Infusing Indigenous Knowledge and Epistemologies: Learning From Teachers in Northern Aboriginal Head Start Classrooms

Peterson, Shelley; Jang, Soon; San Miguel, Jayson; Styres, Sandra; Madsen, Audrey

doi:https://doi.org/10.7202/1056281ar

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Abstract

Five Aboriginal Head Start early childhood educators from a northern Canadian community participated in interviews for the purpose of informing non-Indigenous teachers’ classroom teaching. Their observations and experiences highlight the importance of learning from and on the land alongside family members, and of family stability and showing acceptance of all children. Additionally, participants talked of the impact of residential schools on their families in terms of loss of their Indigenous language, and their attempts to learn and to teach the children in their classrooms the Indigenous languages and teachings.

Résumé

Cinq éducateurs de la petite enfance autochtones d’une communauté du Nord canadien ont participé à des entrevues dans le but d’informer les enseignants non-autochtones de l’enseignement en classe. Leurs observations et leurs expériences soulignent l’importance d’apprendre de la terre et sur la terre aux côtés des membres de la famille, de la stabilité de la famille et de l’acceptation de tous les enfants. De plus, les participants ont parlé de l’impact des pensionnats sur leurs familles en termes de perte de leur langue indigène et de leurs tentatives d’apprendre et d’enseigner aux enfants dans leurs classes les langues et les enseignements indigènes.

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Biographical notes

Shelley Stagg Peterson is a former elementary teacher in rural Alberta and now a professor in the department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning at OISE, University of Toronto, where she teaches graduate courses and conducts research on writing, play, and oral language in early childhood settings. She is the Principal Investigator of the Northern Oral Language and Writing through Play (NOW Play) Partnership project involving action research with teachers, early childhood educators, and children in northern rural and Indigenous communities. shelleystagg.peterson@utoronto.ca

Soon Young Jang is a doctoral candidate in the department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning at OISE, University of Toronto. Her research areas include children’s bilingualism, language minority education, and language policy. She is currently completing her doctoral dissertation, Bilingualism of Korean Immigrant Children: A Church-based Heritage Language Classroom in the Greater Toronto Area, which was drawn from her year-long ethnographic case study. soonyoung.jang@mail.utoronto.ca

Jayson San Miguel is a doctoral candidate in Language and Literacies Education at OISE, University of Toronto. He is a former elementary and secondary school teacher, with a concentration in language arts. His research interests include writing pedagogy, arts-based education, and the psychology of humour. jayson.sanmiguel@mail.utoronto.ca

Sandra Styres is an assistant professor in the Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning at OISE, University of Toronto, where she teaches and conducts research on Indigenous education, including decolonizing praxis; teaching and learning in Indigenous contexts; and land-centered approaches to language, literacy, and curriculum. sandra.styres@utoronto.ca

Audrey Madsen is an occasional teacher with the Toronto District School Board Elementary division, providing substitute coverage in kindergarten to Grade 8 classrooms as she builds her seniority with the school board. She is also Data Manager and Research Assistant for the NOW Play Project at OISE, the University of Toronto, where she provides support to participating educators with their data collection and analysis. audrey.madsen@utoronto.ca

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Appendices

Notes biographiques

Shelley Stagg Peterson est une ancienne enseignante au niveau primaire dans les régions rurales de l’Alberta et est maintenant professeure au département du curriculum, de l’enseignement et de l’apprentissage de l’IEPO de l’Université de Toronto, où elle enseigne aux cycles supérieurs et effectue des recherches sur l’écriture, le jeu et le langage oral dans les milieux de la petite enfance. Elle est chercheure principale du projet Northern Oral Language and Writing through Play (NOW Play) Partnership, un partenariat de recherche-action avec des enseignants, des éducateurs de la petite enfance et des enfants des collectivités rurales et autochtones du Nord. shelleystagg.peterson@utoronto.ca

Soon Young Jang est une candidate au doctorat au département des programmes d’études, de l’enseignement et de l’apprentissage de l’IEPO de l’Université de Toronto. Ses domaines de recherche comprennent le bilinguisme des enfants, l’éducation des minorités linguistiques et les politiques linguistiques. Elle termine actuellement sa thèse de doctorat sur le bilinguisme des enfants d’immigrants coréens : A Church-based Heritage Language Classroom in the Greater Toronto Area, tirée de son étude de cas ethnographique d’une année. soonyoung.jang@mail.utoronto.ca

Jayson San Miguel est un candidat au doctorat en enseignement des langues et de la littératie à l’IEPO de l’Université de Toronto. Il est un ancien enseignant du primaire et du secondaire, avec une concentration en arts du langage. Ses intérêts de recherche comprennent la pédagogie de l’écriture, l’éducation artistique et la psychologie de l’humour. jayson.sanmiguel@mail.utoronto.ca

Sandra Styres est professeure adjointe au département des programmes d’études, de l’enseignement et de l’apprentissage de l’IEPO de l’Université de Toronto, où elle enseigne et mène des recherches sur l’éducation autochtone, notamment la décolonisation des pratiques, l’enseignement et l’apprentissage dans des contextes autochtones et les approches axées sur la terre en ce qui concerne la langue, l’alphabétisation et le curriculum. sandra.styres@utoronto.ca

Audrey Madsen est une enseignante suppléante occasionnelle de la division élémentaire de la Commission Scolaire du district de Toronto, qui offre une protection de remplacement dans les classes de la maternelle à la 8^e année pendant qu’elle accumule de l’ancienneté au sein du conseil scolaire. Elle est également gestionnaire des données et adjointe à la recherche pour le projet NOW Play de l’IEPO de l’Université de Toronto, où elle fournit un soutien aux éducateurs participants pour la collecte et l’analyse des données. audrey.madsen@utoronto.ca

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