Author:
After reading the stories, I have a new understanding of how to facilitate the indigenization of the curriculum. In general, the definition of a curriculum contains both content and process aspects. Through reading the story of Fiona and Edward, I have realized the importance of updating the content of Indigenous-related teaching. If I had the opportunity to teach, I would pay attention to the latest research progress in indigenous languages, customs, and cultures, and incorporate the latest research findings into my teaching instead of using outdated materials. In terms of the curriculum process, the teacher is the most important implementer of the curriculum, so the teacher’s own indigenous cultural literacy is very crucial. When teachers have studied and sympathetically understood indigenous cultures, they can sympathize with indigenous students and teach indigenous cultures lively in the process of curriculum implementation. This is what I have earned from Shelly’s story. Therefore, teachers need to build self-awareness that they have to learn about Indigenous culture to improve their classes. China is also undergoing cultural assimilation and rethinking, and I would like to use language as an example. Many dialects are on the verge of disappearing everywhere in order to promote Mandarin which is the Chinese official language. In the 1990s, the government promoted Mandarin and required students not to speak the dialect at school. In Shanghai in the 1990s, many students could not speak Shanghainese. Later, the government realized that it had to protect the dialect and launched a series of initiatives. For example, it broadcasted dialect programs and dialect news on television and offered dialect elective courses in schools.
To me, “all my relations” means everyone and everything in the world. I believe everything is connected. Some are explicit connections, in the case of people, the explicit connections are family, friends, teachers, classmates, and coworkers. Hidden connections are strangers on the street, community workers you’ve only met once, etc. The interactions that occur in these relationships have an impact on people. Therefore, I think as a teacher, it is quite important to treat every student sincerely and friendly. Because a teacher’s behaviour will affect a child’s day or even life.
Reference
Howe, E. R., Johnson, S., & Te Momo, F. (2021). Effective indigenization of curriculum in Canada and New Zealand: Towards culturally responsive pedagogies. Journal of Contemporary Issues in Education, 16(1).