INDIGENOUS EDUCATION AND CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE TEACHING
Canada has a rich and complex history. Tangled in that complex history is our treatment of the Indigenous People, our country’s first inhabitants. Their mistreatment is one of the worst stains in Canada’s history and residential schools could arguably be the most horrific example of that mistreatment. In order to redress the legacy of residential schools and advance the process of Canadian reconciliation, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada called on governments, educational and religious institutions, civil society groups and all Canadians to take action on the 94 Calls to Action it identified (Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 2015). This included, among many other items, an annual commitment to Aboriginal education issues, including building student capacity for intercultural understanding, empathy, and mutual respect.
As their commitment to this call to action, in BC, we have embraced the goal of improving school success for all Indigenous students. We recognize achieving this goal will require the presence of Indigenous languages, cultures, and histories to be increased in provincial curricula. For a classroom teacher, the presence of an Indigenous voice in all aspects of curriculum not only supports this call to action and is an obligation, but the practice of culturally responsive teaching in itself is a responsible teaching practice.
Culture is a social system that represents an accumulation of beliefs, attitudes, habits, values, and practices that serve as a filter through which a group of people view and respond to the world in which they live (Shade, Kelly & Oberg, 1997). In 1994, Gloria Ladson-Billings (as cited in Ontario, 2013) introduced the term “Culturally Relevant Teaching” to describe teaching that integrates a student’s background knowledge and prior home and community experiences into the curriculum and the teaching and learning experiences that take place in the classroom.
Culturally responsive teaching is more than just celebrating cultures and acknowledging the diversity of cultures in a classroom, instead it involves an intentional, respectful nurturing of the diversity, a deep quest for understanding, and the fostering of a classroom climate that sees the diversity in students as opportunities to enhance learning. In order to ensure that all students feel safe, welcomed and accepted, and inspired to succeed in a culture of high expectations for learning, schools and classrooms must be responsive to culture (Ontario, 2013).
In a culturally responsive classroom, teachers build upon the experiences of the students as they support the students in constructing their own knowledge. They use a variety of resources, including community members to ensure the learning environment, materials and learning opportunities reflect the lives of students and their community. This includes incorporating local ways of knowing and teaching in their curriculum as well as using the local environment and community on a regular basis supporting the school to home connection. They make sure they know and build upon students’ prior knowledge, interests, strengths and learning styles and ensure they are foundational to the learning experiences in the classroom and the school (Ontario, 2013). This results in making learning relevant and accessible for all students in the classroom as they are able to see themselves in the curriculum (Ontario, 2013). A culturally responsive classroom will tap into students’ curiosity and engage them in topics that are interesting to them; it does this without watering down, but rather by strengthening, the quality of learning materials (Cleary & Peacock, 1998; Sparks, 2000 as cited in Castagno & Brayboy, 2008).
Using Indigenous mentor texts to teach reading strategies allows for a natural integration of an Indigenous voice. This type of culturally responsive teaching supports Indigenous students by allowing them to access their background knowledge and experiences while improving their reading. Policy studies, research, and evaluation studies have consistently found that Indigenous students’ academic performance is improved when school curricula promote the language and culture of the local community (Demmert, 2001 as cited in Castagno & Brayboy, 2008). School climate, as represented by students’ perceptions of the classroom community, their sense of well-being, and their concern for others, has been shown to be strongly related to reading proficiency (Sherblom, Marshall & Sherblom, 2006 as cited in Glickman & Anderson, 2012). Culturally responsive teaching offers this to all students. We also acknowledge our purpose is not only to increase the Indigenous content in the classroom, to understand and acknowledge diversity, and to provide learning opportunities that better represent the culture of Indigenous students, but also to have all students to experience an Indigenous perspective and knowledge-base as part of what they are learning.
Canada has a rich and complex history. Tangled in that complex history is our treatment of the Indigenous People, our country’s first inhabitants. Their mistreatment is one of the worst stains in Canada’s history and residential schools could arguably be the most horrific example of that mistreatment. In order to redress the legacy of residential schools and advance the process of Canadian reconciliation, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada called on governments, educational and religious institutions, civil society groups and all Canadians to take action on the 94 Calls to Action it identified (Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 2015). This included, among many other items, an annual commitment to Aboriginal education issues, including building student capacity for intercultural understanding, empathy, and mutual respect.
As their commitment to this call to action, in BC, we have embraced the goal of improving school success for all Indigenous students. We recognize achieving this goal will require the presence of Indigenous languages, cultures, and histories to be increased in provincial curricula. For a classroom teacher, the presence of an Indigenous voice in all aspects of curriculum not only supports this call to action and is an obligation, but the practice of culturally responsive teaching in itself is a responsible teaching practice.
Culture is a social system that represents an accumulation of beliefs, attitudes, habits, values, and practices that serve as a filter through which a group of people view and respond to the world in which they live (Shade, Kelly & Oberg, 1997). In 1994, Gloria Ladson-Billings (as cited in Ontario, 2013) introduced the term “Culturally Relevant Teaching” to describe teaching that integrates a student’s background knowledge and prior home and community experiences into the curriculum and the teaching and learning experiences that take place in the classroom.
Culturally responsive teaching is more than just celebrating cultures and acknowledging the diversity of cultures in a classroom, instead it involves an intentional, respectful nurturing of the diversity, a deep quest for understanding, and the fostering of a classroom climate that sees the diversity in students as opportunities to enhance learning. In order to ensure that all students feel safe, welcomed and accepted, and inspired to succeed in a culture of high expectations for learning, schools and classrooms must be responsive to culture (Ontario, 2013).
In a culturally responsive classroom, teachers build upon the experiences of the students as they support the students in constructing their own knowledge. They use a variety of resources, including community members to ensure the learning environment, materials and learning opportunities reflect the lives of students and their community. This includes incorporating local ways of knowing and teaching in their curriculum as well as using the local environment and community on a regular basis supporting the school to home connection. They make sure they know and build upon students’ prior knowledge, interests, strengths and learning styles and ensure they are foundational to the learning experiences in the classroom and the school (Ontario, 2013). This results in making learning relevant and accessible for all students in the classroom as they are able to see themselves in the curriculum (Ontario, 2013). A culturally responsive classroom will tap into students’ curiosity and engage them in topics that are interesting to them; it does this without watering down, but rather by strengthening, the quality of learning materials (Cleary & Peacock, 1998; Sparks, 2000 as cited in Castagno & Brayboy, 2008).
Using Indigenous mentor texts to teach reading strategies allows for a natural integration of an Indigenous voice. This type of culturally responsive teaching supports Indigenous students by allowing them to access their background knowledge and experiences while improving their reading. Policy studies, research, and evaluation studies have consistently found that Indigenous students’ academic performance is improved when school curricula promote the language and culture of the local community (Demmert, 2001 as cited in Castagno & Brayboy, 2008). School climate, as represented by students’ perceptions of the classroom community, their sense of well-being, and their concern for others, has been shown to be strongly related to reading proficiency (Sherblom, Marshall & Sherblom, 2006 as cited in Glickman & Anderson, 2012). Culturally responsive teaching offers this to all students. We also acknowledge our purpose is not only to increase the Indigenous content in the classroom, to understand and acknowledge diversity, and to provide learning opportunities that better represent the culture of Indigenous students, but also to have all students to experience an Indigenous perspective and knowledge-base as part of what they are learning.