Department:
Language and Literacy Education
Project lead:
Dr. Kathryn Accurso
Project members:
Robin Anderson, Kathryn Accurso
Reflection:
What led you to your project/what inspired your work?
Our project is inspired by the ideas of inquiry, interaction, and intersectionality. We work with the TELL-3C cohort, a problem-based learning cohort within the B.Ed. program that engages in 10 two-week cycles of interactive small-group inquiry throughout their course of study. At the beginning of each two-week inquiry cycle, our teacher candidates review a “case,” or real-world scenario written from the perspective of a K-7 educator. Subsequently, they unpack the case to identify important educational issues, and then design, carry out, and present their inquiries into these issues and the ways they intersect in classroom practice.
However, over the last two years, we observed that the existing case set did not necessarily cue many teacher candidates to explore themes of decolonizing education, teaching Indigenous learners across the content areas, weaving First Peoples Principles of Learning (FPPL) into lesson plans, and incorporating meaningful Indigenous content into their teaching. And in many practicum observations, we noticed a similar lack of intentionality in understanding or enacting these aspects of teaching and learning. For example, we often saw teacher candidates reference one or more FPPL in their written lesson plans but not ever mention or weave them into their enactment of the lesson plan.
So, on the one hand, this project is about enhancing the TELL-3C curriculum to better support teacher candidates in thoroughly planning and conducting inquiries into teaching through a lens of Indigeneity and decolonization. In this vein, we hope to make stronger connections between the work teacher candidates do in EDUC 440, to help integrate and extend learning and discussions from that course into teacher candidates’ inquiries and teaching methods. On the other hand, we also hoped to design some materials to support instructors in guiding and assessing teacher candidates’ efforts.
Currently, we are focusing our project efforts on revising the case set based on input from multiple Indigenous educators and creating an updated feedback/evaluation tool for case inquiries. In doing so, we are taking a page from cohort founder Margot Filipenko, who argued in her 2016 book that the nature of teacher candidates’ learning in the TELL-3C model depends on: (1) the quality and timeliness of the cases presented to them; (2) the ways UBC instructors and mentors guide teacher candidates to notice and pursue areas of inquiry; and (3) the nature of feedback they receive on their inquiry projects, presentations, and connections to classroom practice.
What have you learned so far?
We have learned that a project like this takes patience and time and requires lots of reflection and rich conversation with Indigenous educators. Regarding revisions to our case set, we have learned to be very intentional about the language choices we are making and the implications they might have for different readers. Regarding the practice of guiding teacher candidates’ learning, through reflection, we have noticed that we routinely ask teacher candidates to explore Indigenous perspectives, knowledges, and pedagogies, and what it might look like to decolonize their developing practice. However, we see that while teacher candidates can often talk about these issues, they need more help and understanding to be able to put them into practice. We know that schools have a responsibility to ensure that Indigenous histories, perspectives, and worldviews are accurately and respectfully conveyed to all learners. However, we continue to learn about how we can support teacher candidates in taking up Indigenous histories, content, and perspectives in all areas of the curriculum, as well as teaching through Indigenous ways of knowing and making sure our guidance in unpacking case issues reflects this.
Where do you plan to go?
So far, we have revised half of our case set to add elements and stories to cue inquiry into issues of Indigeneity and decolonization that impact classroom teaching and leaning everyday. We hope these inquiries will give our teacher candidates a perspective they will be able to bring into their classrooms and share with their students and school advisors. Next, we plan to continue partnering with Indigenous educators who can share their experiences and knowledge with us to help us complete the case set and a feedback/evaluation tool that reflects the expectation that consideration of Indigeneity and/or colonial bias checks be part of teacher candidates’ inquiry processes.
Additionally, we had hoped to prepare a short guide to be used by faculty inquiry mentors for the cohort as they support teacher candidates in engaging with aspects of Indigeneity and decolonization in their inquiry process. However, due to a change in our project team, we have not been able to create this.