Task 5: EAST: see it, see, awareness, vision – The 4Rs: – respect, relationship, reciprocity, responsibility
The learning modules in this course are organized around the four foundational values and ethics of respect, relationship, reciprocity, and responsibility.
Read the attached article to gain a deeper awareness of the 4Rs.
https://learn-us-east-1-prod-fleet01-xythos.s3.amazonaws.com/5b8eb30e9a185/1346840?response-cache-control=private%2C%20max-age%3D21600&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%2A%3DUTF-8%27%27Anishinaabe%2520bimaadiziwin_Living%2520spiritually%2520with%2520respect%252C%2520relationship%252C%2520reciprocity%252C%2520and%2520responsibility.pdf&response-content-type=application%2Fpdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Date=20200929T180000Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=21600&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAZH6WM4PL5SJBSTP6%2F20200929%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Signature=3859ab8fa74aea22d59636edaf26d10d92848206a27d1a945bf21ef5f8de2540
Reflect on the cultural concepts addressed in this article and share your thoughts on the Discussion Board.
Anishinaabe bimaadiziwin_Living spiritually with respect, relationship, reciprocity, and responsibility.pdf
3. Post your one paragraph response to the Discussion Board.
4. Read your classmates’ submissions and respond/reply to at least two of them.
Task 7: WEST: Figure it out, think, knowledge, reason – Truth & Reconciliation
What is reconciliation?
“Reconciliation is about establishing and maintaining a mutually respectful relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people in this country. In order for that to happen, there has to be awareness of the past, acknowledgement of the harm that has been inflicted, atonement for the causes, and action to change behaviour” (Truth and Reconciliation Commission, 2015, p. 6).
TRC Report
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission released its report in 2015 with 94 Calls to Action in response to the Residential School System in Canada. Contained in the calls were 4 calls that address education for reconciliation:
62. We call upon the federal, provincial, and territorial governments, in consultation and collaboration with Survivors, Aboriginal peoples, and educators, to:
Make age-appropriate curriculum on residential schools, Treaties, and Aboriginal peoples historical and contemporary contributions to Canada a mandatory education requirement for Kindergarten to Grade Twelve students.
Provide the necessary funding to post-secondary institutions to educate teachers on how to integrate Indigenous knowledge and teaching methods into classrooms.
Provide the necessary funding to Aboriginal schools to utilize Indigenous knowledge and teaching methods in classrooms.
Establish senior-level positions in government at the assistant deputy minister level or higher dedicated to Aboriginal content in education.
63. We call upon the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada to maintain an annual commitment to Aboriginal education issues, including:
Developing and implementing Kindergarten to Grade Twelve curriculum and learning resources on Aboriginal peoples in Canadian history, and the history and legacy of residential schools.
Sharing information and best practices on teaching curriculum related to residential schools and Aboriginal history.
Building student capacity for intercultural understanding, empathy, and mutual respect.
Identifying teacher-training needs relating to the above.
64. We call upon all levels of government that provide public funds to denominational schools to require such schools to provide an education on comparative religious studies, which must include a segment on Aboriginal spiritual beliefs and practices developed in collaboration with Aboriginal Elders.
65. We call upon the federal government, through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and in collaboration with Aboriginal peoples, post-secondary institutions and educators, and the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation and its partner institutions, to establish a national research program with multi-year funding to advance understanding of reconciliation.
1. Watch the following video of Dr. Jan Hare talking about learning and the land. This is an introduction to a learning module in her well-known MOOC on Reconciliation in Education.
https://youtu.be/gQq6QirJxss
2. Reflect on the following Framework for Cultural Self-Analysis (designed by former M.Ed. student Sherry Telford, 2016) and choose a question, or a couple questions, to answer on the Discussion Board.
Framework for Cultural Self-Analysis
What cultural assumptions, values and policies past and present have allowed settler Canadians to benefit from colonialism? How am I a beneficiary of colonial policy?
What are my epistemological (my understanding of what knowledge is and how it is created) and ontological (my belief regarding that nature of being/reality) paradigms? How do these inform and filter my understanding of settler-Indigenous peoples relations and reconciliation?
What cultural narratives and myths (the stories we tell ourselves) allow me and other settlers to continue to benefit from colonialism?
What are my assumptions about what a good life entails? What image of the good life does my culture promote? What do we mean by progress and development?
Beyond learning and introspection, what actions should I take toward reconciliation? What is my role as a settler Canadian? Alternatively: What is my role in contemporary colonization and how can I extract myself from this or transform my role?
3. Post your answers to the question(s) on the Discussion Board and respond/reply to at least two other postings.
Task 8: WEST: Figure it out, think, knowledge, reason – Envirography
Let’s take a moment to reflect on our relationship with the natural world. I encourage you to sit outside for this activity, and feel free to include the loved ones in your household to join in on the land-based activities included in all the modules.
Create a timeline of your life that identifies with words or pictures all the ways in which you have engaged with the natural world. Think of the small ways (building a snowman in the winter), to big ways (going to a family cottage on a regular basis). Be sure to think about your life from a young child through to the present. This timeline is for your eyes only unless you would like to share it on the Discussion Board.
Reflect on your timeline. Share any big ideas or realizations on the Discussion Board that you encountered through your envirography.
Task 9: NORTH: do it, act, wisdom, movement – Look to the MountainTask 9: NORTH: do it, act, wisdom, movement – Look to the Mountain
A core reading in this course is Gregory Cajete’s book Look to the Mountain: An Ecology of Indigenous Education. We will be reading this entire text throughout the course. It is available online so there is no reason to buy it (it is only available as a used book as Kivaki Press is no longer operational).
You may wonder why we are reading such as ‘old’ book since its copyright is 1994. I consider this text a foundational text in Indigenous education that is still very relevant today. Cajete was the first Indigenous person to really put into writing what Indigenous education is – so I call him the grandfather of Indigenous education – not because he invented it or anything, but because he has articulated it so well.
You will also notice that he uses words such as ‘Indian’ and ‘American Indian’. Please read past these terms as they are not commonly used in Canada. He does us the term Indigenous as well (its in the subtitle) which is a more currently relevant term.
Cajete is Tewa Pueblo from New Mexico and while he presents Tewa specific teachings, his book really presents the common undercurrents in education across most, if not all, Indigenous nations. Throughout the book he also uses teachings from other nations and is careful to identify the nation when he does so.
In his own words, Cajete states that the purpose of this book is to “advocate for the development of a new educational consciousness. A consciousness which allows Indigenous peoples to explore their collective heritage in education and to make the contributions to global education that stem from their deep ecological understandings” (pg. 15).
The full-text of the book is available here: Look to the Mountain
1. Read the Forward, Note to the Reader, and Preface.
2. Review the following quotes from the reading and begin thinking about how these very big ideas could be actualized in Indigenous education, or even perhaps mainstream education, today. Share your thoughts in a paragraph on the Discussion Board.
“It is up to each Indian community, whether they live in an urban setting or reservation, to decide how their needs regarding cultural maintenance or revitalization may be addressed through education; and it is up to each Indian community to decide what is appropriate to introduce through the vehicle of modern education and what should be imparted with appropriate traditional mechanisms” (pg. 18).
“This exploration of Indigenous education attempts to develop insights into the community of shared metaphors and understandings that are specific to Indian cultures, yet reflect the nature of human learning as a whole. Traditional systems of Indian education represent ways of learning and doing through a Nature-centered philosophy. They are among the oldest continuing expressions of “environmental” education in the world. Taken as a whole, they represent an environmental education process with profound meaning for modern education as it faces the challenges of living in the twenty-first century. These processes have the potential to create deeper understandings of our collective role as caretakers of a world that we have thrown out of balance” (pg. 21).
“In this journey we will focus upon a circle of relationships that mirror the seven orientation processes of preparing, asking, seeking, making, understanding, sharing, and celebrating the special wisdom of American Indian Tribal education. Environmental relationship, myth, visionary traditions, traditional arts, Tribal community, and Nature centered spirituality have traditionally formed the foundations in American Indian life for discovering one’s true face (character, potential, identity), one’s heart (soul, creative self, true passion), and one’s foundation (true work, vocation), all of which lead to the expression of a complete life” (pg. 23).
“Education is an art of process, participation, and making connection. Learning is a growth and life process; and Life and Nature are always relationships in process!” (pg. 24).
3. Post your brainstorming thoughts to the Discussion Board and respond/reply to at least two other postings.
i only need a paragraph for each task to put on a disscusion board
