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Bev Ross
How does a non-Aboriginal teacher in a typical Alberta junior high school learn enough about an Aboriginal tradition to feel confident using it in her classroom? And why would she choose to? Teacher Susan Makale's use of Aboriginal traditions in her classroom resulted from her experiences in an Alberta Initiative for School Improvement (AISI) learning community fostered by Edmonton Catholic Schools' Aboriginal Learning Services (ALS).
Working out of a downtown school, 20 ALS staff deliver an array of programs and services to teachers, administrators and staff in 82 schools across the district. It's a learning community built on connection, rather than location. Surveys show that most Aboriginal parents in Edmonton's Catholic system want their children to attend neighbourhood schools. Therefore, ALS staff work within regular schools, encouraging them to create a school atmosphere that respects and responds to the cultural identity of their Aboriginal students. ALS helps schools move toward this model by offering curricular support, counselling services, cultural programming and professional development—services and programs like the one in which Makale took part.
Being aware
Awareness of cultural differences is a crucial first step. To help teachers become aware of and appreciate these differences, ALS staff and members of Edmonton's Aboriginal community deliver the program to teachers over four thought-provoking and informative days, spread throughout the year. "As teachers, we teach out of our own life experience," says ALS's Marnie Robb. "Through our AISI program, we try to give teachers enough experience with Aboriginal culture for them to begin to interpret from an Aboriginal world view."
For St. Francis Xavier Catholic High School art teacher Ann Predy, the experience was an eye-opener. "Before AISI, I knew bits and pieces about Aboriginal art," she says. ONow, I recognize the symbolism and I know how significant it is." As a result of her new awareness, Predy now encourages her Aboriginal students to find their creativity through their cultures and to investigate Aboriginal artists and their ideas. At the same time, non-Aboriginal students are exposed to a different world view and this, Predy notes, provides many benefits. "All my students were exposed to new ideas as I went through the program," she says. With funding from ALS, Predy and her students staged a culminating celebration that integrated visual and performing art from many cultures and presented it to the whole school.
Customizing programs
ALS staff offer individualized support to schools and teachers. This differentiated approach is central to the services and programs ALS provides, whether staff are mediating for a principal and a family over attendance issues or handling a request for curricular support.
"We follow up with teachers who ask for our materials or services," explains ALS's Louise Breland. "We usually put together something different for each situation, depending on the understanding the teacher has of Aboriginal culture and perspective. We're always trying to make things relevant to that particular teacher and their particular school by building on their current knowledge and looking for ways to broaden the context." The teepee, which can be incorporated into a wide range of curricular areas, is a case in point. The teepee is many things: a physical structure; a family home; a story-telling and teaching tool; an example of architecture elegantly suited to its function and environment; a carrier of spiritual, personal and communal symbols—the list goes on. "As teachers learn and understand more, they move beyond the stereotypes of the teepee, the dream catcher, the beading," notes Breland. "They ask for more."
Teachers looking to expand the use of Aboriginal culture and traditions can easily do so. Aboriginal culture naturally fits into language arts and social studies, but connections with math and science are also easily made. For example, Susan Makale invited ALS science consultant Ken Ealey to work with her Grade 8 class on a science unit. "Ken expanded my awareness of what's out there," she says. "He used the medicine wheel to talk about the diversity of life and showed both science and legends try to explain the way things are. This was a tough bunch of kids," she adds, "but they kept asking when he was coming back."
Embracing differences
Sometimes, teachers express their growing understanding of Aboriginal culture in similarly valuable, but less visible, ways. St. Cecilia teacher and AISI program participant Steven Laffin recounts finding an Aboriginal student in the off-limits band room, practising his instrument. The student avoided eye contact with Laffin and appeared to be trying to laugh off the incident. "I've learned not to misread these signals," explains Laffin. "I thought probably the student was really embarrassed and by laughing it off, hoped that I'd just leave him alone. Sure enough, when I met with him the next day to talk about the consequences, he was ashamed, almost in tears."
Through the learning community it's creating across the district, ALS hopes to deepen people's understanding of the Aboriginal world view and open them to change. "ALS provides the experience," says Makale. And experience is a wonderful teacher—it makes this culture, which has such tremendous beauty, less intimidating."
Laffin agrees, noting that the experiences he's had through ALS have changed his personal view. "I used to think that the best thing was to ignore the differences and just treat everyone the same," he says. "Now, I'm learning to embrace the differences."
Bev Ross is an Edmonton-based freelance writer.
