Learning Blog 8 - Cultural Responsibilities

Hello readers,

Hope your week has been lovely! I’m sure we’ve all been asked at some point in our career (no matter how long or short),

“What do you teach?”

Without fail, we all know the perfect answer to it: students. We teach students, first and foremost. The subject matter is just the preamble, unless you have a deep, burning desire for your subject (which is also great). Thus, we were charged this week with reading the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action and examine how we are responsive and responsible to the communities we teach in, in that we should examine and discuss how to create culturally enriching classrooms.

One of the main themes that echoes throughout the TRC’s Calls to Action is the need to be recognized as a culturally significant and independent group, that holds water when it comes to discussing their heritage and their history. From recognizing that First Nations, Metis and Inuit students are disadvantaged on many fronts, to making time and effort to recognize Aboriginal Knowledge Holders as legitimate and valid sources of information, the Calls to Action make it very clear that we need to re-adjust our thinking surrounding the original owners of Canadian land. When we take these lessons towards making a more culturally responsible classroom, we end up recognizing that most often, students are valid and legitimate sources of creativity, knowledge, and the likes. Thus, we should be taking steps to creating classrooms that recognize learners and their cultures as individually significant and independent, while still taking the time to recognize their contributions to the overall classroom culture. To this end, I can imagine a classroom that functions like this would take the time to first set boundaries, as we should all be cognizant of each others’ boundaries, whether its cultural or personal. We could then begin to create classrooms that not only emphasize but encourage team work such that each student is capable of bringing their set of skills to the table, which in turn gives them the confidence to impart their knowledge. These classrooms should not gloss over the concept of cultural identity, however; they should be taking every reasonable (and informed) step towards celebrating the cultural diversity that we have by allowing students to share parts of their cultures in appropriate ways (celebrations come to mind at a glance).

Of course, as a teacher you are a part of a community, and if that community is culturally diverse, you should be aware of your responsibility towards upholding the standard. Like I mentioned before, you have to be aware of the boundaries of the people in your community, and humbly recognize when you do not know about things. In this way, you set an example in your community of how we can be 21st century citizens while still taking part in the rich history we are an active part of. Simply put: If we pride ourselves as Canadians for being a multicultural nation, then its probably wise if we started to act like there’s been more than just European culture, too.

Image Credit: https://news.ok.ubc.ca/2013/09/11/dialogue-coincides-with-truth-and-reconciliation-commission-event/

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