Reflective Record: Walking the Path of Reconciliation

Dawn Burleigh's FNMI studies workshop was not only informative, but also enlightening. Dawn

Burleigh's presentation was incredibly powerful, even though I was largely familiar with violent

colonial history of FNMI peoples going into the workshop. The blanket activity painted such a

visceral picture that it breathed life back into past events that still resonate today. The challenges

to aboriginal youth, especially in terms of education, was also somewhat of a revelation to me. I

understood that aboriginal youth often experience more difficulty in school due largely to

socioeconomic factors and the ongoing ramifications of residential schooling, however I never

realized that reserve schools are not only federally funded, but receive considerably less funding

than their provincial counterparts. Schools, unheated, and infested with mice are not conducive

to a safe learning environment. This is not opinion. This is not speculation. No, this is firsthand

account of the conditions that contemporary aboriginal students have had to endure, but endure

they have. Creating awareness of issues such as these is the first step in reconciling a world of

wrongs and atrocities but nowhere near the last. I also greatly appreciated how Dawn had us

incorporate Truth Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action objectives and the FNMI Teaching

Quality Standard into different disciplines and curriculums. This integration of FNMI subject

matter allowed me to see theory turned into practice. Prior to this workshop I had no familiarity

or understanding of the TRC Calls to Action or the FNMI TQS, but by the end I had taken note

of some of the main goals and recommendations of that piece of writing all of which I plan to

exercise and revise my teaching philosophy accordingly. Specifically, I will use various

programs of study to allow all student s to develop understanding and empathy concerning FNMI

peoples and the marginalization they have been subject to. I will also implement many quality

FNMI resources across different curriculums. These are both in concurrence with actually
teaching the implications of colonization, historically and contemporarily, in creative and

resounding ways.

KSA (7) Students needs for physical, social, cultural, and psychological security.
KSA (18) Using gathered information about students learning needs and progress to improve
instruction.