Reading Response 1

The article I read is titled Aboriginal Students Engaging and Struggling with Critical Multiliteracies by Pirbhai Illich. The article begins with some history on aboriginal education. The desire of the National Indian Brotherhood of Canada was for their people to have a strong sense of identity and the proper training to survive in modern society. Illich goes on to discuss the still colonial worldview that negatively effects the education of all Canadians, not just the First Nations people. This negative worldview influences the way the students learn and their self perceived identities. In turn, this negatively affects many aspects of the students’ lives including not only how they learn in school but how they view education and how they work within the education system.

Illich discusses her study that took place in a 7-8 split class in an alternative school for students with social, legal and abuse issues. The idea of the school is to help the students re-enter mainstream school, and although this is often the case, many of the students do not continue on to graduate. Illich worked with the 7-8 split teacher to research ways to engage the students. I chose this article because of its real life applications. The study was done in a city the size of Regina, in an area many people can identify with. It seems that the description of the students, their interaction and the school/program itself will likely match a school I will teach at in the future. This article not only highlights the successes but also the failed attempts at engaging the students. I found the end result to be particularly interesting and that is what I will be focusing on.

The author of this article can connect with the students. She is from a colonized country and studies postcolonial issues similar to the ones the students deal with every day. This contributes to why I chose this article. The writing is believable and the reasoning for the research is justified. It truly feels as if Illich actually cares about what she is doing. When her first attempt at engaging the students failed, she was prepared with a second method. She first tried to have the students connect to their historical and cultural roots by interviewing an elder about residential schools, but the students found this to be boring. Illich and the teacher, Jean, had the right intention, but they were unable to engage the students with this activity. Illich convinced Jean to allow for the students to have some input on the assignment, and this yielded the best results. It was obvious that Jean was uncomfortable, but Illich pushed her and it resulted in significant growth on the part of both the students and faculty.

As a pre-service teacher, Illich’s approaches cause me some discomfort. The first approach seemed logical and well thought out. There was some pre-interview work that would make the interview easier. The idea of interviewing an elder utilizes many ways that First Nations people traditionally learn (as mentioned in the article) such as storytelling and communicating with the elders. As I read about this I had high hopes for the activity. My grandmother, an elder in our community, passed away this summer before I had a chance to speak with her about her time in the residential schools. I believe that it is something that needs to be recorded from the First Nations point of view. This side of the story needs to be told, not just the European side of the story. When the students had no interest in this topic it made me angry. This was my least favourite part about the article. The students demonstrated that they had no respect for their history, the teacher (Jean) or the process. They were also disrespectful in the way that they protested. This and the way that Jean dealt with the problem made me feel uncomfortable. As a pre-service teacher I have very little experience with dealing with conflict. I’m not sure I would have been able to handle the situation any better than Jean did. I feel discomfort and embarrassment that, as a pre-service teacher with a First Nations background, I would be unable to solve these problems or identify with these students any better than Jean did. The inability to solve all problems, although unrealistic, is something that makes me feel deeply uncomfortable.

What I liked about the article and research of Illich is that she doesn’t give up there. She pushes Jean out of her comfort zone and, after requesting permission, proposes a new and bold activity. She allows the students to talk and work with taboo topics such as gang activity and substance use. The students had expressed interest in these topics in the past. Being allowed to work with them engaged the students, providing a connection to the school work. It also helped that the students were encouraged to help design the parameters of the assignment. The students were able to use multiple medias that they didn’t have access to at home (an interest that was expressed earlier in the classroom) while working with multiliteracies as well. They were able to do something they found interesting and comfortable.

As soon as the students were able to have input they were engaged. As soon as they were engaged they were learning and improving at higher rates than they had in the past. Although the project may not have been directly linked to the curriculum, and it wasn’t exactly school appropriate, Illich and Jean took a risk and by doing so were able to improve the literacy levels up to five grade levels. They were able to help the students make a connection to school and with their own identities. This may have helped the students renew/gain faith in the schooling system that until then had let them down. Although the students didn’t learn what they were required to, they learned about themselves and technology while simultaneously improving literacy and research skills which will drastically affect their futures in both the alternative and mainstream schooling systems.

I believe I could learn from any discomfort that this scenario would cause me. The project would undoubtedly have content that I am not familiar with, but this is not reason enough to fear proceeding. It is obvious that, with the proper guidelines, there is something for the students to learn from the project. They could have learned more about identity and culture, but the fact that their literacy levels quadrupled and their skill set and exposure with technology enhanced is reason enough to except the challenge.

As far as learning about how the curriculum addresses the needs of First Nations people, I don’t think I gained much knowledge from this article. What I did learn was that it is sometimes necessary to go against the grain to accomplish what you set out to do. If Illich had not been in the class, Jean would most likely have continued teaching in a way that was not working for her students. Illich taught me two things: It is ok to push the boundaries/take chances and trust outside opinions (as long as the opinions have some validity to them). Something to explore is how well Illich’s idea would work in a mainstream school with a similar functionality. Were Illich and Jean granted special authorization to proceed with this assignment because it was revolutionary, or because it was being conducted at an alternative school? I think it would be interesting to work with someone like Illich, both for her professional certifications and cultural background. There would be much to learn from someone in her position.