Today I was blessed to be a part of the Lhulh’uts’ut’en, We Come Together, virtual Indigenous professional development day put together by School District 57. I want to acknowledge that I am living and learning on the unceded traditional territory of the Lheidli T’enneh First Nations. I also want to respectfully recognize and acknowledge the unceded traditional First Nation territories the multiple presenters came from today as well. I tuned in first thing in the morning from my couch, coffee in hand, to listen to the Lheidli T’enneh welcome, opening remarks and drumming. I really enjoyed their first keynote speaker, Dr. Dustin Louie, from the Nee Thai Behn and Nadleh Whut’en of the Carrier Nation. He spoke very eloquently about BC’s curriculum shifts towards including Indigenous worldview and ways of knowing. He expressed that it was our responsibility, as teachers and teacher candidates, to educate all student identities. The purpose of incorporating Indigenous world view is not to single out Indigenous students, it is meant to educate all students because everyone has a role to play in order to decolonize our education paradigm. This statement was so significant to me because it made me realize how pertinent it will be to explain to my students why it is important we learn and incorporate Indigenous worldview. It is for everyones benefit, and it will be my job to create an environment that supports all of my students because each student has different needs in order to become their most successful self. I will need to take on decolonizing approaches in my classroom, and Dr. Dustin Louie provided many resources and support for these necessary changes to our current education system.

I also want to discuss one of the sessions I had in the morning with the lovely Maureen Dockendorf and Denise Augustine. Their session was titled Changing Results for Indigenous Children (Early years-Grade 3). Their intentions were to integrate Indigenous pedagogy, First Peoples Principles of Learning (FPPL) and Changing Results for Young Children (CR4YC) into early learning environments. Ultimately, they were figuring out the best ways to Indigenize the CR4YC framework and curriculum content. They wanted to change what it meant to be an Indigenous learner by making all of us Indigenous learners. The biggest piece I took away from their session was this idea of a ‘Wonder Child’. We were asked to think of an Indigenous child that we ‘wondered’ about. ‘Wondering’ about children keeps educators engaged with their students progress, development and success. If we are not ‘wondering’ or questioning how a child is doing in our classroom, we are doing that child a disservice. By ‘wondering’ about a child, we deepen our practice of observing children as well as open a door to help them succeed.  Educators need to be aware of how their students are doing and ‘wondering’ how we can either improve their learning or challenge their learning. I found this idea extremely helpful, especially with our upcoming observational practicums this block. While observing a classroom, at the back of my mind, I will be ‘wondering’ about each and every child I see or encounter. I will ‘wonder’ how they are doing, physically, mentally, emotionally, and do my best to enhance their learning experiences. It is important to ‘wonder’ in order to personalize a child’d learning, because not all children are the same. Each child presents their own strengths and gifts, and it will be my job to recognize those strengths in order to support their weaknesses.

I really enjoyed attending the professional development day and everything We Come Together had to offer for us teacher candidates. It made me recognize I have so much more to learn about Indigenous worldview and that there are many areas in western education ideologies to disrupt and places to enhance. Luu amhl good’y! (my heart is happy, in Gitxsanimx)