Conference exposes teachers to Aboriginal culture

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On Feb. 16, teachers from Saskatoon's public and separate school systems got a lesson in looking at the world through the eyes of a different culture during the Saskatoon Teachers' Association's annual convention.

This year's convention was a departure from past events, taking the form of a cultural gathering that exposed teachers to Aboriginal history, spirituality and entertainment and provided them with information on issues affecting Aboriginal people.

The name given to the gathering was Sihtoskatowin, a Cree word that means "supporting each other." According to Ken Marland, a Grade 2 teacher from Confederation Park school who chaired this year's convention, the goal of the day was to help teachers be more open to incorporating a diversity of cultural perspectives in their teaching.

Saskatoon's classrooms are changing, with the number of Aboriginal students increasing and more and more families immigrating from other countries. In response, Marland explained, the way teachers approach teaching has to change as well.

"What used to be sort of European classrooms are really becoming quite mixed now, and in many parts of the community, almost half of our students are Aboriginal. So we decided that having a theme that looks specifically at that other cultures have different world views, and that those world views are valid, equally valid and equally interesting as any other world view, that this was something that people needed to be aware of. And because the Aboriginal community is probably the largest different cultural group in our community, we focused on Aboriginal," Marland said.

"So it was about the Aboriginal community, but it was also to help people to understand that other cultures have different world views, using the Aboriginal culture as the example."

It's important for teachers to consider the differing cultural perspectives of their students and to incorporate those perspectives in the classroom so the students can relate to what they're being taught, Marland explained.

"We make assumptions. Like my world view, I grew up with a European background and nursery rhymes and certain literature and certain mythologies ... like the image of Noah's Ark and so on. Those are all sort of just percolated all through your culture, so you make those examples and you put those illustrations in the classroom. And then you're looking out there and you see that half your class doesn't have a clue what you're talking about because you've used examples that are not part of their culture. And then you realize, how do you relate this material or this idea or this concept through ideas from their culture. And that's what we're trying to get teachers to realize," he said.

The day began with Oh Canada sung in Cree, an honour song and a prayer in Michif, and ended with a closing ceremony presided over by Elders Alma and Simon Kytwayhat. In between, the 2,400 teachers in attendance had an opportunity to learn about treaties, the Indian Act, urban reserves, sentencing circles, traditional teachings and the role of the Elder, and to be exposed to Aboriginal literary, visual and performing arts.

Organizers knew that, with the convention only lasting one day, they would only be able to scratch the surface on the topics presented. But they tried to organize the event to meet the needs of all in attendance, from the teachers who are already sold on the idea of learning about new cultures, to the ones taking their tentative first steps.

And while the goal of the convention was to broaden the knowledge base of the teachers, not to teach them how to carry that knowledge into the classroom, participants were introduced to a number of resources they can turn to in that department, from being introduced to the Aboriginal education consultants for both the public and separate systems, to being provided with a list of reading materials suggested by members of the Aboriginal community.

At the end of the day, thegoal of the convention was to make teachers aware of why they should look at what they're teaching and the way they teach it from the perspective of their students from all cultures, to help them feel comfortable in their attempts, and to provide them with a wider knowledge base from which to draw, Marland explained.

"That's what we want. We want knowledge to be sort of the forefront of it all. And then from that what you do with the knowledge is a different matter."