Attempts Toward Reconciliation
Desiree, recently reprimanded for breaching the Code of Professional Conduct, attends a dinner with several UC’s and their student teachers to discuss integration of FNMI perspectives into their teaching.
Mariko
University Consultant
Desiree
Grade 4
St. Milter's Elementary
Major : Modern Languages
UC : Irene
Elle
Grade 2
Lonebrook Charter School
Major : ELA ED
UC : Mariko
Sandeep
Grade 1
St. Milter's Elementary
Major : Math Ed
UC : Irene
Carlos
Grade 8
Haridon Fine Arts School
Major : Social Studies Ed
UC : Georgia
Katelyn
Grade 2
North Heimlich School
Major : Math Ed
UC : Georgia
Desiree was the last to arrive at the dinner, largely because she’d lingered in her car, summoning the courage to go in. Elle would be there, and they had barely spoken since the whole Professional Code of Conduct incident that had landed them both in trouble. And Irene would be there...The UC had reprimanded Desiree with a calm disappointment, which somehow landed heavier than being yelled at.
She wasn’t going to fail (unlike Quaid, who no one had seen for a couple of days), but that didn’t mean she was in the mood to have dinner with a bunch of UC’s and student teachers.
When she finally convinced herself to go in, a student teacher from another school was sharing. “I had a big party for each of the cultures,” Katelyn said. “For the Inuit Day celebration, I made bannock…Then we played a couple traditional Inuit games...I read a story…The kids loved it and the bannock was amazing…So that made me think: you do these kids justice and understand as much as you can about the culture.”
“Do you still have the recipe for bannock?” Carlos asked. “Would you mind sending it to me?” After an email list had been drafted on a napkin, Carlos was asked to share his own experience.
“Where I was placed, the school took on a large-scale project dealing with FNMI, so that was wonderful to be emerged in… It was actually a school-wide theater project. It was an intensive, week-long theater experience for the whole school. Each group of students dealt with a subtopic...and performed their own performance. I really enjoyed being a part of [it] and taking FMNI topics and relating them to students who wouldn’t have an understanding of FNMI…That was really important: to help students to understand those topics through their own personal experience.”
“That’s so cool!” Elle said, among the other comments of approval. She’d given Desiree a smile in greeting when she’d arrived, but otherwise, they hadn’t looked at each other at all. “I think my FMNI integration took a backseat in the school…because the district was trying a different cultural program. And I don’t feel I was strong in incorporating FNMI culture into any of my lessons…I just don’t know enough about it. [In] my community where I grew up, it wasn’t a big focus. It wasn’t a culture that was present or taught in school. It was touched on then moved past. So in terms of me being able to incorporate their perspectives, [it] was a little bit difficult because I don’t know what they are and don’t feel comfortable incorporating something I’m not comfortable with…I did one FNMI unit with my students, and it was a shot in the dark to see how it goes.”
“That’s part of the process though,” said Elle’s UC, Mariko. “Integrating FNMI perspectives into our teaching is new for many of us and will probably feel new for a long time. It’s the attempt that’s important. Attempting in a respectful way and seeing what works and what doesn’t.”
Elle said, “I guess I wish we were able to have more coursework in the area of FMNI because I found it really interesting. The one-day seminar we had just scratched the surface and peeked your interest and made you want to know more, but I don’t think I was prepared to dive into FNMI topics.”
“Oh yeah,” Carlos said. “The Blanket Exercise. I thought that was a really good way of making things more evident.”
“[I had] a bit of preparation in seminar and Curriculum & Instruction,” another student teacher, Adeline, said. “We dove in to databases and found resources related to our majors, like FNMI websites or newsletters, novels or picture books, so that was great. We all picked a few, built a bank, then all of a sudden, we had quite a large bank…During practicum, I went to the resources we collected in our seminar class and was able to find the Micmac traditions and Micmac involvement [in] the war [with] the French.”
“That’s so cool! I think my experience at the university was a little more like Elle’s,” Sandeep said. “But the teacher I worked with had experience with FNMI topics, so I was able to talk to her and get a better understanding…That was fantastic to have an understanding from someone who had not come from a FNMI background but had been [emersed] in it. So one of the units I taught, my TA had given me the skeleton of a unit on an Indigenous culture research project where the class got split into groups and they had to present on it…A lot of the books I had borrowed all used different terminology, and I didn’t know what was culturally appropriate or relevant. I had to talk to my TA and my UC [about] how the students could still use the website and books and [know] what specific language they could or could not use.”
“Did you get those books from the Curriculum Lab?” Carlos asked. “Do you remember the titles?”
“It was from the school library actually,” Sandeep said. “The librarian was working on getting the resources, but it looked like it was a new idea…There was a…fair amount of books that you could use to bring in your classroom, but not a lot of knowledge on how to use the book[s] other than read them. They had the start of integration, but I think there will be a lot of growth in the next couple of years. I only met [the FNMI liaison] once. She came into the classroom and did a workshop on moccasins with the children for a school-wide project called “Rock Your Mocks.” Even then, there was no talk about FMNI culture. They just made moccasins.”
“I think Desiree had a slightly different experience with the liaison,” Irene said. It was gently spoken, but hearing her name startled Desiree so much that she jumped in her seat. Irene looked to her encouragingly. “Care to share?”
Desiree swallowed and tried to mentally catch up with the conversation in order to figure out what Irene wanted her to say. “I guess I feel like we didn’t spend a lot of time [on all this in our university classes]. We talked about the Reconciliation Act, and we talked about First Nation students, but we didn’t talk about how you teach heavily based in FNMI history and the language to use. I had to research that on my own.”
“And how did you go about your research?” Irene pressed. Desiree shrugged. “I feel like a lot of the resources were because I visited with the principal and she gave me a lot of things, mainly because I sought it out…So I got to meet elders and hear their stories and there is nothing that compares to that.”
“Whoa, what?” Katelyn said, clearly impressed. “How did that happen?” “We had a First Nations student in our class who had dealt with a few things personally that we were trying to deal with as well,” Desiree said. “So I was in communication with the principal about that, then the liaison got me in touch with some elders that could help me understand the student’s situation. I didn’t have a chance to invite them into the class or anything, but I think I would have the connections to for my next practicum.”
Across the table, Irene gave an approving nod, and Desiree felt that something might’ve been mended.