Since my college has been engaged in a fairly recent push to indigenize curriculum and teaching and learning practices, the majority of educational resource sharing between colleagues has been Aboriginal resources. It’s not that this has not been done before at our college and in our department; in fact, it’s been ongoing, but we’re just making a concerted effort. And sharing has been a big part of this concerted effort.
Take this resource that a colleague shared yesterday, from the Kamloops area school district, for instance: http://www3.sd73.bc.ca/education/content/fn-cross-curricular-secondary-resources Most school districts have a resource page of links to aboriginal educational resources; however, SD. 73’s page is particularly comprehensive. A big part of reason for this comprehensiveness is the Secwepemc people’s willingness to share some of their traditional knowledge (TK). See #traditionalknowledge on Twitter, as well. This is no small act of sharing. For hundreds of years, western mainstream culture has devalued and even ridiculed TK as folklore and superstition. And, in more recent decades non-aboriginal people have made money by using stories, art and knowledge without permission. Perhaps the most lucrative use has occurred in the realm of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), where the traditional knowledge of medicinal plants has contributed to the production and patenting of pharmaceuticals. For certain, this example is intellectual property theft, and it’s on a long list of thievery committed against aboriginal peoples including stolen lands and stolen children. However, despite having no good reason to trust mainstream society and institutions, aboriginal educators continue to trust in their traditional knowledge and believe in the moral imperative to share it (to borrow phrasing by Dean Shareski) with the rest of the world. One of the elders-in-residence at the college recently said to me that now that non-aboriginal are finally interested in what aboriginal people have to say, sharing traditional knowledge will lead to greater understanding and better personal and working relationships. There is both truth and optimism and a generousity of spirit in that approach to sharing.
6 Comments
Carrie
5/22/2015 12:01:12 am
I couldn’t agree with you more. Some of the resources I’ve been given to use when working with adult FN students are so ridiculous I’d be embarrassed to use them. I recall working with a young FN woman on basic grammar a couple years ago, and the sentence that she was expected to punctuate properly was something like “The shepherd moved his flock to a greener pasture.” She had no idea what a shepherd, flock or a pasture was. The worst question I’ve seen is on an assessment I was given to assess FN adult students, and included a reading passage of the poem ‘We Shall Overcome.’ One of the multiple-choice questions was: ‘Which of these people would most likely sing this song, 1. A leader of a nation 2. A civil rights worker or 3. A president of a company. Surprisingly enough, no one ever gets this right.
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Katia Hildebrandt
5/24/2015 09:42:03 am
I love how you link this to the idea of sharing as a moral imperative. I'm wondering how you feel about reciprocity in sharing - that is, what is our responsibility when things are shared with us? Is just listening okay? Or do we need to do more? What are teachers in BC doing in response to all of this sharing?
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Fenella
5/25/2015 04:58:04 pm
What an interesting and insightful look at sharing! It seems like the most logical place to start; the sharing of traditional knowledge. There is so much that societies can learn by looking at traditional beliefs. These beliefs (and indeed sharing) sustained and enriched societies and peoples before industrialization (and continue to after, perhaps). As you say, the "moral imperative to share" needs to be heard. Great post, Mac, and thanks for including the link. Another fabulous resource to curate. :)
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Love your connections in this blog, Mac. And, thanks to all the people who posted too. "Sharing as a moral imperative" - that's something I'll need to think on some more.
5/28/2015 05:28:36 am
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Karen
5/30/2015 05:15:04 am
Good points that you have brought up Mac! I have been thinking a fair bit about the indigenization (if that's even a word) of curriculum as I move to understand how to integrate more accurate information about Aboriginal History into the learning activities I create. I am lucky to have an Aboriginal Support Worker willing to share with me and teach me the proper protocols so that what I do, is done with honour and respect, in the perspective of the First Nations people.
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Carol Bob
5/30/2015 03:18:30 pm
Hi Mac,
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