Educators respect and value the history of First Nations, Inuit and Metis in Canada and the impact of the past on present and the future. Educators contribute towards truth, reconciliation and healing. Educators foster a deeper understanding of ways of knowing and being, histories, and cultures of First Nations, Inuit and Metis.

I am writing under this standard section today just to do some reflecting on the recent events that have occurred in our country surrounding the residential school system. I am also writing on our National Indigenous day here in Canada! Including more indigenous ways of knowing in my teaching has been a major goal of mine since my first practicum and ongoingly in the program. During my first practicum, I did include a lot of the “First Peoples Principles of Learning” in my lessons but it was not something I explicitly taught my students. For my second practicum, I made more headway on this goal by using and showing a lot more Indigenous resources and content with the class. Moving forward I would love to include more indigenous content from those of that culture themselves like including more guest speakers, presentations and stories from an indigenous perspective and voices. I think this is relevant to standard 9 because when it comes to the sharing of Indigenous knowledge and ways of knowing it is important to remember that whenever possible we should be allowing the voices of that culture to be the ones to present I am a predominantly white person, I am Metis but that part of my family culture is a small segment. So, coming from this understanding of my place in society I feel that it is important to allow space and time for the voices of that culture to speak on it. I have come to this understanding through my own experience as well as by hearing the stories of others.

Trina Chivilo had shared with my Education 400 class a few different resources from Indigenous voices following the news of the remains found at the Kamloops residential school. I had watched a short video called; “What non-Indigenous Canadians need to know” from TVO docs. In this video, which I will link below, the speaker talked about his own life story and his experience with the Indigenous identity. What he said really affected me because he stated that for non-Indengous Canadians the best thing they can do is just listen and understand right now. I liked this idea because given the recent events in our country I feel that sometimes as non-Indigenous people, some can try to jump in to speak or try to problem solve when all that is needed is to support. Support can look and sound like a lot of current things but I think overall sometimes the simple of trying to understand and respect other’s perspectives and ways of life is essential to reconciliation. In terms of reconciliation in itself, Dr. Dustin Louis put it very well when he stated that “reconciliation is not just apology after apology, reconciliation is about creating a relationship of mutual respect”. I really love this idea because it really highlights the root of why we need reconciliation here in Canada. Considering that I have grown up in a relatively conservative town, although that is changing and we are moving forward, I have heard some say “well why do I have to learn about Indigenous people and their culture?”. My thinking on this question is ultimately, “Well. why not?”. Why not do your part in creating a better society for all by allowing everyone to be seen and heard? Going forward I want to bring this attitude of respectful exploration to my students.