Introduction
The topic of First Nations, Metis, and Inuit (FNMI) is one that is usually addressed once every two years in Canadian schools. This is because Canada’s FNMI communities have been marginalized, and continue to be marginalized, through systematic racism, and their inclusion in academic programs extends no further than a handful of jargon in the expectations of curriculum documents. In order to effectively approach the indigenization of academic programs, we need to not only strengthen the almost nonexistent KNOW and DO foundations of Drake’s model, but we must also rethink how we will come to embody the characteristics and attitudes of the BE bridge that will unite our students and institutions in welcoming FNMI communities.
KNOW
In the paper De/colonizing Preservice Teacher Education: Theatre of the Academic Absurd, Drs. Denomme-Welch and Montero tell of a survey they gave to preservice teachers that asked of their experience with FNMI topics. The survey found that 54% of teacher candidates had little to no experience dealing with FNMI topics in education, and that 87% of respondents had no training on FNMI topics. Furthermore, qualitative responses indicate that not only did preservice teachers lack formal direction on how to teach FNMI topics, but they also lacked basic factual knowledge dealing with the FNMI community as well.
In his presentation, Dr. Denomme-Welch performed a qualitative survey of Brock students along the lines of that in the paper mentioned above. Responses to the five questions indicated that while all students had learned about FNMI topics in their educational background, most had at best a very tenuous grasp of the content, and very few had any experience dealing with FNMI topics in an educational context. As all students had learned about FNMI topics in their background, there clearly exists a disconnect with respect to the quality of FNMI education that leaves teacher candidates with a feeling of trepidation that otherwise does not exist in subjects such as math, language, or science.
It is hard to pinpoint the exact root of why students feel unprepared to teach FNMI topics. If all students admitted to having learned this material at some point, is it that the content was not taught often enough? That it was not personally relevant? That teachers put less emphasis on it? Whatever the reason, it has resulted in a wave of teacher candidates in need of a way to ensure that history does not repeat itself---that the FNMI community be a part of education and society.
For preservice teachers to be so unsure of FNMI topics, it implies that the problem is pervasive and reaches right to the root of the KNOW pyramids---the facts. Teacher candidates have almost no understanding of FNMI topics, even at the most basic level. In order for this to change, my personal recommendation would be that FNMI topics become integrated into other curriculum topics. At first this might seem as if we would be watering down the already scarce FNMI content, however it would put FNMI topics front and center with topics that students seem to have more successful recall with. Integration of content would also provide more opportunities to examine FNMI topics and perspectives, rather than the one-week-a-year policy that many institutions seem to employ currently. Finally, integrating content would bring the base level facts and topics of the KNOW pyramid into a context where interdisciplinary concepts and enduring understandings are the norm, therefore allowing students to draw deeper connections with respect to FNMI topics.
DO
The disciplinary skills of FNMI topics are often overlooked. How is it that for communities that pass on information via oral histories, that we never touch upon storytelling by integrating FNMI topics with the oral communication strand of the language curriculum? It seems like an obvious solution, but instead we are more likely to find young students appropriating totem pole and dreamcatcher designs to represent things that are important to them---things such as technologies, sports, and pets that no FNMI community would have historically had.
The skills associated with FNMI topics are often more abstract than Western institutions would be accustomed to dealing with, however the OSSTF has produced the Full Circle: First Nations, Metis, Inuit Ways of Knowing document that provides insight into the Know, Do, See, Feel model of knowing, as well as many cross-curricular activities that would employ this model. By incorporating FNMI ways of knowing through the use of this document, or the First Nations, Metis, and Inuit Connections document, students will become accustomed not only to skills familiar to FNMI communities, but the complex interdisciplinary skills that are higher in the DO pyramid.
BE
Oftentimes, as with the case of the mental health resources, one already possesses some degree of knowledge and skills with respect to a topic, and must work to unite these traits with the BE portion of the bridge. This however is not the case with FNMI content and indigenization of academic programs, as most students have a limited familiarity with even the lowest tier of the KNOW pyramid (facts), or the skills of the DO pyramid such as FNMI ways of knowing. Stronger foundations must therefore be established in order to bridge these areas with BE traits, such as reflection, cooperation, and being inviting to others.
I had deep reflective moment when Dr. Pete mentioned in her presentation the lack of FNMI art and symbols around the University of Regina. Growing up in Hamilton in a predominantly caucasian neighbourhood, I could relate to this experience. I cannot recall a single instance of FNMI community or culture being incorporated into my education aside from the biennial First Nations units in social studies. That however changed when I enrolled at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia for graduate studies. Unlike McMaster, where I had completed my bachelor’s degree, the halls of SFU were lined with not only Canadian art and heritage, but FNMI art, sculpture, and architecture as well. I had always been very proud to walk the halls of SFU and see my Canadian heritage on display, and the FNMI aspect of this is, as Dr. Pete illustrated, so often overlooked.
The issue with uniting the KNOW and DO with the BE bridge is that the foundations in this case are so tenuous it is very difficult to imagine fulfilling and embodying the attitudes and characteristics of an inclusive system if students remain ignorant regarding core FNMI knowledge and skills. Instead of Drake’s standard bridge model, I would propose that rather than simply uniting the KNOW and DO, we should use the BE as leverage in order to motivate students and institutions to strengthen the foundations. I would begin by inviting the FNMI community to share some of their culture with our educational institutions in order to embed the signs and symbols much like I saw at SFU within our schools. This would help lay a new foundation for students to build the KNOW and DO upon. A foundation on which students are aware that the FNMI community is part of their community and heritage also, and that it is no longer an us or them type of debate. If this relevance was to be established early on, I am convinced that much of the KNOW and DO would follow, and we would see inclusive education models that were student-driven rather than feigned bureaucratic attempts at unity follow. This would in turn allow the full scope of the BE portion to be realized, thereby uniting all aspects of an inclusive system.
Conclusion
First Nations, Metis, and Inuit communities are, and have always been, an integral part of our identity as Canadians. The systematic oppression of these people has manifested in many ways, but specifically in this case a class of preservice teachers with little understanding of FNMI topics, and this must change in order to foster an inclusive academic system. By integrating FNMI topics and ways of knowing within curriculum strands that are often emphasized, we would be able to cement the KNOW and DO portions of Drake’s model. But in order to engage students with this content, we should begin with part of the BE bridge. By networking with local FNMI communities, teachers would be able to demonstrate why these topics are relevant to students, which would further propel the knowledge and skills portion of their FNMI learning.
Finally, if we are to ever fully desegregate our academic and social institutions, we must begin with some small steps to show solidarity with those we have so often oppressed. One concession that Dr. Pete highlighted was to become familiar with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action---a small act in the name of justice for Canadian citizens.
The topic of First Nations, Metis, and Inuit (FNMI) is one that is usually addressed once every two years in Canadian schools. This is because Canada’s FNMI communities have been marginalized, and continue to be marginalized, through systematic racism, and their inclusion in academic programs extends no further than a handful of jargon in the expectations of curriculum documents. In order to effectively approach the indigenization of academic programs, we need to not only strengthen the almost nonexistent KNOW and DO foundations of Drake’s model, but we must also rethink how we will come to embody the characteristics and attitudes of the BE bridge that will unite our students and institutions in welcoming FNMI communities.
KNOW
In the paper De/colonizing Preservice Teacher Education: Theatre of the Academic Absurd, Drs. Denomme-Welch and Montero tell of a survey they gave to preservice teachers that asked of their experience with FNMI topics. The survey found that 54% of teacher candidates had little to no experience dealing with FNMI topics in education, and that 87% of respondents had no training on FNMI topics. Furthermore, qualitative responses indicate that not only did preservice teachers lack formal direction on how to teach FNMI topics, but they also lacked basic factual knowledge dealing with the FNMI community as well.
In his presentation, Dr. Denomme-Welch performed a qualitative survey of Brock students along the lines of that in the paper mentioned above. Responses to the five questions indicated that while all students had learned about FNMI topics in their educational background, most had at best a very tenuous grasp of the content, and very few had any experience dealing with FNMI topics in an educational context. As all students had learned about FNMI topics in their background, there clearly exists a disconnect with respect to the quality of FNMI education that leaves teacher candidates with a feeling of trepidation that otherwise does not exist in subjects such as math, language, or science.
It is hard to pinpoint the exact root of why students feel unprepared to teach FNMI topics. If all students admitted to having learned this material at some point, is it that the content was not taught often enough? That it was not personally relevant? That teachers put less emphasis on it? Whatever the reason, it has resulted in a wave of teacher candidates in need of a way to ensure that history does not repeat itself---that the FNMI community be a part of education and society.
For preservice teachers to be so unsure of FNMI topics, it implies that the problem is pervasive and reaches right to the root of the KNOW pyramids---the facts. Teacher candidates have almost no understanding of FNMI topics, even at the most basic level. In order for this to change, my personal recommendation would be that FNMI topics become integrated into other curriculum topics. At first this might seem as if we would be watering down the already scarce FNMI content, however it would put FNMI topics front and center with topics that students seem to have more successful recall with. Integration of content would also provide more opportunities to examine FNMI topics and perspectives, rather than the one-week-a-year policy that many institutions seem to employ currently. Finally, integrating content would bring the base level facts and topics of the KNOW pyramid into a context where interdisciplinary concepts and enduring understandings are the norm, therefore allowing students to draw deeper connections with respect to FNMI topics.
DO
The disciplinary skills of FNMI topics are often overlooked. How is it that for communities that pass on information via oral histories, that we never touch upon storytelling by integrating FNMI topics with the oral communication strand of the language curriculum? It seems like an obvious solution, but instead we are more likely to find young students appropriating totem pole and dreamcatcher designs to represent things that are important to them---things such as technologies, sports, and pets that no FNMI community would have historically had.
The skills associated with FNMI topics are often more abstract than Western institutions would be accustomed to dealing with, however the OSSTF has produced the Full Circle: First Nations, Metis, Inuit Ways of Knowing document that provides insight into the Know, Do, See, Feel model of knowing, as well as many cross-curricular activities that would employ this model. By incorporating FNMI ways of knowing through the use of this document, or the First Nations, Metis, and Inuit Connections document, students will become accustomed not only to skills familiar to FNMI communities, but the complex interdisciplinary skills that are higher in the DO pyramid.
BE
Oftentimes, as with the case of the mental health resources, one already possesses some degree of knowledge and skills with respect to a topic, and must work to unite these traits with the BE portion of the bridge. This however is not the case with FNMI content and indigenization of academic programs, as most students have a limited familiarity with even the lowest tier of the KNOW pyramid (facts), or the skills of the DO pyramid such as FNMI ways of knowing. Stronger foundations must therefore be established in order to bridge these areas with BE traits, such as reflection, cooperation, and being inviting to others.
I had deep reflective moment when Dr. Pete mentioned in her presentation the lack of FNMI art and symbols around the University of Regina. Growing up in Hamilton in a predominantly caucasian neighbourhood, I could relate to this experience. I cannot recall a single instance of FNMI community or culture being incorporated into my education aside from the biennial First Nations units in social studies. That however changed when I enrolled at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia for graduate studies. Unlike McMaster, where I had completed my bachelor’s degree, the halls of SFU were lined with not only Canadian art and heritage, but FNMI art, sculpture, and architecture as well. I had always been very proud to walk the halls of SFU and see my Canadian heritage on display, and the FNMI aspect of this is, as Dr. Pete illustrated, so often overlooked.
The issue with uniting the KNOW and DO with the BE bridge is that the foundations in this case are so tenuous it is very difficult to imagine fulfilling and embodying the attitudes and characteristics of an inclusive system if students remain ignorant regarding core FNMI knowledge and skills. Instead of Drake’s standard bridge model, I would propose that rather than simply uniting the KNOW and DO, we should use the BE as leverage in order to motivate students and institutions to strengthen the foundations. I would begin by inviting the FNMI community to share some of their culture with our educational institutions in order to embed the signs and symbols much like I saw at SFU within our schools. This would help lay a new foundation for students to build the KNOW and DO upon. A foundation on which students are aware that the FNMI community is part of their community and heritage also, and that it is no longer an us or them type of debate. If this relevance was to be established early on, I am convinced that much of the KNOW and DO would follow, and we would see inclusive education models that were student-driven rather than feigned bureaucratic attempts at unity follow. This would in turn allow the full scope of the BE portion to be realized, thereby uniting all aspects of an inclusive system.
Conclusion
First Nations, Metis, and Inuit communities are, and have always been, an integral part of our identity as Canadians. The systematic oppression of these people has manifested in many ways, but specifically in this case a class of preservice teachers with little understanding of FNMI topics, and this must change in order to foster an inclusive academic system. By integrating FNMI topics and ways of knowing within curriculum strands that are often emphasized, we would be able to cement the KNOW and DO portions of Drake’s model. But in order to engage students with this content, we should begin with part of the BE bridge. By networking with local FNMI communities, teachers would be able to demonstrate why these topics are relevant to students, which would further propel the knowledge and skills portion of their FNMI learning.
Finally, if we are to ever fully desegregate our academic and social institutions, we must begin with some small steps to show solidarity with those we have so often oppressed. One concession that Dr. Pete highlighted was to become familiar with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action---a small act in the name of justice for Canadian citizens.
