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Inquiry question: How can I foster a more inclusive, culturally responsive, and holistic approach to education that honors Indigenous perspectives and promotes a deeper understanding of Indigenous cultures, histories, and ways of knowing?
Courage: Going Forward in Aboriginal Education
In his motivational speech, Brad Baker shares his personal journey as an Indigenous student in school, emphasizing the importance of courage in facing challenges and obstacles with determination and perseverance. He discusses the crucial role of instilling courage in children to protect their identity and make a positive impact on their lives. He highlights the significance of educators in teaching students to take pride in their ancestry and feel confident about who they are. Baker's message about the interconnected pathways of Students, Educators, and Community underscores the importance of collaboration in overcoming intergenerational trauma. He echoes the sentiment expressed by Murray Sinclair that education has the power to address the challenges faced by Indigenous Peoples.
Takeaway 2: Two Eyed Seeing
Two-eyed seeing is a concept from Indigenous perspectives that emphasizes the importance of integrating traditional Indigenous knowledge and Western science in order to gain a more comprehensive and holistic understanding of the world. This concept recognizes that both Indigenous knowledge systems and Western science have valuable insights to offer, and that by combining the two perspectives, we can develop more effective and sustainable solutions to complex problems.
In my classroom teaching about Two-Eyed Seeing, I encourage my students to approach problems with an open mind, acknowledging the strengths and limitations of both knowledge systems. By incorporating multiple perspectives, I can create a more inclusive and collaborative approach to addressing issues such as environmental conservation, social justice, and healthcare.
Ultimately, two-eyed seeing challenges me to think beyond traditional binary ways of viewing the world, and helps me to embrace the richness and diversity of knowledge that different cultures and ways of knowing have to offer. Bringing together the best of both Indigenous and Western knowledge systems has guided me as well as my students to create a more balanced and harmonious relationship with the world around us.
Takeaway 3: Fostering Trauma Informed Pedagogy
Indigenous peoples have undergone a history of trauma stemming from colonization, which has resulted in their physical and cultural oppression. Intergenerational trauma among Indigenous populations has been attributed to the extensive harm caused by violent assimilation tactics imposed on them in many countries. The forced assimilation of children forbidden to speak their language and engage in their culture, their experience of daily racism and cultural shaming, physical and emotional neglect and different forms of abuse have impacted generations of Indigenous Peoples.
As an educator, I try to make my classroom trauma informed by adopting Indigenous knowledge frameworks, creating a safe environment, building trust and transparency, promoting collaboration, fostering empowerment, voice and choice, appreciating diverse identities, and centering Indigenous knowledge and pedagogies. These strategies help me to create a supportive and inclusive learning environment that benefits all students, not just those affected by trauma. Prioritizing safety, trust, empowerment, and cultural awareness, has helped me to enhance student achievement and well-being.
References:
1) Courage: Going forward in Aboriginal Education, youtu.be/5Wk48muy4oM
3) Indigenous Trauma and Healing, trauma-informed.ca/what-is-trauma/indigenous-trauma-and-healing/
Reflection: Module -6
This module was very helpful for me to understand the difficulties that Indigenous children have gone through specially in schools. Indigenous children had to face high levels of trauma due to historical and ongoing experiences of colonization, racism, and violence. This trauma has made lasting impacts on their mental health and well-being. Therefore, it is very important for educators to create safe and inclusive learning environment for students in our classrooms. We must make sure that these students are supported in all means that can help them overcome the intergenerational trauma caused by the unjust situations that their families had gone through. I also learnt the importance of truth, justice and reconciliation in this module that helped me create an inquiry project about how I can teach my students about truth, justice and reconciliation. I learnt the importance of trauma informed classroom and two-eyed seeing. I was amazed to discover different ways how I can creat my lessons based on the goodness about the western knowledge and the Indigenous perspectives in my lessons.
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