Indigenous Inquiry

How do we make Indigenous pedagogy more inclusive accessible in the newest curriculum? I believe there’s much more to be done to provide foundational knowledge base that novice Educators can access for lesson plans. The benefits of my inquiry are two-fold, the first is making the necessary information easily accessible and secondly, relevant, concise and easy to present. Having discussed these issues at length with my peers in my cohort, the most common fear expressed was not being prepared to tackle subject matter and/or present it accurately i.e. Residential Schools, 60’scoop and MMIW.  I reassured them that Indigenous pedagogy relies on being genuine and truthful while presenting issues in a sensitive and thoughtful and reflective manner. Further, being of First Nations decent does not make it easier to present, it comes down the genuine nature that you express when teaching; being able to wear your emotions on your sleeve and invoking a storyteller persona (in the round) was my most successful technique. Raising the issue of Indigenous pedagogy can be challenging, how can I make it easier for my fellow educators to access resources?

My main source(s) regarding Indigenous pedagogy come from Indigenous scholars that are presently teaching at Post-Secondary Institutions; these include those currently instructing at UBC in the First Nations Studies Program and others across Canada. My other sources are the many Elders that taught me my own history though the traditional storytelling passed down through generations. It is my intention to both rely upon personal experience and in depth research to present clear, concise and accurate representations of Indigenous History and thought for Teachers.  In his recent article, Dr. Restoule goes into detail regarding the transformative way that general pedagogy can invoke Indigenous fluidity by utilizing stories to guide learners through the subject matter. It is my intention to demonstrate how storytelling telling can be utilized across all subjects’ areas regardless of topic; the fundamental usage of the relationship creation through simple class room environment changes. I found that much of “the way” of Indigenous pedagogy already exists; the mutual experience of listening to stories that all adults shared as young children. In intrinsic and genuine nature of the art of storytelling is the fundamental basis of my inquiry; how it can be demonstrated across subjects with the same lasting memory imprint. I believe most if not all students would benefit from the reemergence of oral story telling format. Its is my intention to tackle subject matter outside my discipline to show how it can use taught, used and become part of the teaching pedagogy moving forward.