Do You Know a Teacher?

Okay, this is me attempting something new again. Recently I gave a speech and it was a really important speech, at least to me, because I was speaking to educators. I was speaking to administrators and teachers that were tasked with working with Indigenous students, especially in the northern remote communities. And I wanted. I knew the pressure to assimilate within the education system is huge. And I knew that depending on who's in charge, it could be even worse. I also knew there would be a lot of Indigenous teachers in the audience and I wanted to speak to them in a way that I knew they would understand even if the others didn't. Today, I want to share that speech with you because I think it is that important. And I'm going to use my notes because even though I don't do that in, in real life, because I want to replicate it as closely as possible. So let's talk about it. Sam. Quain, addition. Hi everybody. My name is Sandy Boucher. I'm Red Thunderbolt, woman of the Loon clan, a proud member of Sane River First Nation in Treaty 3 Territory in Northern Ontario. And as I mentioned in the opening recently, I gave a speech to an audience of educators that was straight from my heart to theirs. And I know from the comments and feedback I heard from several of the Indigenous teachers, I know I reached them. I also knew that. I also know that the words fell silent on some of the non Indigenous in the room, some that just want us to assimilate. For that reason, I wanted to share this speech with you today. And yes, I'm going to use my notes to replicate it as closely as possible. So here it goes. I am here today to speak to you, to speak of your role in the lives of the Indigenous children and youth that you have the privilege of serving. And I'm going to speak to you on that topic from an Indigenous lens because it's the only lens I have and it's the only lens that dear Indigenous students have. Point number one. I would love to welcome you to the transition team, the team that is going to help this young person thrive and hopefully not just survive on their life path. Everyone on the transition team is equal in importance. None see speak down to the other. None are more important or less important. It is literally our teaching of sitting in a circle together. We're all in chairs or we're all sitting on the floor, but it is never both to remind us that every single person there has equal importance. That applies to you being on the transition team as well. Point number two. Now, the transition team starts with mom and dad when they create this little human. And then it quickly goes solely to mom as she grows and nurtures this little person. Now a doctor, nurse, midwife or whoever joins the team to welcome the new person to this world. And hopefully Dad's there in the picture and quickly resuming his role as part of the transition team. From there it goes to extended family and community members and eventually to you. As teachers and administrators in the school system. Whether it's kindergarten, first grade, second grade, fifth grade, tenth grade, college, university, it is your job to ensure his smooth transition through every chapter of this book that will become his life. But I want to be crystal clear, in line with our teachings. It is not your job to teach him who he is. It's your job to provide good soil for him to grow into. He already is. Your job is not to teach him what the world is like. It's your job to teach, to teach him how to thrive in it. Because he's going to meet some pretty funky people along the way. He's going to meet the angry man who buys all of the stereotypes and is quite upset about all the benefits and unfair advantages that indigenous people receive. He's going to run into the paternalistic helper, the so called ally that oversteps, who just wants to, who knows what we need and who can speak for us. No, he's going to meet the person who still wants to save us. He's going to meet the judge who never thought we were going to amount to anything. And he's going to meet the friend who says, why bother? Keep trying. I've got something else you can try. Point number three. It is your job to create good soil to help him become who he is. And it's not going to be through compliments or praise because every marginalized and racialized child grows up watching people like themselves trying to prove their worth to another and often failing. You're going to empower this child. You're giving him space to be him. Now, I know this firsthand and I want to share a story with you now about my dad. My dad believed I walked on water and I believed in my dad. So when my dad told me I was going to get straight A's, I did. When my dad told me I was going to win a contest, I did. And when my dad told me I would be prime Minister one day, well, I decided that wasn't a job I wanted. Anyone who knew me back then would tell you I was a pretty confident person. But I know now, without a doubt, I didn't have self confidence. I had dad confidence. He said I was amazing and so I believed it. But when I was only 17, my dad passed away and the projector went out. So I did with so many other people do. I went looking for another projector and I found one. But I can tell you firsthand that when you put your worth into the hands of another person, chances are that is not going to be used for good. It took me into my 40s before I realized I could be my own projector. And that's what you have to teach the youth. Point number four. So if I were to ask you what is the most important question you could ask a child, what do you think it would be? I can give you a hint. It's only four words, but strung together, they are the most important thing you can ask a child. The question, what do you think? Now, for those who had the honor of knowing her, my mom was the epitome of empowerment. Even though she never would have used that word, she would have classified it as a $15 word. My mom knew not to give us the answers. When I was in high school and I would come home all upset because I had a fight with my best friend or some guy broke my heart, she would listen. And when I asked her what I should do, her response was always, well, what do you think you should do? Which of course got some answer along the lines of, I have no idea what to do, that's why I'm asking you. She would proceed to ask a series of questions. What did you do last time? Did it work last time? Do you think it would work this time? Do you think you should try it? Never once did she give the answer. But by the end, I knew what I wanted to do. And that was no accident. My mom knew exactly what she was doing. She would tell us over and over, if I give you the answer, it increases your belief in me and my wisdom. But if I help you find your own, it increases your belief in you and yours. And you're the only one that's going to be with you for your entire journey. So it's time to start listening to what you think, what you feel and what you need. Give them the opportunity to believe in themselves. So no longer do you ask, what was the book about? Instead, ask them, what did you think of the book. Don't ask them who was the main character. Ask them what they thought of the main character. Get them used to identifying what they think, because that's how you build not only confidence, but wisdom. Point number five. Help Them to see, just as importantly, help them to see how their learning fits into the world. In my mom's words, paint the picture for them. When my son was in, you know, not high school yet, but older grades, he really started struggling back in that day. They called him learning disabled to the extent that at the end of his grade six year, my the teaching staff, the administrators felt the need to call me and him into the principal's office to inform us that my son was never going to be able to finish grade seven, he would never be able to do grade eight, and there was no way he was going to be able to do high school. That they wanted to modify his program, and at the end he would get a certificate of completion rather than a high school at certificate, graduation certificate. Now, at the time, I was pretty upset, but I knew yelling and screaming wasn't going to help. By the way, I was upset because they said this in front of my son. So I asked them to clarify a few things for me, and the principal agreed. So I said, so you're telling me that what you're going to do is teach my son to sit quiet and not say anything and don't disrupt everything, and then you're going to give him a certificate to say he succeeded at doing that? I was told I had a lousy way of looking at it. I responded with, I think it's an accurate way of looking at it. I then told the principal I had one more question off the top of his head. Could he name three employers that would hire my son to work for them after he had been taught to just sit there and not say anything? Again, I was told I had a lousy attitude. Again, I told them I think I was being accurate. The meeting ended with my request for an application to homeschool my son. And as we left the schoolyard, I stopped my son and got him to look me directly in the eyes like a parent does when she wants her child to listen to her. And I told him straight, if he never hears anything else, I say that he needed to hear this, that that principal did not know him. He had been on the job for a year, but I had known him his entire life, and I knew he could do this. I homeschooled my son for one year. He chose to go back for grade eight. He chose to go to high school. And by the way, my son graduated both high school and college. So point number six, along the lines of the work that I do every single day as a teacher or administrator, you need to be aware of what internalized oppression looks like and how it manifests in our students, in in our communities. Violence is a natural human reaction to oppression. When it feels like the world is telling you you're less than you feel the need to lash out, it's not going to help to tell them that's inappropriate or they shouldn't be upset, or why are they so upset? Because they can't tell you why. They just know. They feel it. Teach them how to deal with it, how to channel it into something useful. Teach them how to go to the gym or how to talk it out. Teach them, don't suppress them. Acquiescence is the second natural human reaction, the complete and total giving up. So when that student doesn't bother doing his homework, doesn't bother going to school, doesn't bother getting out of bed, he's not lazy. He's reacting to the environment. Do everything you can to reach that student because those are the ones we are at risk of losing. The third natural human reaction is nonviolent resistance. Daring to break the stereotype. Daring to be something besides the stereotype. Daring to speak your language. Daring to not rule your life with a clock. Daring to hunt and fish. Daring to be educated. Daring to thrive in both worlds. But it's up to the students to decide what nonviolent resistance looks like for them. Help them to figure it out. Do not tell them what the answer is. Point number seven. Your job. Create good soil. Be good medicine. Create good soil. Be good medicine. When I started my business, everyone in their uncle would tell me how crazy I was. What a foolish idea it was that I'd never be successful. But Paro center for Women's Enterprise was my bubble. I knew I could go there and be surrounded by people who did believe in me. And they continued to believe in me until I did and even long after. Be good soil. Create good soil. Be good medicine. Point number eight. Remember, they don't need your criticism. The world does that. They don't need your judgment. They're indigenous. They're drowning in it. They need their transition team. They need good soil. They need good medicine. They need you so that they never feel the need to go find a projector that's going to tell them their worth something. They need you. And that's the most important point of all. And just one last comment for the indigenous teachers and educators watching this. Trust that you know what those students need. Assimilation has taught you to believe otherwise. Assimilation has taught you to be dependent on mainstream educational thoughts, theories and practices. You know what they need you know when to push and you know when they just need space. And don't let anyone convince you of otherwise, including that little voice in your head, which could easily be your own internalized oppression. I hope this speech resonated with you, and I hope you will take a minute and share it with the educators and education administrators that you know, we need to get the word out. We need to change this because it's a lot easier to stop assimilation of the children rather than undo the assimilation of the adults. Until next time. I love you. Take care. Bye. Bye.