tànisi. This means Hello in Cree. Or playing tradition music while they walk into the classroom each morning. There are many art projects you could have your students get hands on with too. I am a visual and kinaesthetic learner, so for me, I would enjoy participating in these ideas more so than sitting and listening to a lecture type lesson. This does not mean that the history and dates are not important, so please still know that lectures are a great way to present information too. Other ideas like Powwow’s or Healing Centres would be great field trips. Lastly, you could try ask an Elder or speaker who is more knowledgeable on this subject to be requested to come into the classroom. Finding something that will inspire or spark the student’s interests is key. They are more likely to remember or find something interesting if they are fully engaged and involved. I want you to remember to not give up. This is NOT going to happen over-night. Teaching about Treaty Education is like teaching about gender or culture diversity. These subjects need to be talked about more than once. By doing this, your students will begin to notice how truly important Treaty Education is. Remember, if you take the easy way out, you will not be gaining anything for yourself or the students. Treaty Education is VERY important and it will only continue to grow and bloom.
1 Comment
Kendall Allin
3/2/2020 09:00:04 am
I really enjoyed reading your blog. I think you did such an excellent job putting it in an email format! I like your ideas of to be able to incorporate Treaty Education in the classroom, to start little by little everyday. You gave plenty of examples that I think would keep students entertained and engaged, wanting to possibly learn more. You positive approach and ideas to this topic makes me exciting for you and your classroom!
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