Educators as Local Indigenous Allies

Educators as Local Indigenous Allies - A Website

Local Indigenous Allyship:

Why it matters for all of us, especially educators, and how we can all become better community members, in good relationship with the First Peoples of this place, and with all things.

The website "Educators as Local Indigenous Allies" (Mobbs, 2024) is a website for teachers in the area called ʔaqyamǂup in Ktunaxa, k’iyá’mlup in n̓syilxčn̓, and Nelson, BC in English. It is an ongoing project as part of my own journey as a settler educator towards decolonization and Reconciliation. It also documents my own reflective process, primarily as I contemplate the First People's Principles of Learning (FPCC, 2007), guided by Chrona's (2023) thoughts in Wayi Wah! Indigenous Pedagogies – An Act for Reconciliation and Anti-Racist Education. It is aspirational in motivating other educators to begin to develop good relationships with local Indigenous people, moving us towards Indigenization of education.

The first section guides you through a "learning journey" to help educators understand the local context of Truth and Reconciliation. It includes key aspects of Indigenous pedagogy, as well as local Indigenous voices. The second section is valuable for all educators, as it seeks to offer answers to vital questions many settler educators might have about how to become a settler ally with Indigenous people.

If you would like to collaborate with me in the ongoing process of using technology to inspire local educators to be in better relationship with local Indigenous people, please let me know through this blog, or reach out by email to melaniemobbs@gmail.com.

References

Chrona, J. (2022) Wayi Wah! Indigenous pedagogies – an act for reconciliation and

anti-racist education. Portage & Main Press.

First People’s Cultural Council (FPCC)(2007) First People’s principles

of learning. https://www.fnesc.ca/first-peoples-principles-of-learning/

Mobbs, M. (2024) Educators as local indigenous allies. Google Sites.

Sites. https://sites.google.com/view/kootenay-indigenous-allies/learning-journey

Comments

Reflecting on Bell's Teaching By the Medicine Wheel

Medicine Wheel Image (Littlejohn657, 2021) As I reflect on Indigenous perspectives on teaching and learning, coming to the end of my two year journey into Indigenous Education, it seems appropriate to revisit Bell’s (2014) article Teaching by the Medicine Wheel which discusses an Anishinaabe perspective on Medicine Wheels as pedagogical tools, using her experience at the Anishinaabe Bimaadiziwin Cultural Healing and Learning Program to help us understand . In the article, Bell discusses the diversity of Medicine Wheel teachings throughout Turtle Island, and talks about some of their shared commonalities which can be helpful for all teachers to understand. In many ways it feels appropriate to complete this circle, and reflect upon this article with new understanding, while exploring Indigenous perspectives of teaching, learning, creativity and innovation. One essential commonality of Medicine Wheels noted by Bell (2014) is that they “transmit a common ...

Learning Glossary - Teaching, Learning, Creativity and Innovation

Learning Glossary - Teaching, Learning, Creativity and Innovation Creativity: Creativity is like a positive spark. In Bell’s (2014) Anishinaabe Medicine Wheel teachings, creativity is “vision” which is associated with spirituality and wholeness. Creativity is part of the ongoing process of teaching and learning we are all engaged in through living and being together. Creativity brings us together in new ways with fresh perspectives, helping us to better understand how to live together in a good way. There are various forms of creativity and these are emphasized or cultivated differently in diverse cultures around the world, however creativity is a universal human quality. Innovation: Innovation is the application of creativity, with the added element of wisdom, to create something of value. On a basic level it is taking...

Indigenous Perspectives - Generative Curriculum Model and Constructivist Learning

In the article “As if Indigenous Knowledge and Communities Mattered: Transformative Education in First Nations Communities in Canada (2004), Ball describes a “generative curriculum model” which brings together Indigenous and non-Indigenous knowledges using a constructivist “community of learners” approach in “community-based education partnerships between First Nations and postsecondary institutions in Canada”(p.454). The author points to the failure of Eurocentric education for First Nations peoples by almost every measure, while noting that this novel approach which co-creat...

Educators as Indigenous Allies

Search This Blog