Educators respect and value the history of First Nations, Inuit and Métis in Canada and the impact of the past on the present and the future. Educators contribute towards truth, reconciliation and healing. Educators foster a deeper understanding of ways of knowing and being, histories and cultures of First Nations, Inuit and Métis.

Educators critically examine their own biases, attitudes, beliefs, values and practices to facilitate change. Educators value and respect the languages, heritages, cultures and ways of knowing and being of First Nations, Inuit and Métis. Educators understand the power of focusing on connectedness and relationships to oneself, family, community and the natural world. Educators integrate First Nations, Inuit and Métis worldviews and perspectives into learning environments.

Standard Nine Artifact:

My artifact for Standard Nine is the project I completed for EDU 446: Aboriginal and Indigenous Education: Epistemology. In this standard it states that “Educators contribute towards truth, reconciliation and healing.” and I was inspired by the medicine wheel as a visual representation for these things. When I was learning about the medicine wheel, I also found different connections to teaching, my personal pedagogy and the ways that I have grown as a teacher candidate throughout this program.

Title: Growth and Connection

Purpose:

In EDUC 446 we talked about how the medicine wheel represents wholeness, inclusiveness and cycles of life (Fraser, Nov 2023, Slide 2). The purpose of this piece is to represent the ways that I have grown throughout this program and the goals and dreams that I have for my future classrooms. I want to create an inclusive space, that celebrates diversity and fosters the health and well-being of students.

Structure:

The medicine wheel is a circle, divided into four quadrants. The circle is important because it represents the circle of life, the circle of self-awareness and the circle of knowledge (Rose, 2022). The four aspects of life (emotional, spiritual, physical and intellectual) are deeply interconnected, a concept that is also important for us to recognize as teachers building our practice. As a science and math teacher, I want to remember the importance of the interconnectedness within our world and the beauty of blending Indigenous and Western knowledge. I want to be a teacher with a holistic practice that supports the interconnected aspects of my student’s well-being as well as the interconnectedness of the knowledge I am sharing. In this program, we often developed community through the use of sharing circles, a sacred tradition that highlights equality, interconnectedness and collaboration from each member (Fraser, Oct 2023).

Methods Used:

I tried to follow proper collection methods when assembling my materials for this model. When I was out in nature I did my collecting bit by bit, from different locations over the course of a year. I also made sure not to collect anything that would harm plants or the surrounding environment. Once the pieces were collected, I carefully pressed them and then saved them for assembly. This project is truly an accumulation from my days in this program and I love being able to point out things that were collected at different points in the last year.

Skills:

This is a project that could be done by anyone with the patience and determination to collect plants in the four colours of the medicine wheel. Many of the flowers were grown in my mother’s garden for this project and I spent time out on the land in order to find some of the different plants that can be seen. I had to form a plan early on so that I had time to collect fall leaves in 2023 and slowly press and find flowers and other plants through the summer.

Design:

I liked the Indigenous medicine wheel as a template for my model because I feel that connection to mind, body, spirit and emotion is deeply important as educators. It is also important to encourage and foster the health of these things in our students. I wanted something simple, and open to interpretation by anyone who looked at it. I also wanted to show my strong connection to land, especially the places that are very important to me. I love that the plants that make up this project carry many memories with them.

Application:

The pedagogy for this program is people, place and land. I began collecting plants for this piece last fall when we began the program and throughout the last year, I have collected plants that represent the people, places and lands that are meaningful to me. I have grown a lot through the program and this model also represents the ways that I have changed and grown as a person and teacher candidate.

I would love to put this piece up in a classroom one day to inspire myself to remember the importance of balance, interconnectedness and well-being (for myself and my students). I hope that it will continue to remind me of the nine standards, the FPPL and the nine Rs that are central to my personal pedagogy and goals for my future classrooms.

References:

Fraser, T. (2023, October 9). Aboriginal and Indigenous Philosophy [PowerPoint presentation]. EDUC 446, Prince George, BC, Canada. 

Fraser, T. (2023, November 23 10). The Concept of the Medicine Wheel: Heart, Soul, Mind, and Body [PowerPoint presentation]. EDUC 446, Prince George, BC, Canada. 

Mashford-Pringle, A., & Shawanda, A. (2023). Using the Medicine Wheel as theory, conceptual framework, analysis, and evaluation tool in health research. SSM – Qualitative Research in Health, 3, 100251. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmqr.2023.100251

Rose, M. (2022, November 12). The Indigenous Medicine Wheel. Tribal Trade. https://tribaltradeco.com/blogs/medicine-wheel/medicine-wheel-teachings-native-medicine-wheel-system-explained

Tribes—Native Voices. (n.d.). Retrieved September 4, 2024, from https://www.nlm.nih.gov/nativevoices/exhibition/healing-ways/medicine-ways/medicine-wheel.html