Explain:
I must admit that it is hard to fully explain what I have learned from the module, so to do this I’ll try and explain what my point of view is after the past week’s module. From where I stand, truly knowing anything requires connecting it with how we live our lives. To really understand anything we must feel some connection to it in some way. In the Indigenous way of knowing, this means that whatever you learn must fit you’re your worldview somehow – if it doesn’t, then you can’t comprehend it. From the Western science view, you must understand the various parts to make up the whole. In science things must be proven, but in traditional knowledge things must be felt to be understood.
As a learner I think I fit in better on the traditional side of the scale. I think of things first how they fit into the bigger picture and then go from there. If I can understand the whole thing and see how something fits in, it is easier for me to understand the small part and its significance. However, if someone can fully grasp both ways of knowing, then they have a much deeper understanding of the concept that goes beyond the surface and into the cultural and spiritual aspects as well. It is that understanding that I think we all seek.
Extend:
As at teacher I always look at ways to use what I learn to help my students. It would be nice to show the videos from Teacher’s Domain to some of my students and colleagues, but the computer filters at my school make it impossible (I can’t watch any video, I have to leave the school to find a computer that will work). I think what I will use the most from this is a simple awareness that if I want my students to really grasp a concept; maybe I should try and get them to see it from more than a Western Science-centered point of view. The more connections a person has with anything, the better they understand it. I can bring in elders to explain the importance of salmon in their culture and spiritual history and make a completely different set of connections that when I teach external anatomy and life cycle. Each set of connections is different, but each is vital for my students to have if I want them to truly understand the importance of the resource that they will inherit as future Alaskans.
Evaluate:
This module was good for me for the reasons that I explained above – in this day and age with mandatory testing, reporting, standards, etc, we are always driven to teach things that we can quantify in hard and measurable data. I know that as a teacher I feel the push to teach things that I can test for, and therefore prove competency in. Unfortunately, many of the traditional values are not quantifiable, or testable, or tangible, and therefore are pushed to the back burner and sometimes forgotten outright. If I want to serve my students then I need to take into account that those ways of knowing are just as important to fully understanding a concept even though I cannot test for them. My scores will probably suffer, but my students will be more successful learners. Ultimately, that’s why I’m here.
I enjoyed reading your views about the module. I agree that it can be difficult to always think about the values when you are thinking about the many other things teachers have to. I do think though that it is important to integrate the different areas along with the different perspectives. An idea I came up with that you could do is using stories from Native perspectives in a reading or language arts class. You could also do a unit on subsistence living that would incorporate both views for science or social studies. You could also talk about fish and count them or do some sort of mathematics activity with students. Along with these ideas maybe just simply having elders come into your classroom and sharing information.
ReplyDeleteTyler,
ReplyDeleteYou hit the most important piece: one must have a context for new knowledge in order to learn it. It can be tough to engage our students, especially those who have never been Outside. There aren't many (any") text books that are based in the Alaskan context. Instead it is all about life in the lower 48. The kids miss out when teachers can't make examples in an Alaskan context.
"My scores will probably suffer, but my students will be more successful learners." In the current times, the scores are have the most value to the district. But what do these scores truly mean to our students. I think that creating successful learner will also increase your scores in the long run.
ReplyDeleteI have had a lot of fun this year think of ways that my students can learn by doing. Whether it’s observing the actions of stream erosion by looking at a small stream running into the inlet or making a mummy, learning by doing it definitely the way to go! They will remember those activities much longer than #1-4 on p 205.
ReplyDelete