[
[
I wanted to examine , in a more formal way , the lived experiences of Aboriginal students in order to provide context and interpretation to the statistics . ~ Heather Findlay
research process itself have been invaluable to my growth as a teacher as they have allowed me to critically reflect upon myself and my practice . Now that I have a better understanding of the lived experiences of my Aboriginal students , I am better able to meet their needs . I can further share my understandings with my colleagues as well as with preservice teachers when they come into the school for internship experiences . My work has allowed me to investigate the effects of colonialism today , and I have come to understand how the processes of education further reproduce systems of dominance and marginalization . Now I can work to dismantle these processes along with other Allies .
4
What do you hope your research might accomplish in the field of education ?
I believe my research is applicable for different groups in education : from pre-service teachers to faculty and to those working at the Ministry , school board , and division office levels . The research is relevant because , as stated previously , the stories from the five participants provide context to the statistics . As well , because each of these groups is involved in education in some form , each needs to become aware of the effects of colonization in schools and work to decolonize education in their context .
5
Was it difficult to achieve your research goals ? How did you overcome obstacles ( if any ), whether personal or professional ?
It was not difficult to achieve my goals because I had the support of so many people . First , I had an amazing supervisor , Dr . Jennifer Tupper , who was always available as a sounding board for ideas and potential problems throughout the process . As well , the feedback from my committee members , Dr . Ken Montgomery and Dr . Janice Huber , was helpful in causing me to think deeply and critically about methodology , theoretical framework , and to determine if I was perpetuating discourses of dominance through my work . In addition , I had the support of my colleagues at Regina Public Schools who allowed me to conduct my research in their schools as well as provide me with the support to allow me to teach full-time while perusing my graduate work . Finally , the support of my family and friends was invaluable .
An Excerpt From Heather ’ s Thesis
I think that all of this history needs to be turned into Canada ’ s history . Not Native American history …. We ’ re separate but we ’ re the same country but we ’ re separate . And I don ’ t understand . There ’ s Native American history and then there ’ s Canadian history . And they ’ re kept different . Even though residential schools and Native Americans being here before Christopher Columbus and all of this is Canada ’ s history . And it ’ s kept different right now . Is that when people teach it , they still keep it different . They keep it separate …. I feel like a lot of Canadians don ’ t take into the matter that residential schools is our history . Not just Native American ’ s history …. But people need to just understand that this fact happened . And it ’ s not going away if you just ignore it . Because it ’ s issues going down and down generations …. And people , who keep these separate , the Canadian history and Native American history separate , they are ignorant ( Toni , May 2013 , p . 8-9 ).
In her statement , Toni recognizes the partial history of the country that is presented in social studies classes . Her concern is supported by Razack ( 2002 ) who notes that the Canadian national story told in educational institutions “ has largely rested on the idea that peoples of European origin are the country ’ s original citizens and the ones who are largely responsible for its development ” ( p . 199 ). Consequently , Toni is calling for teachers to acknowledge the ways in which Canadians and the Canadian government have oppressed Aboriginal peoples in the past and to rewrite the history of Canada to include Aboriginal peoples . Her appeal echoes the participant in St . Denis ’ ( 2010 ) study who called for teachers to “ teach Aboriginal content as Canadian content ” ( p . 29 ). Additionally , Toni ’ s sentiment echoes the requests from the Aboriginal students in Kanu ’ s ( 2002 ) study who maintained the curriculum should include Aboriginal perspectives , histories or traditions , and interests , all of which have been largely denied to them in the school system . Tupper and Cappello ( 2008 ) support Toni ’ s beliefs about the separation of social studies from Native Studies noting that the separation of the two classes further marginalizes the lives and experiences of Aboriginal peoples . Donald ( 2004 ) similarly agrees remarking that the tendency to separate the stories of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples in the school curriculum is “ one symptom of the legacies of colonialism and paternalism that have characterized schools and Canadian society ” ( p . 23 ).
Supervisor : Dr . Jennifer Tupper Committee : Dr . Ken Montgomery and Dr . Janice Huber External Examiner : Dr . Dwayne Donald ( University of Alberta ) Defended : April 3 , 2014 �
Faculty of Education Education News Fall 2014 / Winter 2015 Page 7