Sameness in the Classroom

When asking an Indigenous person, the question about giving advice to non-Indigenous teachers who teach Indigenous children to feel special/connected/included in school they emphasized the importance of equality within the classroom. If the teacher were to make Indigenous children feel more special than the other children that's not right but also making the non-Indigenous children feel more special won't change anything but make everyone upset. How do we incorporate sameness rather than focus on the differences of FNMI culture in the classroom? What are some ways to incorporate equality into any classroom?

Every child is important and should feel welcome, part of the classroom and respected, regardless of their origin. We should be open to ideas and comments from anybody. All students should feel that whatever they have to say will be heard with respect and interest.

Hi Teighla,
This is a great question. When I think about it, I wonder why Indigenous students feel different in the first place. Why are their peers not encountering this same issue? Indigenous youth are surrounded by the culture of others every single day. This issue may not be seen by the average Canadian because they are living within their own culture, ideals and way of life. Rows of desks, a teacher instructing in the front of a classroom with four walls, and the constant battle of who can get the best grade is not the pedagogy of Indigenous peoples. To me, this is unfair to Indigneous students because equality is not incorporated throughout the classroom. They are surrounded around a colonized way of life, as evident within classrooms, which they had to grow accustomed to. I feel like this is why there has been more emphasis on introducing Indigenous teachings and culture within the classroom. It is not that they are focusing on making Indigenous students feel more special than their peers, they are just trying to have them be seen too. In my future classroom, I do not want students to feel more special than others because of their race. I want my studnets to feel special because they individually hold differences that make them who they are.

I like to think of it like representation on television. There is not an accurate representation of FNMI people in media or in Canadian curriculum.

I think if teachers make the effort to have indigeneous culture, ways of learning, and ways of life represented in the content, they are doing a good job. Books, movies, articles, stories made or written by FNMI artists. Guest speakers that can remind indigenous students of their individual beauty, please add if you think of more.

I believe that if we as teachers do a good job of balancing acitivities out between the different cultures we will be able to have that student feel the sameness within the classroom as it will not be looked upon by the other students as something speacial we are doing. It will just be a normal part of the day. I think this would make them feel more connected to the class as well as not make the other students feel any less speacial.