Educators respect and value the history of First Nations, Inuit and Metis in Canada and the impact of the past on the present and the future. Educators contribute towards truth, reconciliation and healing. Educators foster deeper understanding of the ways of knowing and being, histories, and cultures of First Nations, Inuit and Metis.
Standard 9, one of the newest standards added to the BC Professional Standards, and possibly one of the most importantā¦ certainly the most prevalent at this time in education right now. This principle is all about Indigenous Educations and educators bringing Indigenous histories, stories, cultures, into our classrooms.
I would be lying if I said I was 100% comfortable with this principle, and I say that in the sense of I am so incredibly worried about not fulfilling this standard in the best way possible to do it justice. With that being said I know I can not be scared to implement this standard because I am scared to do it the wrong way, ultimately that is a poor excuse and I think as long as I can always acknowledge I am not the expert but I will do everything I can to educate myself, and acknowledge those who are experts, bring them into my classroom, bring their beliefs into my classroom. That is all I can do and will do. What makes this standard the most important to me and why I want it in my classroom is because I would never want a student to be in my room and not feel welcomed, not feel like their culture is welcomed and embraced. I want to be a teacher who makes an effort to learn the beliefs of all my students, and the backgrounds (if they want to share) of all my students and implement that in my room. I think this standard starts with Indigenous culture and propels you into so many more cultures out there in the world and that we will have in our classrooms. Realistically my students will know more about their culture then I probably ever could, and if I can create an environment for them to embrace their culture, teach me and teacher their peers about their culture. I as the teacher can start the conversation, provide the basis, provide, and foster the safe space, but I will also acknowledge that my students will know more and different things that I could know and that is how I want to approach this standard in my classroom. A cool experience I had was in one of my practicums, the school I was at had a drumming club. My teacher wanted to teach a drumming song that was heard at an assembly to her young kindergarten class and what she did was invite a grade six student from the drumming club who knew the song and its meaning, into her classroom to teach her class with her. I thought this was a genius idea, the grade six students loved doing it and felt a sense of pride, it is an example of that student being the expert on the song and its meaning, and the teacher utilizing her expertise to help her share that culture with her class. I am not the expert, but I hold all the power to ensure that Indigenous cultures and all cultures in my classroom are embraces, shared, and taught to one another.
