Page 14 | Spring 2022
Photo credit: Shuana Niessen
to feel brave within themselves, empowered within themselves, that they can do whatever they please, no matter who they are. Who they are and what they look like should not even be a consideration. They should feel like they have the strength and support, everything they need to go out into the world and do it at their best capacity."
How cultures are represented in school also matters to Kiah. For instance, she says, " With Indigenous learning, we focus so much on the trauma and I think it is really important history, but as much as we are focusing on that, we need to focus on the brilliance behind those cultures. We are learning about death and broken promises every semester in every other class, which is really important for history, but I think it needs to be paired with the beauty and all of the amazing things that come with the Indigenous culture. Every culture is so much more than what happened to them, it’ s how they rose from it." This is wisdom she acquired from her bi-racial uncle who is from Ocean Man First Nation.
Making a difference, changing the world, empowering others: these are the reasons behind Kiah ' s decision to become a teacher. " I realized my true ' why ' behind teaching is that teachers have the power to literally alter the beliefs of society, change the world, and that is simply done through love. When we are leading from a place of love in
" Teachers have the power to literally alter the beliefs of society, change the world, and that
www2. uregina. ca / education / news