Literacy teacher livens up learning of the 3Rs

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In her 13 years working in the field of Native literacy, Priscilla George has learned a lot about the types of programs that are successful and an equal amount about herself.

Speaking at the provincial literacy conference held in Calgary over the first weekend in November, George shared her approach to teaching literacy while revealing how her personal experiences affect her professional life.

Those personal experiences often have a large spiritual element to them, and George firmly believes that a successful approach to Native literacy must appeal to more than just the intellect. As the provincial Native literacy co-ordinator for the Ontario Ministry of Education from 1990 to 1996, she came to feel the government'?s approach to Native literacy was flawed.

"The institutions don't honor the spirit or the emotions, and these are the most important parts," she told her audience of about 60 educators and literacy practitioners. "We need to recognize and honor the whole person, not just fill them with math facts, grammar rules, punctuation, and how to write in a different language [English]."

George's solution is to approach literacy from all angles and not simply as a mental exercise. While stressing that her work is "a thesis in progress," and that she "has as many questions as answers," George has devised a holistic approach based on the medicine wheel. In her system, the wheel is divided into quarters which represent the body, spirit, emotions, and mind of any given student. To be successful, a literacy program must appeal to each of these separate areas.

George acknowledged this approach is a tough sell when approaching government funding agencies. "They need proof of the importance of emotions and spirit and we have to convince funders that the heart and spirit are important to literacy."

George described the feeling she got when she entered a bookstore a few years ago while searching for material to help her establish the importance of emotions and spirit in education.

Describing a chill that ran up her arm, she said it was like she was being guided towards a specific book. "It was like the book was falling off the shelf," she said. "As I caught it, I thought 'welcome to my life, you have something to teach me.' These are the books that prove the importance of spirit, what we already know, what our Elders knew and taught."

George acknowledged that introducing this spiritual element turns some people off but she has a wealth of personal experience to back up her contention. She shared her past experiences, which included relying on her spiritual nature to turn her life around after becoming cross-addicted and having her kids taken away by Children?s Aid workers.

"I was considered a weirdo in my family when I first started this [recognizing her spiritual side], but now they come to me because of the positive change in my life and getting my kids back from Children's Aid."

In addition to her belief in appealing to the various aspects of a student's personality, George has been involved in developing the Rainbow Approach to Aboriginal Literacy project, which was initiated at the Parkland Regional College in Melville, Sask. George saw the invitation as another validation of her spiritual approach.

That is because her spirit name is Rainbow Woman and she had recently done research into rainbows and their significance in Aboriginal cultures. Applying this knowledge to Native literacy was a chance she couldn?t pass up.

The result is a still-evolving system that looks at each colour of the rainbow separately and relates it to a specific element of Native literacy. Red is the first colour of the rainbow and, in Aboriginal cultures, is often associated with the life force. For George, that means it represents the importance and usefulness of Natives achieving "literacy in our own languages and not just in the language of commerce."

Progressing through the colours of the rainbow, orange represe fire and self-esteem and relates to oral literacy. Yellow is symbolic of the moon and creativity. In George's system, it represents the realization that the written word is only one way of communicating, and creative means of expressing oneself such as drawing and music are equally important. Green represents growth and refers to literacy in French and English. Blue relates to truth and staying true to one's vision and commitment. It is also the colour of the sky, which is increasingly home to the instruments - towers and satellites - of modern communication. Blue therefore also represents the skills needed to communicate using technology. Indigo is the colour of the night sky and relates to the importance of interpreting natural things and dreams as a way of teaching literacy.

The final colour in the rainbow is violet, a healing colour, associated in Aboriginal cultures with wisdom. "Indigo refers to the holistic base to Aboriginal literacy," George said. She added that it relates back to her medicine wheel because it reinforces the need to "deal with the spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical learning and to strive for balance."