Indigenous Education and Pedagogy

INDIGENOUS EDUCATION AND PEDAGOGY

Perspectives from OECTA’s First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Work Group

By Tesa Fiddler

I am the Indigenous Education Resource Teacher for the Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board. My family has been living and working in this city, which is situated on the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe people of Fort William First Nation and within the Robinson Superior 1850 Treaty area, for nearly 20 years. I am from Kitchinuhmaykoosib Inninuwug and Muskrat Dam First Nation, which are remote northern Ontario communities. I also consider Onigaming First Nation home. This is my father’s traditional territory. I knew when I was in high school that I wanted to work with children in schools.

It was also in high school where my struggles with education formally began. I had to leave my family and home at the age of 12 to attend high school, because the school in my community only went to Grade 8. I was fortunate that I had a teacher who was relocating back to the city with his family and offered to board/billet me while I was in school. That fall, I moved from my small northern community to Markham, Ontario. It was an absolute shock! I went from a community of about 600 people to a school more than twice that population. I made it through the first year with only two visits with my mother and siblings. I vividly recall the incredible loneliness.

I moved closer to home (only 600 km away instead of 2000 km) for the following years, but continued to struggle with many sad feelings. The reason that I wanted to work with children is because there were certain individuals in my schools that I truly believe kept me alive. School was not a space where I felt I belonged. I knew that I wanted to go back to help create safe spaces for students like me.

I am honoured and privileged to have had many opportunities to work directly with students and families who live in similar situations. Currently, my role is to support educators with incorporating Indigenous content into their classroom practice and curriculum. I am really excited to work with my fellow members on OECTA’s First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Work Group.

Indigenous education must be a priority in our schools. As educators, we have the opportunity to be conductors of building respectful relationships and reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students, their families, and communities. Our country has a difficult and often dark history with regard to the Indigenous experience. Many people, including myself, still live with the impact of colonization and government policies such as the Indian Act and the residential school system. We have a lot of work to do, but I truly believe that collectively, as educators, we can make great changes. In the wise words of Senator Murray Sinclair, Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, “Education is what got us into this mess, and education is what will get us out. Education is the key to reconciliation.”