Call to Action 62

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Author Mack discusses the importance of integrating age-appropriate teachings about the residential school system into the K-12 curricula.

Author Introduction

Hello, my name is Mack. I am currently in my second year of the Early Childhood Education program at Cambrian College. Every semester we get to choose among a select few General Education courses and this year didn’t have very many options that sounded very interesting, then I came across Truth and Reconciliation.

After doing some research about Truth and Reconciliation I realized that I would really enjoy this course because I have taken two other similar courses before and did very well in them. I liked the two other courses I had taken previously, but wanted something more. I wanted to learn more about residential schools, the governments involvement in everything that occurred with the residential schools and of course the TRC’s calls to action. Although I am not personally connected to residential school trauma, I have always wanted to learn more about it.

After going through our course material I have learned so much. I have been emotionally impacted by the information in our course, by the people and the videos we got to see and learn about. Learning about our country in a different light has really influenced me and has allowed me to reflect and realize how powerful government decisions really are.

My professional goal is to open up the conversation about residential schools because over the time of the course I have learned that not a lot of people are actually informed about residential schools and in fact have no idea what they are or what occurred. I also want to bring attention to the children as this will be apart of my profession. I want the children to know that they are loved and cared about by all of the people surrounding them. I want them to feel included and involved while at school or child care. I want to break the stereotypes and racism. Every child deserves an opportunity to be able to express themselves and their culture and that is what is most important to me. I would like to make sure that children feel welcomed and appreciated in their classrooms and in the presence of the adults in their child care settings and schools.

Call to Action

The TRC Call to Action I would like to introduce and discuss is number 62, “Education for Reconciliation”. This call to action states:

We call upon the federal, provincial, and territorial governments, in consultation and collaboration with Survivors, Aboriginal peoples, and educators, to:

i. Make age-appropriate curriculum on residential schools, Treaties, and Aboriginal peoples’ historical and contemporary contributions to Canada a mandatory education requirement for Kindergarten to Grade Twelve students.

ii. Provide the necessary funding to post-secondary institutions to educate teachers on how to integrate Indigenous knowledge and teaching methods into classrooms.

iii. Provide the necessary funding to Aboriginal schools to utilize Indigenous knowledge and teaching methods in classrooms.

iv. Establish senior-level positions in government at the assistant deputy minister level or higher dedicated to Aboriginal content in education.

– TRC, 2015

I believe it is crucial for students today to understand what indigenous children and families went through and their experiences with residential schools. I believe it should be a huge part of social studies and history in elementary schools as well as high schools. I think that the more information that is put out there and acknowledged, the more we can begin to change, and begin to implement new ways to teach and incorporate new curriculum based on the history and experiences of others.

Hands on learning is huge now in schools and daycare centres. Having actual materials to help children recognize the importance of indigenous culture and the history behind indigenous culture would better a child’s learning and development as well as allow them to participate and gain the age-appropriate knowledge about residential schools that they should be getting already. This will inform our future generations about the history of indigenous culture and people, the impact it had on them, and the impact that they had on us. It will teach everyone about how cruel our government was and the changes that they needed to make in order for our indigenous people’s to begin the healing process.

Progress Update

This call of action has the opportunity to show our current school systems what they should be teaching and what all students should be learning about. This call to action should be recognized more so than it is. The government should be trying to make changes and begin to start the process of better funding for a better education system when it comes to the history of indigenous culture as well as residential schools. I have reviewed the curriculum for indigenous studies in Ontario and just this year they have revised it. It is only implemented in high school, so grades 9-10, but they state that the curriculum has been developed in collaboration with indigenous partners. You can find the information I am referring to on this website.

A Call for More

There is still a lot more that has to change when it comes to the topic and discussion of Indigenous culture and residential schools, the only updates that have been made are within high school curriculum. Changes need to be made and these topics need to be integrated into elementary curriculum. The longer this takes the longer people and students are going to be uninformed.

I call on the provincial and federal governments to make a further change in the curriculum within elementary schools. I want to see children gaining proper knowledge about our Canadian history. I want teachers and parents to understand how important it is for their children and family members to understand indigenous culture and history.

References

Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (2015). Calls to action. Retrieved from http://trc.ca/assets/pdf/Calls_to_Action_English2.pdf

Government of Ontario (n.d.). Preparing students for the future. Retrieved from https://www.ontario.ca/page/preparing-students-future?utm_source=Google_SEM&utm_medium=CPC