Introducing the Listen & Learn Community of Practice!

In January 2017 I began Listen & Learn, my free newsletter about Indigenous Education with the goal of sharing resources, questions I am currently exploring and highlighting the work of other educators. Five years and over 1500 followers later, I have decided to expand the world of Listen & Learn to include a monthly community of practice.

This Community of Practice evolves out of my ongoing inquiry about where I as a Seltter of Italian-Canadian descent can be useful in the field of Indigenous Education. As a educator and coach, I am excited to hold space for others as we deepen our commitment to Indigenous content in our teaching, while navigating how our identities and experiences can get in the way of, spur on, and inform our work.

While I imagine this will evolve to meet the needs of participants, I am excited to welcome a first cohort of educators to join me for three sessions, once a month beginning in the winter. This time together will be an opportunity to examine our blocks and fears, and chart our next steps in our practice of teaching Indigenous content.

Please note that spaces are limited to ensure a rich community experience for participants.

To learn more about the community of practice click here!

May We Have Enough to Share by Richard Van Camp

May We Have Enough to Share by Richard Van Camp is a beautiful board book for young readers, but I must confess that its themes of gratitude, community, abundance, interconnection, and generosity got me through the first year of the pandemic.

My son loved the images of young children and their families which were provided by tea & bannock a self-described “collective blog by indigenous women photographers.”

And my heart soared with every re-reading (and he demanded many) as I was reminded that another world beyond colonialism and capitalism is possible, has existed on this land before, and continues on in many families and communities.

May We Have Enough to Share’s beautiful text has prompted me to reflect on:

• How can I continue to centre contemporary images of Indigenous families taken or crafted by Indigenous peoples?

• What parts of my curriculum send the message to my students that the world is a place of scarcity? What parts of my curriculum instill messages of abundance and enoughness?

Thinking of purchasing May We Have Enough to Share? Consider supporting and Indigenous bookseller like Goodminds.com or Strong Nations.

Taking Action Together - Again

This Thursday is the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation will be holding events as part of Truth and Reconciliation week (https://nctr.ca/) and APTN also has a day of broadcasting planned (https://www.aptn.ca/ndtr/) or perhaps you might consider donating to the Indian Residential School Survivors Society (https://www.irsss.ca/) or an Indigenous-led organization like A7G who is doing awesome community-based on-the-land work (https://www.a7g.ca/donate.html).

In June when the unmarked graves of beautiful children were beginning to be identified at Residential "Schools" I called together a group of Settler facilitators, scholars, and, activists and we put together a letter writing event called Taking Action Together where over 300 folks came together in community to write letters to our MPs amplifying the demands of Indigenous people we had seen in our circles, online, and in the media. Our goal was to not burden Indigenous folks at that time, many of whom were grieving.

This Thursday to mark the holiday, we are planning another version of Taking Action Together, this time to write either (1) newly (re)elected MPs to amplify Indigenous voices and calls for justice or (2) his holiness Pope Francis to amplify the calls from National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations RoseAnne Archibald and President of the Manitoba Métis Federation David Chartrand to have the Pope travel to this land to issue an apology (as stated in Call to Action #58).

We have scheduled the event from 6:30-8:00PM EST on the 30th on Zoom, and if people would like to sign up to join us or to receive the templates, they can here bit.ly/TA2Gether

Please note: I have had some conversations and have received positive feedback about holding this event on the 30th, however, since it is the first National holiday of this sort, I acknowledge that this might not be the right time for non-Indigenous people to take action in this way, and so if we get feedback from Indigenous folks asking us to postpone, we will.

Dismantling colonial patterns in relationships

At various points in the past few years, as the teaching of accurate, respectful, and even anti-colonial Indigenous Education has gained momentum in schools, I have heard many speculate that this might be a trend that would disappear as had numerous other educational fads.

Thankfully, six years out from the release of the TRC’s Calls to Action in 2015, it seems like the presence of Indigenous content, and collaboration with Indigenous educators and communities is mostly growing in many schools and that more and more educators are building their practice in this area.

As a result I have been thinking about what it means to come to this work with a sense of sustained constant energy, rather than flash in the pan urgency. A big part of this for me is thinking about my behavior within the relationships I hold with Indigenous educators, students, and communities.

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One intention I have set is to strive to not reproduce colonial patterns in these relationships. Here I am asking myself:

• How do I build, tend to, and stay in respectful relationship as an educator?         

• Where am I rushing in my work?

• Where am I bringing energies of “taking” or “extraction” to my interactions, especially with Indigenous folks?

• How can I bring more of a sense of reciprocity to my relationships?

• When do I need to slow down and incorporate more listening into what I do?

  As I reflect and ask myself these questions, I notice that our colonial educational systems are not designed to facilitate slowing down, and taking the time needed to listen, learn, and engage in reciprocity.

  I always feel like I am given too many tasks, or that I am falling behind. Institutions do not necessarily value long-term relationships, and I see this in one-off honorarium payments which don’t acknowledge the pre- and post-work guest speakers put in, and a tendency to look for the next best thing, guest speaker, or trend.

  Slowing down and honouring relationships feels counterintuitive in a system that is always in a rush.

  What would happen if you were to slow down and think about the questions above in the way that you engage with Indigenous Education?

  Feel free to drop me a line and let me know if these questions resonate for you.

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Truth and Reconciliation Day programming for students and the general public

Thursday September 30, 2021 is the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada.

Here are a two sets of programming that you and your students might be interested in.

• The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation at the University of Manitoba has put together a week programming for students across Canada from grades 5 to 12. It’s free, and you can sign up here. (There is also programming for the general public available).

• APTN has put together a day of programming, including a Sunrise Ceremony broadcast from various Nations across Turtle Island. Learn more here.