Sarah Wright and Allicia Hood
We can imagine our future students walking up to us one day
“Teacher, what’s the point of everything we learn?” They’ll say
We will reply, “It’s in the curriculum,
we as teachers have to obey the system.
Most of it was created by a lot of old white guys
teachers and students are just forced to comply.
There are different types such as formal, Null, and hidden.
Some of these curriculums aren’t even written.
To you, the curriculum seems like everything we teach,
but really there’s more than that in each.
We cater to the Christian, able-bodied, white male
any other culture/person we deem as stale.
That’s why the curriculum doesn’t benefit them.
For example, have you gone to the Ministry’s website to look for the Treaty Ed. section?
It’s at the bottom, it’s very hard to see.”
“Why teach that if it doesn’t look like it matters to me?”
“But it does because it’s part of Canada’s history.
That’s just what they want you to feel:
like anything other than the European commonsense doesn’t appeal.
However, ignoring our problems won’t make them go away.
Without a doubt, Treaty Education is here to stay.
Furthermore, we are all treaty people,
but I guess it is hard to treat everyone equal.
We can’t explain First Nation’s culture as teachers.
What we can do is highlight the history features.
Reinhabitation is not needed for decolonization.
We need to unite as a nation.
Oh! Did we mention not to cause any trouble?
If so, you could make your prison sentence double.
You need to show up, do your work, and pay attention.
It’s less about your comprehension.
In school, we turn you into a good citizen.
Show us that you have discipline.
If you do more, well, that’s great!
But all we want to do is give you a grade.
Schools try to do the bare minimum.
If you’re a personally responsible citizen, that’s good enough for them.
They’ll say: ‘There’s not enough time to dive into deeper issues, everyone.
There are more important things that need to get done.’”
“Hey teacher, what about our voice?”
“We can’t change the curriculum document, we don’t have a choice
Sorry, the assignments don’t change,
Since there’s no room to rearrange.
They are made for the ‘good student’
However, we as teachers need to be more prudent
John Dewey had an idea brewing
Unlike the traditional perspectives/theorists, he said ‘learning is doing’
We discovered that education is not something which the teacher does
It’s a natural process that happens just because”
“So, we don’t get to have our voices heard?”
“No, after the government, and teachers you come in third”
Through it seems we have moved past curriculum as product
It is still something that we still instruct
Within every classroom, there is a process
That students and teachers have to address
You can learn from everything we do
You just have to apply it too
Using concepts such as life-long learning, becoming engaging citizens and building a sense of self and community
However, there are other ways to learn these things, we guarantee
You can learn in or out of school
There is no golden rule
This is why it’s important for reflections to be done
We make connections to students, it’s not all just fun”
“What happens to the students who don’t fit the perfect model?”
“They’re on their own because we don’t have time to coddle.
For instance, Math is used all over the planet
It is seen as a ‘universal language’ but there is more to it.
We assume that everyone understands our thinking,
but our methods are not cross-linking.
Some cultures do not use base ten
Or solve math problems with a paper and pen.
If people use their fingers and toes,
they can count to numbers just like those. (Point to a number line).
The books we read impact the thoughts we think.
Consequently, it makes our worldviews shrink.
Students need to be exposed to more than a single story.
So that we don’t put different cultures in a category.
A lot of what is written in the curriculum is not necessarily correct,” we say,
“We need to use more than one teaching strategy each day.
That way we will not oppress.
Instead, we will ensure our students’ success.”
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