On September 25th the UNBC teacher candidates were so kindly invited to join in during the SD57 Indigenous Professional Development Day. Although it was all online via Zoom, we were given so many wonderful learning opportunities to better our practice and decolonize our teaching. The keynote speakers at this event were Dr. Dustin Louie and Dr. Niigaanwewidam Sinclair. They were both so knowledgeable and did such an amazing job presenting their thoughts and ideas to the SD57 community. The biggest thing that stood out from the keynote session was when Dr. Sinclair began his presentation with a statement suggesting that if you are not willing to be inclusive towards Indigenous peoples and change your mindset, you are unemployable. Although very blunt and kind of unnerving, it is 100% true. We as educators and even just as PEOPLE need to be loving and caring towards ALL. This really aligns with my philosophy that states that love needs to be at the centre of teaching. Loving each and every student for who they are, despite ethnicity, worldview, culture, religion, etc.
Another wonderful presentation that I had the privilege of listening to was one by Dory Himmalspach. We learned how to incorporate Indigenous stories into the classroom through puppetry! This was such a fun and informative presentation as it taught us how we can better Indigenize our lessons. I think it was super important as it gave us educators so many different tools that we can utilize for a range of different elementary grades. I am so excited to incorporate this style of teaching into my lessons so I can better incorporate the First Peoples Principals of Learning and Standard 9 into my teaching and my own learning!
I feel so blessed that I had the opportunity to come together with so many different educators to learn and develop my practice. Thank you SD57 and UNBC for allowing me to be a part of this incredible day of learning!
