[description from YouTube]

This video counts for 15% of my final mark in the course ECS 210 at the University of Regina.

It follows a narrative that is reminiscent of Hemmingway’s short and to the point style. It follows a narrative structure based on the assignment information. The lack of literary language other than hyperbole is a tool purposefully used by the author to try to offer a narration that is impartial and emotionless, yet still involved in the story. Campbell’s own attempt at creating a narrator that is first-person omniscient.

The idea that colonialism tries to maintain a singular social order, and creates oppression and discrimination is paramount within the context of education. Though I did not realize it at the time, the processes of teaching and learning of mathematics in my experience were certainly oppressive and discriminating. For example, the use “mad-minutes” where students would judge each other based on whether or not they were able to finish math problems quickly enough. The insistence on speed rather than quality or care can be seen as reflective of the capitalist/colonial system. It discriminates against students with learning disabilities like dyscalculia and dyslexia. Furthermore, I can never remember doing anything other than worksheets and textbook questions. There were no real projects or room for creativity in my experience, which discriminates against people who are more creative.

1. Inuit mathematics challenge Eurocentric ideas of mathematics by using a number system that has 20 as its base rather than 10. I had never really thought about having a different number basis, and why it could be necessary.

2. Inuit mathematics challenge Eurocentric ideas of the way we learn math, because of the use of stories and observations to learn instead of a paper-pencil approach. I have certainly seen during my internship students who prefer to have something they are able to see and feel, or stories about concepts rather than doing readings in a textbook.

3. Gale’s lecture also challenges conceptions of the purpose of mathematics, using the example of the trade and barter economy that many Inuit communities are used to traditionally. To use math to think about how much tobacco can be equal to livestock is more important for day to day life than advanced calculus. How can we make math more accessible, and relevant for everyone?

A) My schooling has shaped how I read the world because it has influenced my perceptions of people around me and created expectations for social attitudes as well as actions. Growing up in a city, going to Catholic school, and being in mostly advanced placement courses the French immersion program, my surroundings have been heavily influenced by European orientations and perspectives. This schooling has created biases in the ways I interact with other people. For example, through my language education I find myself judging people who make what I consider to be simple English mistakes, and often have been asked during my summer jobs “why do you talk like that?” by rural co workers. Therefore, I bring bias into the classroom in expecting a specific dialect or type of English and French which are privileged by Eurocentric standards that do not correspond to the lived experiences of many groups in Canada. In terms of working against this bias, I think it is to continue to encourage people to improve their language capacities, while not disregarding their ways of speaking, writing, and knowing as illegitimate or less than academic language.

Single stories that were present in my own schooling include the insistence that high school was a time of preparation for university. This privileges students who have goals to continue on to post-secondary education, and not students who do not have the means to continue. It also implicitly discourages people who want to study in the trades or enter directly into the workforce. The truth that matters is that of the career adviser, who tells students what schools they can and can’t apply to. These decision are said to determine the future of students based on their high school accomplishments.

 

Personally, I remember a central focus on personally responsible citizenship through my K-12 school. A few examples of this are food drives organized by the school and mock elections every few years. In addition, there were some limited attempts to incorporate citizenship as participation. For example, through the optional Student Representative Council, as well as the opportunity to join clubs and sports teams. Also, particularly in high school there was mandatory community service required in our Christian Ethics courses. Therefore, for four years part of the requirements for to graduate was the completion of 120 hours of participatory citizenship.

This approach to curriculum made possible participation in the community that most students would not have done if it had not been a requirement. In this sense, there was a transaction between the school, the home, and the community to promote overall social wellness. In terms of the personally-responsible orientations, there was an insistence to follow the rules, vote in elections, and donate to charities. This creates a type of citizen that can hopefully identify situations in which they should act. Finally, this approach to curriculum has made justice-oriented citizenship difficult, because there was no insistence on structural change. It is hard to say whether this is symptomatic of the inherent conservatism of Catholic education, but the intrinsic orientation towards history and structural order makes the promotion of justice-oriented citizenship difficult.

Hello,

Sounds like you have found yourself in a difficult situation, but I commend you for your continued attempts to promote Treaty Ed. The purpose of teaching Treaty Ed where there are few or no First Nations, Métis, Inuit (FNMI) peoples is that there is a contemporary need to provide perspectives that challenge the status quo. Through the history of Canada, there has been a calculated campaign against FNMI Content and Perspectives, through “Othering” and the promotion of a discourse of dysfunction towards Indigenous peoples. As was discussed by Dwayne Donald, there is a continued process of denying relationship, and that people find it difficult to appreciate each other’s perspective. It sounds like this is what you are facing with your cooperating teacher. It is our duty as teachers to incorporate the alternative ways of knowing and perspectives, not only because they supplement and challenge the Western perspectives, but because they are legitimate. They undermine the dominant discourses that Indians were savages when Canada was “discovered”, they challenge the status quo, and offer reasons for the equity issues that we continue to see in the Canadian context. Including this content in the curriculum destabilizes the white settler centered school environment, challenges teachers to deal with contentious issues, and invites students to think critically about their surroundings and stereotypes they often see. As mentioned in the Q & A video, there is still a lot of racism being perpetuated, and we need to identify the systemic structures around us that promote this racism. Where there are few FNMI students, it is more important to teach this content, because stereotypes are stronger within these communities, and there is less general understanding of the perspectives and contemporary issues that people face today. As mentioned in the Q & A video, we need to own these decisions because we are forming the people of the future. As mentioned by Dwayne Donald, in order to think about the future you have to work backwards and trace out the lineages that have brought conditions into being. Also, as Claire mentioned in her introductory video, non-Indigenous students are the ones who need to learn and engage with this knowledge. In regards to your situation, it is truly a difficult topic to approach. I recommend placing your students in space, which is to say identifying the treaties and first nations groups that are close to you. In your instruction, I recommend continuing with your endeavor to promote alternative points of view, and to help the students recognize that Indigenous people have a special relationship with Canada, which has not always been taken care of. In regards to materials, I recommend asking your school’s librarian for help in regards to materials that are available in your school. Also, looking into youtube videos for some presentations in regards to treaties and Canada. Finally, using texts like “Ways of Knowing” by Yale Belanger, or “Finding Daasha” by Stephanie Irlbacher-Fox can provide some useful tools and stories to include in your lessons.

2. What does it mean for your understanding of curriculum that “We are all treaty people”?

We are all treaty people because we are living within the treaty agreements that have been made. We all have a duty to understand and continue the good-faith understandings involved in the treaties. Treaties are not only a piece of paper that was signed, but the celebration of agreement between settlers and Indigenous people in Canada. A duty to continue on in a form a mutual respect, and in aid of one another. In terms of curriculum, we need to continue providing the broader understandings of these agreements beyond the simple treaty documents. As Claire mentioned, many people just continue to turn the page on the issues being faced by Indigenous communities. We can not just put a check beside reconciliation and continue on, because our society has structures that perpetuate racism.

Part 1: According to the Levin article, school curricula are developed by a variety of actors who are involved with the organisation, delivery, and future use of said materials. They are not limited to state actors, but also interest groups and the general public. For me, this paper does not really provide any new information about the development of the school curriculum, as I have taken a few courses in regards to public policy. Though something I found to be very interesting is the insistence that state actors are more interested in being re-elected than taking positive political stances. The idea that a politician’s goal is to maintain a sort of cultural status quo is not often explicitly shared. The point that politicians will choose to side with the people, even if their information is incorrect, versus pedagogical experts who have evidence based input, is a sad reality within our system but is necessary for democracy. Sometimes I think a technocracy would be a more effective form of government….

Part 2) In regards to the relation between the Levin article and the beginning of the Treaty Ed outcomes, it is easy to see that there is a variety of actors involved in the development of this curriculum: Elders, university professors, state actors, and tribal council members. Also, the outcomes and indicators are indicative of broad learning which can be applied to the Treaty context. In terms of tensions being part of the development of this curriculum, it is difficult to image a development of any curriculum without tension. There are always goals and outcomes that people think to be of the utmost importance, but the development of these documents are always a form of compromise between parties and perspectives. I can imagine settling on four different broad goals was likely a point of contention, because these ideas are supposed to be incorporated into the rest of the curriculum instead of being directly relayed within the documents. Choosing four things to have to learn from K to 12 obviously does not show the full picture. I can also imagine the making mandatory instruction in history and content of the Treaties in the K-12 curriculum likely caused some stir ups, as there are still people who are very resistant to “people shoving Indian content down our throats” – some kid during my internship.

There are many ways that reinhabitation and decolonization are happening throughout the narrative in the Restoule et al article. Decolonization through the use of language and passing on of traditional knowledge is central tenent, the creation of a meaningful space for inter-generational dialogue is the key to the realization of this project. Social relationality became more visible and “nameable” through the activities of the project, which brings decolonization. The participants are engaging with their traditional territory, which allows for reinhabitation. Renewing traditional relationships with the land, and cultural patterns help with reinhabitation. Reinhabitation of the territory is achieved through the meaningful dialogue promoted during the river trip.

The theme of the river is interesting, as it is natural and hold cultural stories. Creation of spaces and recording perspectives creates a space for socializing different conceptions of the territory, including the traditional one. Community mapping helps decolonize, rename and reclaim. Reclaiming the territory from resource extraction groups aids in all of these ends.

Reinhabitation is defined in this article as seeking to identify, recover, and create material spaces and places that each us how to live well in our total environments. In this sense I hope to incorporate it into my teaching by the identification of the school environment and how it as a material space promotes certain attitudes and actions. I hope to create a material space that accepts and promotes difference within the school, in order to make a safe place for my students. Decolonization in this context is to identify and change ways of thinking that injure and exploit other people and places. I hope to use this in my future teaching by explicitly acknowledging the dominant discourses within western society, and promoting alternative visions based on truth, myths, past injuries, and reconciliation.

Respond to the following prompt on your blog: What does it mean to be a “good” student according to the commonsense? Which students are privileged by this definition of the good student? What is made impossible to see/understand/believe because of these commonsense ideas?

According to the commonsense, being a good student is someone who sits in their chair, pays attention during class, raises their hand before asking a question, finishes their homework, shows up to school on time, participates in discussions, studies for tests in their spare time, preforms well on tests, and gives insightful presentations. Different students are privileged by this definition of the good student, most of it revolves around students who are able to fit into the implicit academic mold. Students who do not have any disabilities, who have the time and means to study and test well, prepare presentations with help. Students with the confidence to participate and ask questions. Students who have the means to get to school on time, and who have a safe place to sleep at night. This definition makes it impossible to see alternate ways of teaching and learning in the classroom. It makes it impossible to understand the difference between students and their needs that need to be met in order for them to participate in the learning process. Finally it makes it impossible to believe that there are multiple layers of learning and understanding that can represent engagement with the subject material.

For assignment one the critical summary, I have chosen Charles Jupp as my author and am going to work somewhere between the topics of urban education, and race in the curriculum. Thus far, I am planning on using “Becoming Teachers of Inner-City Students: Identification Creativity and Curriculum Wisdom of Committed White Male Teachers” http://tiny.cc/kcx1iz as my foundational document. In summary, this journal article promotes a second-wave of white teacher identification studies which wants to move beyond critical interventionist projects. Within this second-wave there is a focus on becoming, identification creativity, race consciousness, and constitutive representations.

This document by Charles Jupp is based in a constructivist approach in which the teacher is always in a state of becoming. Which is to say that we are always in the midst of negotiating and renegotiating our positions and relationships within the world. This work provides not only with alternative masculinities to pursue within the classroom, but also offers insight into the critique of contemporary interventionist approaches to teaching and identity within “de-facto segregated” schools. Teachers need to apply the curriculum and their knowledge to the specific school context in order to facilitate learning. Teachers also need to celebrate culture and identity in creative ways within the classroom, in order to provide an equitable environment where everyone is valued.

As for the next steps of my critical assessment, I am currently looking at two different contexts in which the second wave of white teacher identification is applicable. The first is in a specific and narrow context: “Co-existence of race-evasiveness and race-visibilitiy identifications: Complexifying one white male teachers’ racial knowledge” http://tiny.cc/o8w1iz . I think that in using this article I will be able to apply the second wave theory and see if it is being used in the way promoted by the foundational document. Can we be effective approaching this situation from other directions? My third article is kind of weak at the moment, I would live to find something in the Canadian context, but so far I have “White Western male teachers constructing academic identities in Japanese higher education” http://tiny.cc/m9w1iz. Within this article, I think it will be possible to look at the issues surrounding academic identities and those who are pale and male on a more broad level.

In my opinion, this topic is important for my professional development as a white male teacher. I think that offering a critical summary of this approach it is most effectively started by investigating the theory of second wave teacher identification, then complemented by examining a narrow and a broad approach respectively.

Respond in your blog to the following writing prompt: Curriculum development from a traditionalist perspective is widely used across schools in Canada and other countries. Think about: (a) The ways in which you may have experience the Tyler rationale in your own schooling; (b) What are the major limitations of the Tyler rationale/what does it make impossible; and (c) What are some potential benefits/what is made possible. Be sure to refer to the assigned article in your post; you may also include information from lecture if you wish.

The Tyler rationale has been used in my schooling as there has always been an implied importance on reaching specific objectives in lieu of promoting meaningful learning. Even through the teacher’s education program, the suggested formulas for backwards design follow the 7- step procedure on the fourth page of the Smith reading. Through my education with the older Saskatchewan curriculum, there are evidently specific content as well as skills goals which have been determined to be important by veteran teachers and the provincial government. I think in my experience in creating unit plans using the Histoire 20 curriculum document, there are specific goals which need to be reached in order for someone to have mastered the content. There is not much insistence on critical thinking and opinion production, but almost a form of cultural transmission.

Tyler’s rational makes it difficult, if not impossible to promote inquiry driven learning and evoke intrinsic motivation. It creates cookie-cutter classrooms that consistently deal with the same issues, and pursue these issues in the same way. Differentiation within this context is frowned upon, and adaptations based on the make-up of classrooms are discouraged. As was said in lecture, Tyler ignores the classroom context, which discourages alternative forms of knowledge and issues which are more relevant to the student’s reality.

Some potential benefits, as mentioned in the reading on page 8 is that there is a degree of uniformity across content offered to students. This enables ministries and governments to produce standardized testing and public examinations which can be seen as a tool for comparing and contrasting educational institutions. Though, it is inherently problematic and there are issues surrounding what the data is used for in these examinations. Tyler’s approach makes it possible for students to have success in their educational endeavors and evaluations without thoughtful learning. They are able to be successful through memorize content, facts, dates, processes, and behaviors without examining the underlying context or implications of the content. As mentioned in the article on page 9, it is also easier for teachers to use this approach than the process model because everything has already been predetermined.