Towards a Shared Future

The Long Road for BC Educators

Anne Coustalin
University of British Columbia
ETEC 522

8/12/2017
 1
Towards a Shared Future: The Long Road for BC Educators

Acknowledgement and Discussion of Terms

I would like to begin by situating myself in this discussion. I am a French Immersion teacher of

European heritage living and working on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. I would like to

acknowledge the K'moks First Nation, on whose traditional territory this article was conceived. In this

article, I will be focusing on my own wider teaching community: British Columbia, Canada. Although

most Aboriginal peoples in BC are First Nations, I have chosen to use the more inclusive term

Aboriginal, which I understand to include First Nations Peoples, Inuit peoples and Mtis peoples. I use

the term Western in the context of knowledge systems to refer to the Eurocentric, majoritarian

paradigm.

Context

Canadas Truth and Reconciliation Commission (CTRC), which was launched in 2008 ran until 2015,

was a massive project that spanned several years and culminated in a final report that made public

many of the horrific, systematic abuses faced by Aboriginal peoples in Canada in the context of state run

residential schools. In its final report, the CTRC made many recommendations. Among these was a call

for education in Canada to be more culturally responsive and to better serve the needs of Canadian

Aboriginal children and youth. In response to these recommendations, the British Columbia (BC)

government through the Ministry of Education has undertaken an overhaul of BCs K-12 education

curriculum. The revised curriculum, which became active in the 2016/2017 school year, includes

significant revisions across all subjects and disciplines that aim to carefully integrate Aboriginal history,

content, and ways of knowing into all aspects of curriculum. The integrated learning model is

intended to improve the success of Aboriginal students while supporting all students learning about

Aboriginal peoples and the land they share. Many teachers are working hard to try to fulfill the

mandate of the new curriculum by making changes to the content they teach and the way they
 2
Towards a Shared Future: The Long Road for BC Educators

teach it, but there is some question as to how far towards genuine reconciliation the changes can

go.

Introduction

The thoughtful integration of Aboriginal knowledges and ways of knowing into BCs

mainstream education system is a process that depends heavily on individual teachers and their

willingness to reframe their own Eurocentric worldviews. This process is challenging and the path

forward is not always clear. For this reason administrators and the BC Ministry of Education must

do everything they can to support teachers. That support already exists in the form of professional

development and exposure to cultural experiences, but this paper argues that more can be done to

facilitate the transformation that must occur. The paragraphs below attempt to identify the scope

of the project, as well as some potential ways that educators can be supported as they work

towards a shared future where all students can participate fully in ways that are culturally and

personally satisfying.

The BC Ministry of Educations publication Aboriginal Worldviews and Perspectives in the

Classroom: Moving Forward defines the role of the educator thus:

In any community, whether Aboriginal or non-Aboriginal, the teacher has an

important role in guiding student learning, skill acquisition, and achievement. In the

context of Canadas new commitment to truth and reconciliation with Aboriginal

peoples, however, the teacher has an important additional role in contributing to

truth, reconciliation, and healing. Where schools are situated within or near

Aboriginal communities, teachers have an important role to play in contributing to

the social wellbeing and cultural vitality of the community. As well, teachers have an
 3
Towards a Shared Future: The Long Road for BC Educators

important role to play by educating all of society about the place of First Peoples

within the Canadian mosaic and the importance of redressing the historical damage

done to Aboriginal communities.

(BC Ministry of Education, 2015, p. 40)

This paragraph (and much of the publication) emphasizes the important role of educators in

being allies to Aboriginal peoples. It is a sentiment which is echoed by the BC Teachers

Federation in their valuable anti-racism publication Beyond Words (n.d.). That document further

suggests that teachers assess [their] practices for greater awareness of cultural bias and the

possible need for change (p. 21). There is a great focus on respecting, promoting, and valuing the

Other, in these documents, but only limited and under-articulated calls for teachers to re-evaluate

the Self. Further, neither of these documents addresses how deeply the Western progress

narrative affects the ways non-Aboriginal educators see the world and how they teach.

As many Aboriginal scholars have explained, reconciliation cannot be achieved by simply

adding new teaching and learning materials to curriculum. In order for genuine reconciliation

through education to occur, education must be decolonized (Battiste & Henderson, 2009,

McGregor, 2012, Smith, 1999). Education can no longer explicitly or implicitly promote the primacy

of the Western worldview (Armstrong, 1997, Cole and ORiley, 2012, Battiste & Henderson, 2009). It

must of necessity find a way to foster learning that posits the two worldviews as equally valid,

equally relevant and equally valuable.

What we are asking of Non-Indigenous educators is no small thing, particularly since a defining

feature of the Western paradigm is the belief in its primacy over other, less advanced paradigms.

Indeed, the Western Progress Narrative is so deeply ingrained in many well-intentioned, non-
 4
Towards a Shared Future: The Long Road for BC Educators

Aboriginal BC educators, that they may be unable to recognize it as only one of many equally valid

ways of seeing the world. And while they may teach about Aboriginal knowledge and ways of

knowing, that teaching will always be mediated by that narrative with the result that Aboriginal

knowledge and ways of knowing may inadvertently be dismissed as something that is of significant

value only to Aboriginal peoples rather than to all humans on the planet. As Cole and ORiley

explain: the result is the inadvertent dismissal of millennia of Indigenous wisdom of eco-technical

and spiritual practices (2012).

If one accepts the Constructivist explanation that everything we know to be true has been

understood through and shaped by the filter of our own experience and worldview (Von

Glasersfeld, 1983), then the loss of primacy of that worldview may be seen to call into question the

knowledge and understandings that are the foundation of how we experience the world. This is a

challenging and frightening prospect to many, and it may be true that if more educators understood

the scope of change that must occur within them, there is the very real possibility that they might

cease to support the Aboriginal integration mandate. The answer I propose to this dilemma lies in

shifting the focus of the narrative around education reform in BC.

Currently, most of the resources relating to revising educational practice that have been

provided to BC educators focus on social justice as the primary motivator for change. This is

compelling to the vast majority of teachers who, it must be recognized; virtually all value student

success and well-being and consider the fostering of those elements to be the primary goal of their

work. Undeniably, the social justice perspective is very useful. On its own, however, it is not enough

to ensure that Indigenous worldviews and ways of knowing assume equal status in mainstream

education in British Columbia.

 5
Towards a Shared Future: The Long Road for BC Educators

The missing piece here, and the one which must now become our focus, is profound self-

examination and questioning as to whether the worldview that we have allowed to shape our

understanding should rightly occupy such a place of primacy. Could it not instead be in our own

best interests to push the boundaries of that paradigm and explore other ways of seeing the world?

We can safely acknowledge that Western, progress-narrative-driven, worldviews have done much

to shape the current geo-political and environmental realities. The current state and projected

paths of these realities is such that the sustainability of life on earth in the not-so-distant future

may be called into question. This has implications for the long term survival of the human race, but

also for our immediate psychological and physical wellbeing.

There is a growing awareness among international scholars, policy makers and others, that the

Western paradigm, which is in large part responsible for creating the problems we now collectively

face, on its own may be of limited value in developing sustainable solutions. Battiste and Hendricks

(2009) outline several policy reforms and key agreements in the United Nations and associated IGOs

over the past several decades that evidence a paradigm shift in international policy towards

[bringing] Indigenous and other cultures in from the margins and to the heart of policymaking for

sustainable development (p. 7). They term this paradigm shift the Indigenous Renaissance and

they express optimism that it is on a growth trajectory in Canada as well as internationally. One

area they identify that has not naturalized Indigenous knowledges, however, is education.

The Indigenous renaissance has deconstructed and discredited the traditional

Eurocentric views of Indigenous peoples and their heritage as exotic objects

that have nothing to do with knowledge, science, or progress. However, it has

 6
Towards a Shared Future: The Long Road for BC Educators

not displaced the educational empire of EK [European knowledge]. (Battiste &

Hendricks, 2009. p. 10)

There is power in the narrative of the Indigenous Renaissance. Unfortunately, the reach of that

narrative does not yet seem to extend to many individual educators in BC and elsewhere. It may be

that increasing educator awareness of the growing recognition of the relevance and value of

Indigenous knowledges among international and Western policy makers might increase their

openness to the process of questioning the primacy of their own worldviews. A sustained campaign

of educator awareness about such policy issues and how they might be reflected in education could

be of value.

Additionally, it may be that sharing more stories from other educators who have successfully

begun the journey of questioning and expanding their own worldviews could have positive effect.

While there is little evidence of this to date, we do know that educators are influenced by

successful practices they see in other classrooms. For example, Joanne Yovanovich, Aboriginal

principal for the Haida Gwaii school district, explains that teachers cannot be simply told or forced

to offer culturally responsive education. Peer example is more effective. When teachers start

seeing success in other classrooms, theyre more apt to get on board with that (as cited in Hyslop,

2011, p. 40).

Another tactic that has the potential to help teachers internalize the value of Aboriginal

knowledges and worldviews is drawing parallels between those worldviews and certain pedagogies

that have been recently emerging from many Western education theorists. 21st Century learning

and Place-based learning are two such pedagogies.

 7
Towards a Shared Future: The Long Road for BC Educators

In his book Curriculum 21: Essential education for a changing world (2009), Brown makes the

case for an overhaul of education to make it more effective in preparing learners for a rapidly

changing, globally interdependent world. In their fascinating analysis of the apparent compatibilities

between the tenets of 21st century learning and of Indigenous conceptions of knowledge and

coming to know, Monroe et al. (2013) posit that when educators reshape their practice to better

represent what we know about 21st Century teaching and learning, they also de facto adopt many

of the fundamental tenets of Indigenous learning models. Although the ideas of 21st century

learning are being touted as new, we argue that they are, in fact, rooted in very old ideas

embedded in Indigenous knowledges (Monroe et al., 2013, p. 319).

Monroe et al. (2013) describe Indigenous knowledges as being grounded in context and

experience; involving sophisticated and complex responses to the natural world; emerging in

relation to place; and being embedded in Indigenous languages. Battiste and Henderson (2009) add

that Indigenous learning is a sacred, holistic, and a lifelong responsibility and that every child is

unique in their learning journey and knowledge construction. Much of this is harmonious with our

understandings of 21st Century learning as described by Brown (2009) including the emphasis on

the uniqueness of each learner, the importance of experiential learning embedded in relevant,

situated, real-life contexts, and the vision of the self-directed, lifelong learner who is equipped to

seek solutions to the many problems confronting humanity and the planet. Both the Indigenous and

21st Century learning approaches emphasize collaboration and decry the passive imparting of

knowledge in discrete pieces. For this reason they do not favor a content-driven curriculum or static

learning outcomes.
 8
Towards a Shared Future: The Long Road for BC Educators

Place-based learning is another (Western) pedagogy that can be seen to have elements of

harmony with Aboriginal ways of learning and knowing. It is grounded in the particular attributes of

place; it is inherently multidisciplinary; it is experiential; it connects place with self and community;

and it emphasises that the value of learning is deeper than the capitalist progress narrative

(Woodhouse and Knapp, 2000). In his article, The Best of Both Worlds: A Critical Pedagogy of

Place (2003), David Gruenwald articulates how place-based learning pedagogies can be enhanced

and made more relevant through synthesis with critical pedagogies.

Place-based pedagogies are needed so that the education of citizens might

have some direct bearing on the wellbeing of the social and ecological places

people actually inhabit. Critical pedagogies are needed to challenge the

assumptions, practices, and outcomes taken for granted in dominant culture

and in conventional education. (p. 3)

For Gruenwald, a critical pedagogy of place is ultimately useful because it encourages

educators and students to reinhabit their places, that is, to pursue the kind of social action that

improves the social and ecological life of places, near and far, now and in the future (2003, p. 7).

At first glance, place seems to be an area of focus with the potential to honour Aboriginal

students deep cultural, historical, and spiritual ties to the land while simultaneously providing for

more holistic, situated, and relevant learning opportunities for non-Aboriginal students. This is not

quite so simple to navigate, however, particularly in the context of decolonization. Non-Aboriginal

educators engaged in the process of recognizing and attempting to reframe their Western

worldviews must be conscious that issues relating to land who controls it, who it was taken from,

whose stories get told, and who should be believed are contentious and ongoing for Aboriginal
 9
Towards a Shared Future: The Long Road for BC Educators

peoples. As Mignolo (2003) explains, many Aboriginal scholars have concerns with place-based and

other forms of environmental education that position themselves as culturally or politically neutral

while perpetuating forms of European universalism (cited in Tuck et al., 2014). Indeed, much of the

Aboriginal-authored literature on decolonizing land-based pedagogies is clear in rejecting the

fostering of settler ties to the land (Simpson, 2014, Tuck, McKenzie & McCoy, 2014, Wildcat et al.,

2014). Fostering those ties is discussed as a perpetuation of settler colonialism and one that

Aboriginal peoples should reject. And while Aboriginal land-based education is discussed as being

incredibly powerful in its own right, the authors also suggested that it should not occur within the

context of formal educational institutions situated in and operated by non-Aboriginal, settler

cultures. Responding to Gruenwald (cited above), Tuck et al. express antipathy towards his

reinhabitation discourse and point out that Land education de-centers settlers and settler futurity

as the primary referents for possibility. Land education seeks decolonization, not settler

emplacement. Land education is accountable to an Indigenous futurity (2014, p. 17).

For non-Aboriginal educators attempting to reframe their own worldviews and make their

practice more culturally responsive, these perspectives can be felt as profoundly discouraging. They

are highlighted here, however, in order to emphasize the deep and emotionally charged issues that

are connected to the subject of land, even in the context of education.

Chambers (2008) offers another perspective on land-based learning for our consideration.

Reflecting on the question of whether more than one people can ever call a place home, she replies

that she does not know, but we dont have much choice. She cites Andy Blackwater, a Kaimai elder

who said
 10
Towards a Shared Future: The Long Road for BC Educators

The Blackfoot are not going anywhere; the newcomers are not going

anywhere; now the same peg anchors the tips of both. It is not the grudge but

the grief that matters, and what we are going to do about it. It is where we are

that matters. By learning to do what is appropriate in this place, and doing it

together, perhaps we can find the common ground necessary to survive (in

Chambers, 2008, p. 125)

While the education reform that is currently mandated and underway in British Columbia is

undoubtedly challenging, it also offers non-Aboriginal educators profound and valuable

opportunities. In attempting to better understand and reframe their own worldviews, educators

are presented with the opportunity to view the world in a way that sees beyond the Western

progress narrative that has been so damaging to so many for so long. The process of attempting to

decolonize ones worldview is not something that can be achieved easily or without personal

discomfort however, and it further complicates things to understand that not all Aboriginal people

ascribe to the goal of a shared education system or indeed a shared future.

It is the contention of this author that in order for integrated learning to truly reach its

potential in BC and elsewhere, educators must internalize the reconciliation mandate in its deepest

sense. They must integrate Aboriginal knowledge and ways of knowing not just because they

believe their value as a social justice issue, but also because they have internalized the

understanding that Aboriginal knowledge and ways of knowing are tremendously valuable and,

quite possibly indispensable in moving forward sustainably on this Earth. This is not a path that can

be walked alone, however, and educators will require sustained and ongoing support throughout

what will probably be a very long process. This support can come in several forms but
 11
Towards a Shared Future: The Long Road for BC Educators

Administrators and the BC Ministry of Education should ensure that the following occur: 1) the

frequent sharing of information with educators about the paradigm shift occurring in global and

national policies, and about the positive ways that Aboriginal knowledges and ways of knowing are

contributing to our shared understanding of the world we live in; 2) the frequent sharing of the

efforts of their peers in decolonizing their own worldviews and in working towards the thoughtful

integration of Aboriginal knowledges and ways of knowing into their teaching; and 3) the

clarification of the connection between popular Western education pedagogy discourses (such as

21st Century learning and place-based learning) and Aboriginal ways of knowing. A shared future

with Aboriginal peoples is possible in BC but it will take concerted effort on the parts of individual

educators to ensure that all students are able to participate in that future fully and in a way that

respects who they are and where they come from.

 12
Towards a Shared Future: The Long Road for BC Educators

References

Battiste, M. (1998). Enabling the autumn seed: Toward a decolonized approach to Aboriginal

knowledge, language, and education. Canadian Journal of Native Education, 22, 16-27.

Battiste, M., & Henderson, J. Y. (2009). Naturalizing Indigenous knowledge in eurocentric education.

Canadian Journal of Native Education, 32(1), 5-18, 129-130.

British Columbia Ministry of Education. (2015). Aboriginal Worldview and Perspectives in the

Classroom: Moving Forward. Retrieved from

http://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/education/administration/kindergarten-to-grade-

12/aboriginal-education/awp_moving_forward.pdf

British Columbia Ministry of Education. (2016) Aboriginal Report 2015/16. Retrieved from

http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/reports/pdfs/ab_hawd/Public.pdf

Chambers, C. (2008). Where are we? Finding common ground in a curriculum of place. Journal of

the Canadian association for curriculum studies, 6(2).

Cole, P. & ORiley, P. (2012). Coyote and Raven put the Digital in Technology Hands Up and Down

to Earth. Transnational Curriculum Inquiry, 9(2), 18-34.

Gruenewald, D. A. (2003). The best of both worlds: A critical pedagogy of place. Educational

researcher, 32(4), 3-12.

Glasersfeld, E. V. (1983). Learning as a constructive activity. In Proceedings of the 5th annual

meeting of the North American group of psychology in mathematics education (Vol. 1, pp.

41-101). PME-NA.
 13
Towards a Shared Future: The Long Road for BC Educators

Gruenewald, D. A. (2003). The best of both worlds: A critical pedagogy of place. Educational

researcher, 32(4), 3-12.

Hare, J. (2011). Learning from Indigenous knowledge in education. In D. Long & O. P. Dickenson

(Eds.), Visions of the heart: Canadian Aboriginal Issues. 3rd Edition (pp. 91-112). Oxford

University Press.

Hyslop, K. (2011). Aboriginal Success Starts With Teachers. TSS Successful Practices in Aboriginal

Education.

Jacobs, H. (2010). Curriculum 21: Essential education for a changing world. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Marker, M. (2006). After the Makah Whale Hunt: Indigenous Knowledge and Limits to Multicultural

Discourse. Urban Education, 41(5), 482-505.

McGregor, H. (2012). Decolonizing pedagogies teacher reference booklet. Vancouver, BC: Vancouver

School Board.

Munroe, E., Borden, L., Murray Orr, A., Toney, D., & Meader, J. (2013). Decolonizing Aboriginal

education in the 21st century. McGill Journal of Education/Revue des sciences de

l'ducation de McGill, 48(2), 317-337.

Simpson, L. B. (2014). Land as pedagogy: Nishnaabeg intelligence and rebellious

transformation. Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society, 3(3).

Tuck, E., McKenzie, M., & McCoy, K. (2014). Land education: Indigenous, post-colonial, and

decolonizing perspectives on place and environmental education research. Environmental

Education Research, 20(1), 1-23.

 14
Towards a Shared Future: The Long Road for BC Educators

Wildcat, M., McDonald, M., Irlbacher-Fox, S., & Coulthard, G. (2014). Learning from the land:

Indigenous land based pedagogy and decolonization. Decolonization: Indigeneity,

Education & Society, 3(3).

Woodhouse, J. L., & Knapp, C. E. (2000). Place-Based Curriculum and Instruction: Outdoor and

Environmental Education Approaches. ERIC Digest.