Category: Reflections

As I sit here today, August 28th, in the sunny city of Dublin-Ireland, I am reflecting on the courses we as a cohort took over this past summer period. This was a difficult semester for me both personally and academically, but ultimately I am very grateful for the events and subjects we got to participate in and learn about. Being able to participate more fully in my community is something I hadn’t considered we as Student Teachers would be able to do during this program outside of our practicums, but the many field trips and activities we were able to plan, attend and participate were some of the best memories I have made during this practicum.

One of our courses focused on the teaching of careers and had us figure out ways in which we could get our future students to become active members within their communities, and I found this course just fantastic. The collaboration that occurred between us as a cohort was fantastic and learning skills that we can utilize in the field later when it comes to the planning and execution of field trips and other educational/career or community-based learning activities.

Being taken into the community within one of our classes is something I am most grateful for as an individual who is not local to this area. Discovering a variety of new and exciting places and activities in which I may be able to attend and participate in with my future classes (wheelchair basketball, Bee-keeping, Friendship centre etc).

Having the opportunity to explore Prince George’s through coursework has been wonderful. I have discovered new opportunities and created new connections through the network systems our program has provided us with. Being outside the classroom more than we were inside the classroom is something I was especially excited about as it meant that we would be able to enjoy the good summer weather while expanding our knowledge in a variety of areas (social sciences, environmental science, physical education etc).

What I learned over this term:

• Peer Collaboration is so SO helpful
• Networking as a teacher is a MUST – but having a diverse friend group is very beneficial when developing excursions ( they can help with introductions and develop new relationships and volunteer opportunities)
• You never know if you’re good at a certain skill or activity until you try it
• Wheelchair basketball is for all people of all abilities
• It is okay to ask for help

As I am writing here today, July 8th, 2024, I reflect on my last practicum in which I was teaching two eighth-grade English courses with a focus on digital literacy. I taught blocks 1 and 4 and was able to witness firsthand how the time of day affects learning abilities and how certain groups of students thrive or fall victim to the influence of their peers.

The classes I taught were the same topics but very, very, different experiences and outcomes. Both experiences were positive, and I am happy with the majority of the student work I received. My morning group of students was taught in a science lab with no windows and I believe that this environment is the reason for some of the work delay and student behavior. It was also the first class of the day for most students, and they were tired first thing in the morning and needed more of a push to start their work and be productive. This class was my most difficult class when it came to attendance, mainly because it was a morning class and we had a bad case of chronic lateness! Not only were latecomers an issue but I also had a student who NEVER came once. I couldn’t even tell you what they looked like, but I can state that one of my peer student teachers taught the student in the second period and they came every single day. Was I the issue? I never found out.

My afternoon block was a complete turnover from my morning class, little to no students missed class without notice and they were constantly excited to learn and participate in lessons. Now I have theories on why they were so excitable, one is that this class was taught in a classroom that had windows! Daylight makes all the difference in encouraging positive perspectives. I was also able to take this class outside more as we were already in a portable class. Having classes outside was quite the adventure, it worked for some topics but was very unhelpful or impossible to complete for others, so to compromise and help relieve their “wiggles” every class we took a 5-minute movement break where the students would lap the school before coming back to class and participating in break out work groups or working on their projects.

I was really pleased to have two relatively easygoing student groups, with little to no tensions between peer groups. My students were willing to try all the ‘fun’ games I came up with for digital media lessons and would help me develop games to be more fun while still being academic.

What did I notice when I compared these two blocks? Well I learned that although I have plans that I made prior to class I need to be adaptive and recognize that one class’s ability to learn something may be faster or slower than the other block and that every day they may not be learning the same exact lesson. Well, to frank, there are no repeating lessons, yes the assignments were the same (for the most part) and the activities were too, but the discussions and outcomes that arose from the lessons differed greatly. Students are unique and diverse individuals so my lessons must be prepared for that.

November 6^th saw our cohort touring the Two Rivers Gallery in downtown Prince George. It was such an interesting and emotional visit, as the two current installations are very striking statements on climate change and threats to our local environments. The lovely Sophia was kind enough to give us a tour (highly recommend her for future visits) of the exhibits and lead us through a unique and creative art project of our own after the tour.

Exhibit 1: Nonreturnables

 Nonreturnables is a collection of artwork made by artists from across British Columbia and the relationships we share with plastic in the biological world. This exhibit was the definition of “REUSE” in the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle slogan! The centrepiece of this exhibit was a large flowing cyanotype hanging instalment with cushions for viewers to lie on underneath; It is titled ‘Plasticosis’ by Desirée Patterson. 

I was really drawn to this piece, as I am from the coast (Vancouver area) and am very well-versed with shoreline garbage abundance. It was also very impactful to me as the plastics with which this piece was created are those that were collected from the beaches around Vancouver. I found that the interactive component of this art piece was effective and educational but also very soothing as the cloth would sway gently like the ocean from the perspective of ocean creatures. The use of the cyanotype process really allowed for the fabric to emulate the ocean as some of the fabric developed more than others allowing for a variation of blues to be present in this natural photography process.

How could I use this exhibit in my teaching? 

Easy! By introducing this exhibit, and other art that is similar in creation (using recycled materials, I could integrate this idea in multiple contexts: a science program, geography program and art program, for this art process involves learning about the health of our environment, the cleaning of our landscapes and the creation of art from the garbage in which we would collect during the process. By using garbage in which the students themselves have collected and a brief write-up of where they collected said garbage, I believe this exhibit could easily flow into a variety of courses and be a very fun, yet educational process.

Exhibit 2: Dismantled Worlds

Dismantled World by Jude Griebel is a humorous yet nightmarish collection of works representing the “toxic relationship between natural life and human industry”(1). The collection was seven distinct humanoid sculptures made of mixed media depicting monster-like creatures made of natural occurrence, natural disasters and human industry as well as two piles depicting types of food pyramids. As the gallery’s website states, “This surreal sculptural interpretation of capitalism and resource extraction blends anatomy with landscape and satirizes the effects of industry-caused climate change”.

            This was a very disturbing collection, as you feel very connected to these disastrous event creations, especially since multiple of the beings represent dismantled and disastrous coastal monsters made of cement ports, oil spills, displaced molluscs and weeping icebergs.

            Sophia, our host, led us through an exercise to better connect with the pieces which included deep breathing, focusing on multiple aspects of the piece and deep thinking. It was a very centring exercise that really allowed us to create relationships with the pieces. As wonderful as the exhibit and the exercise were, this collection really disturbed me, meaning that it was extremely effective!

Final activity:

Our Final activity at the gallery was the creation of our own monstrous recycled creations first drawn by hand and then attempted with playdough. There were multiple questions for us to fill in in the creation of our creatures such as: What is it made up of? Where does it live? And so on. My creation is a coastal creature who lives within the Indian Arm and Burrard Inlet. Their name is S.S Ingsdon and they are made up of old buoys, fishing lines, old fish nets, seaweed and shells. My creation’s purpose is to haunt those who litter in the ocean in the areas in which it abides. 

This activity was a lot of fun and is something that I could see easily applied to the education of students of all ages. It allowed for so much creativity and was such a fun bonding experience between our cohort.

References:

1. Two Rivers Gallery. “Current Exhibitions – Two Rivers Gallery – Prince George BC,” February 8, 2023. https://www.tworiversgallery.ca/exhibitions/current-exhibitions/.

On October 2nd, 2023 our class of student teachers participated in the Blanket Exercise (kairoscanada.org) facilitated by Dr.Daniel Sims with assistance from Dr. Christine Ho Younghusband and Dr.Tina Fraser.

This activity is an interactive and experiential approach to learning about the tactics and effects of European exploration and colonization on North American Indigenous territories. Scrolls were dispersed across the class representing the voices of Indigenous and European Voices, policies, diseases and doctrines put in place by the Canadian government which allowed for the colonization and assimilation of the First Nations and the lands we call Canada.

Having the narrator go over each historical event was beneficial throughout the blanket exercise since it put into perspective the actions of colonization that damaged and destroyed many Indigenous communities, cultures and histories. As each student teacher read their assigned scrolls (Representing voices of the First Nations populations), I sensed isolation, skepticism, disbelief and sadness in their words and voices. Some candidates were brought to tears in the post-activity discussion as we reflected on the exercise and the historical events we covered. I myself felt ashamed for the pain and events that we white, settler colonizers caused historically – and in some cases still cause today. Although I know that my family members (for the majority) came to Canada after the initial events of the doctrines and policies imposed on the Indigenous peoples, I recognize that I, a white person, have privileges and opportunities that many Indigenous Canadians do not, and feel shame for that and motivated to help be a part of the change.

In my future classroom, I hope to be able to use my learnings from this exercise, and perhaps the exercise itself (through the bringing in of a trained facilitator), to help my students better understand the effects that Canada’s discrimination of Indigenous Peoples, and develop empathy, recognition and respect within my students towards their fellow peers Indigenous or not.

Sources:

“Kairos Blanket Exercise,” n.d. https://www.kairosblanketexercise.org.

The Blanket Exercise. October 2, 2023. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/Cx6yXv4R_8L/?img_index=1.

On September 28, 2023, we as a cohort were given the opportunity to meet and play with the UNHBC drummers around UNBC’s firepit. Four members came, bringing with them extra drums and shakers, to meet with us and teach us traditional songs and songs from across Canada from nations outside of Lheidli T’enneh. It was a beautiful experience, and I am so incredibly thankful that I was given the ability to share this experience with my cohort.

Playing music and singing amongst our peers felt very grounding and really allowed us all to connect with one another in a new and beautiful way while also learning more about a culture that was distinct from our own (well, at least from mine).

I was especially inspired by the meanings of each song, and how moving the songs were. Unfortunately, I cannot remember the titles of any of the songs, but that of the Eagle Song; However, I did record some of our performances to share with friends and family that I will attach below.

I am so thankful that I was able to attend Niigan Sinclair’s panel hosted for SD57’s Indigenous Day of Learning on September 18th. There are multiple points in which the speaker presented that I felt were especially effective, but today I will discuss the three points which drew my attention the most.

First was the topic of appropriation and the need for self-education as represented through Niigan’s story of his production of ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ during his first year of teaching. The story goes that in Niigan’s first year of teaching, he was a drama teacher at a secondary school located in a prominent Jewish neighbourhood. He was tasked to organize the musical ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ for his winter production and had little to no knowledge of Judaism and Jewish culture. This lack of knowledge was especially problematic as he assumed that the 1971 film production was a trustworthy representative source of Jewish culture. It was not until his students of Jewish faith pointed out his misrepresentation of their culture did he adapted his play in a way which appropriately represented and presented Jewish culture. I enjoyed this story as it was very relatable, and represented the need for relationships with the community(s) in which you are teaching/presenting the culture to others. It is impossible to accurately depict a culture, religion or belief system with which you have no true understanding of or experience. In my opinion, this directly relates to Indigenous education in the Canadian Education system. You can practice aspects of Indigenous education, such as hands-on social learning, but you cannot teach language, culture or beliefs without a relation to the people present, or a previous understanding and experience with the topics at hand.

The second point of interest for me was the First Nations diagram of learning in which a tree and its roots are depicted. The roots were said to represent the learning we do from our homes and away from academia. Niigan discussed how many Indigenous students are removed from their roots due to government initiatives (ie. Residential schools and the Sixties Scoop, enforced religions), and how it is important now more than ever for educators to their students as much as they can to encourage their success. Subjects would include basic Indigenous language instruction, territorial acknowledgments and histories of the landscapes and clan/band systems. The branches of the tree represent those things that can be learned in school (I understood this to represent the topics of importance in Western education). I do wonder if the instruction of cultural ‘roots’ by instructors would count as branches as well or if that would relate to the tree roots in this metaphor or not. I am unclear.

The final point of interest I will reflect on is that of the “Four Means for Student Success”. Of the four means, the first means represents relationships. What relationships have been formed, and how do these relationships shape your understanding of communities and cultures? Do all participants feel comfortable and heard in the relationships? If not how can you make it so that there is clear equity between members? The second means was relevance. Relevance such as what do the communities and Indigenous peoples need and want in terms of education, laws and understanding? The third means is Respect and it refers to how safe and acknowledged Indigenous individuals and communities feel in their relationships with you. Are they able to safely thrive? Finally, the means of responsibility. Responsibility relates to what you must do to achieve community-centred success through your relationships with your students, their families and their communities. 

Overall, I learned a lot from Niigan’s presentation and am so very grateful that I was invited to attend.

Who are you? How do you identify with yourself? With your peers? With the world around you? These are some of the questions that I have been pondering, upon meeting with Clayton Gauthier at the fire circle hosted at UNBC on September 28, 2023.

Despite the windy and slightly rainy weather, Gauthier met with our cohort Friday morning to discuss his experiences growing up and his own personal Truths. He discussed how standardized education was not beneficial to his education experience as it separated him from the land, and disregarded his cultural identity isolating him further from his peers. His major discussion points revolved around the importance of understanding culture and identity – with his being an artist of Cree/Dakelh background. Gauthier is very connected to the natural world and states that he speaks to the trees on a daily basis as a way to ground himself and connect to his identity. He then asked us how we define love, how we practice self-care and how we plan to be true to ourselves. Your self-identity is everything that makes you who you are. It is a synthesis of all of your physical characteristics, personality traits, and interests. My identity, like all identities, is complex but revolves around my family, my love of horse riding, and music.

Now, how can this discussion translate into the teaching practice? As a teacher, I will not be looking to change a student’s identity, but helping them discover what they identify with in an inclusive environment that is safe and secure. Through the inclusion of outdoor coursework to develop student connection to the land, the introduction and discussion of world holidays/religions, as well as the provision of resources and safe spaces for those who have experienced exclusion, hostility and disrespect (including members of the LGBTQ+, P.O.C communities, neurodivergence and those who live with disabilities).

This meeting made me realize the further need for decolonization within our educational system. We can practice decolonization through the recognition that colonial values hurt our communities and that through the acceptance and respect of various other ways of living (culture/religion/beliefs/FPPL), we can coexist with each other respectfully with mutual benefits.

In my classrooms, I want to create a culture of acceptance and wonder, one that is open to outside identities and values. However, I am still a learner and I will need time and further thought and study to develop a true understanding and practice of decolonization within my life, my community and my teaching practice.

All Photos taken by teacher candidate Talia