I found the Ed camp interesting and exciting to see what my peers were interested in learning more about and sharing our knowledge with one another. There is great value in recognizing the variety of knowledge our peers and colleagues bring into this profession. We are not going to know and be experts on everything so collaborating with our colleagues and sharing rich discussions about various subjects enriches our own knowledge and connects us with our peers.
The group I started with, and actually stayed with the entire time we did the ed camp was the group that was discussing First Peoples Principles, and Indigenous knowledge and how we bring it into our teaching practices and philosophies. Below is an image of the First Peoples Principles and a link to the First Nations Education Steering Committee website.
We had rich conversations talking abut how to authentically bring in knowledge from the Indigenous peoples who’s land we reside on. The initial concern was always that we would make a mistake, or appropriate knowledge, or use information in a way that is unintentionally disrespectful.
Next we talked about what resources we have to draw upon in order to find authentic resources to help guide our learning. Many of the school districts do have resources within the schools and have a district team that curates educational resources for the teachers. Below is a video that was put together by the Sooke School district illustrating equity in action within the school district.
When I was looking at the Saanich school district, this district seemed to have the most connection with the W̱SÁNEĆ peoples embedded into their schools. There is SENĆOŦEN language classes offered in some of the schools in this district as part of language revitalisation and the commitment to truth and reconciliation. The goals are clear and laid out in a way that connects to Indigenous ways of knowing and learning.
When looking at the Victoria school district website there was not as much information on their Indigenous programs and how they are working towards truth and reconciliation. The link to their website had very little information.
I believe that it us important for us as educators to curate our own resources that will help guide us in connecting to Indigenous ways of knowing, learning, and teaching as it is varied how much guidance will be provided to us by the districts we work in. I do think it is the responsibility of the districts as well as the provincial government to ensure proper funding is put in place for educators to access these resources and access professional development to learn how to connect the education we provide to the First Peoples Principles and the Indigenous ways of knowing.
