When picking a subject for my action plan, the number one thing that stuck out to me was decolonizing the classroom. This is such a huge issue that we as teachers face every single day. Our system is so entwined with eurocentric views it simply ignores the greater community within the classroom. My goal was to slowly decolonize the classroom to create a better learning environment for all students from different backgrounds. As an Indigenous woman, my goal was to bring my teachings into the school to showcase my culture and its value. Having students go on a learning journey to find their history together, we would learn cultural teachings from each student’s origin. This project was done in conjunction with my inquiry assignment for my prosocial behaviour class and has been an ongoing research project. My learning has taken so many twists and turns along the way, and it has shaped my main focus in the end. My goal is always to find realistic ways to achieve my big ideas and praxis attainably. Here is an excerpt from my reflection for my Prosocial behaviour class.
“ I think the most important thing I have learned so far si to expect the unexpected. I came into this project with this big idea of decolonizing the classroom as my main goal, and although that is still something I fully believe in, it is hard to entirely do that when we are so tied to eurocentric views of teaching. As my inquiry has gone on, I have evolved into how to create a culturally respective classroom. However, I have been doing a deep dive into the importance of representation in the books we read, our videos, and our supplies. My main question is still rooted in creating a multicultural classroom but has taken lots of twists and turns into new ideas. I think allowing flexibility is important and recognizing that learning isn’t a straight course. When I initially chose this topic, I wanted to focus on Indigenous issues because, as an Indigenous person, I felt uncomfortable within the classroom before, disrespected, underappreciated, and like my cultural teachings were worthless. However, I neglected to acknowledge the many children in my class who sat beside me who may have felt the same way. We need all students to feel represented, so they feel heard and comfortable. I will focus on finding ways for our learning to depict the classroom community we have accurately. This project has made me passionate about evaluating all aspects of the classroom and its messages to our students. Incorporating culturally responsive and respectful alternatives will be key going forward.”
I then created a document that provides various resources to use in our classroom that showcases the diverse community we have here in Victoria. My goal was to have every student in a classroom feel like they can be the main character in a story. These books showcase various skin tones, ethnicities, sexual identities, socio-economic backgrounds, and many other attributes. The classroom library and the resources we share should depict the community we have in the classroom. This may seem like a simple step, but its impact on our students is immense.