I really enjoyed reading posts about Erika and having her present to us. I think she has some valuable insight as an Indigenous advocate and trustee on the school board. Being on reserves herself, I believe her experiences contribute to her views towards the SD 57 report and how she wants the education system to change in the future. Some people may misinterpret her views on how she states that there is poverty and trauma problem instead of a systemic racism issue in schools. However, I think it is important to understand how she sees the issue of poverty and trauma being the underlying main issues. I think she meant that due to poverty and trauma, the Indigenous communities suffer from racism however, the main issue is poverty and trauma which has led these communities to be vulnerable and taken advantage of over the decades. I think that poverty and trauma is an important aspect to look at when examining Indigenous communities because there are many families that live in poverty and intergenerational trauma has been passed on to generations; the effects that we are seeing now.
After reading the SD57 report, there were some highlighting points that come to mind. I like that the report acknowledges the biases of Indigenous students and how educators did not expect Indigenous students to graduate with a full dogwood.
My role as an educator, I plan on trying to understand the views of all Indigenous members who actively speak out about their thoughts on the SD 57 report. I will try to incorporate ways to address trauma and suffering. With standard 9 in mind, I will do my best to incorporate Indigenous learning in my classroom and focus on fostering and nurturing the connectedness of relationships within the classroom. From the beginning of the year, I’d like to instill First Peoples Learning principles in my classroom and refer to them often; allowing students to reflect on the principles during lessons.
