Hi everyone!
My name is Alanna and I’ll be taking over the blog for today to talk about the research I’m doing alongside Savannah. I just want to start my blog off with this quote by Richardson who says “As we speak about the people we study; we also speak for them” (Madden, Higgins & Korteweg, 2013, p. 220). I am not an expert in anyway, and I am not here to take the narrative away from the Indigenous people but am hoping to serve as an ally to support the pleas’ they have been making for years.
My research focuses on Indigenous students and how poverty and literacy intersect with their schooling. I’m also intrigued by the promising pedagogical practices of teachers who work with Indigenous students. Many of the articles I read talk about having “culturally relevant curriculum” which means having materials, content and perspectives that are relevant to Indigenous students. The other key term mentioned is “Indigenous Knowledge” which is described as “…oral and symbolic, it is transmitted through the structure of Indigenous languages and passed on to the next generation through modeling, practice and animation, rather than through the written word” (Battiste, 2002, p.2). Integrating Indigenous Knowledge is important because it aligns with traditional teachings for Indigenous students. Indigenous Knowledge allows students to feel connected to their community, authentic in their self-perception and prepared to learn (Battiste, 2002, p. 29).
Despite numerous research articles, committees and councils, Canada has not done anything to drastically change the education of Indigenous peoples. As a society we associate success with graduating either high school or post-secondary institutions. A study done in 2005 found that approximately 50% of the Aboriginal population in Canada had less than a high school diploma compared to 30% of the general population (Brunnen, 2003, p. 1). The same study found that Aboriginal students are most likely to leave school all together by grades 9 or 10. The question is: why is the Indigenous student dropout rate so high? What is not happening in the classroom to support these students?
Well known Indigenous scholar, Marie Battiste (2002), suggests pedagogical practices for Indigenous students may include sharing circles, experiential learning and modeling to name a few (p. 18). In 2013-2014, 87% of Mi’kmaw students in Nova Scotia graduated from high school. The Mi’kmaw Kina’matnewey attribute this to translating children’s books into the Mi’kmaw language and developing Mi’kmaw language apps for youth to use (Mi’kmaw Kina’matnewey, 2014). However, these practices are not common, as many provincial educational systems tend to focus on testing students and publishing results from standardized examinations. For example, the Program of Learning Assessment for Nova Scotia or PLANS tests students provincially (in Math and ELA) and also publish assessment and examination reports for the general public to access (About PLANS, 2018). Statistically speaking 14% of Indigenous students required test adaptations for the Early Language Literacy assessment that took place in Nova Scotia (Thiessen, 2009, p.17). So as teachers, where do we go from here?
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| Image retrieved from http://homelesshub.ca/blog/infographic-aboriginal-poverty |
When it comes to education we often want answers to be tangible i.e. course material, professional development days or handouts to make our classrooms more welcoming to Indigenous students. Culturally relevant curriculum is not the solution to the problem but rather is a tool (Battiste, 2002, p. 16). You can have multiple textbooks, curriculum guides and PD day’s but without a teacher’s willingness to change the system, the content doesn’t come alive for the students. A study was done in 2007 which compared two grade 9 Social Studies classes where one class (Class A) had integrated Indigenous curriculum and the other (Class B) did not. The results showed that Class A performed better on tests, had a better understanding of the content and grew in confidence as the year went on (Kanu, 2007, p. 32). When looking at student responses Indigenous students noticed how instrumental their teacher was to their success. They spoke of the teacher’s ability to clearly explain the content, the vast knowledge of the teacher and faith in each student’s ability to succeed. The integrated curriculum certainly was engaging for all students in the class, but it was the teacher’s desire to teach the content and his willingness to learn which stood out to students the most (Kanu, 2007, p. 33).
As teachers, we have the ability to create change in the classroom, but we have to feel the change in order to be the change. There needs to be a shift inside us as teachers so we can start to see the value of infusing pedagogical practices that support Indigenous learners in the classroom. Teachers need to embrace this idea and implement it wholeheartedly for Canadian society to see real change. If teachers and administration get behind the push for Indigenous Knowledge, then hopefully the rest of Canada will too.
Have a good one,
Alanna Saunders
...
About PLANS”. (n.d.). Student Assessment and Evaluation. Accessed June 20th, 2018.
Retrieved from: https://plans.ednet.ns.ca/about-plans
Battiste, M. (2002). Indigenous Knowledge and Pedagogy in First Nations Education: A
Literature Review with Recommendations (pp. 1-69). Ottawa, Canada: National Working Group on Education.
Brunnen, B. (2003). Encouraging Success Ensuring Aboriginal Youth Stay in School (1-23).
Calgary, Canada: Canada West Foundation
Kanu, Y. (2007). Increasing school success among Aboriginal students: Culturally responsive
curriculum or macrostructural variables affecting schooling? Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education, 1(1), 21-41.
Madden, B., Higgins, M., & Korteweg, L. (2013). “Role models can’t just be on posters”:
Re/membering Barriers to Indigenous Community Engagement. Canadian Journal of Education, 36(2), 212.
Mi’kmaw Kina’matnewey. (2014). “Mi’kmaw Kina’matnewey Releases Annual Report on
Mi’kmaw Education in Nova Scotia”. Retrieved from: http://kinu.ca/news/mikmaw
kinamatnewey-releases-annual-report-mikmaw-education-nova-scotia
Thiessen, V. (2009). Identity, Equity and Performance: Mathematics and Reading Literacy in
Nova Scotia Public schools. Nova Scotia: Department of Education.
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