BUILDING BRIDGES
Cross-cultural understanding
In June 2018, I had the privilege of being invited as a round-table presenter at the Kaqa’nata Multicultural and Diversity Summit in the First Nation community of Wagmatcook, Nova Scotia.
During this historical and cultural event, four groups were invited to present and participate in activities that reflected and shared their history, culture and language. It was an incredibly enriching experience — for both my intellect and my identity.
I learned about Black Loyalist history in Nova Scotia, listened to Gaelic singing and Mi’kmaw stories in which they described their journey, and shared the loss of the French language by a generation of speakers, all while being surrounded by the breathtaking beauty of this Mi’kmaw community on the Bras d’or Lake.
Throughout these activities, there was one thought that permeated my reflections: where are our youth? They could learn so much from such an experience!
“History is written by the winners” — a quote attributed to George Orwell and often cited by contemporary leaders — accurately describes the perspective presented to our children and adolescents during their foray into public education.
Current curricular practices and accompanying documents and resources, for the most part, continue to recount history from the perspective of colonists and the winners of wars. This is not to say that this is the case in every one of the province’s classrooms. There are teachers who are mindful of the absence of the marginalized point of view and make remarkable efforts to provide their students with a more inclusive understanding of how our society has come to be — with its successes and its challenges.
However, it cannot be ignored that a significant lack of cultural sensitivity and knowledge has contributed to the decrease of empathy and understanding displayed in recent provincial, national and international disputes.
Combined with this lack of cultural understanding, we have also witnessed the replacement of arts and humanities with efforts to develop competencies in sciences and technology. Due to perceptions of what is expected and accepted in the labour market, acquiring competencies in these fields is deemed more important and more valued than being knowledgeable in dance, painting, history or geography.
As a result, classes in arts and humanities have been drastically reduced. Unfortunately, cultural subjects, when included in the classroom, are most often part of an arts or humanities course. Therefore, with the reduction of arts and humanities in schools, we are subjugated to the diminution of cultural exploration.
Why sacrifice one for the other? It does not have to be one or the other. In fact, as illustrated by certain pedagogical researchers such as Geneva Gay, PH.D. and Sharroky Hollie, PH.D., they can be explored, simultaneously enriching teaching and learning. Developing knowledge in arts and humanities can, in fact, effectively complement learners’ acquisition of skills in science and technology, providing them with a more well-rounded education that takes into consideration the “human element” of industry and economy helping to make these fields more inclusive.
Since 2016, we have witnessed the remarkable degradation of society. Marginalized and minority groups have become increasingly ostracized, and their fundamental rights have been questioned or debated on the national and international stage. The rise of movements such as Black Lives Matter (BLM), #Metoo and Truth and Reconciliation illustrate the increasing need to develop a better understanding of each other’s history and culture and how they form our current societal context.
One of the more current challenges in our province is the tenuous conflict between the Indigenous fishers of the Sipkne’katik First Nation and the commercial fishers of Southwestern Nova Scotia.
On the 21st anniversary of the Marshall decision, the fishers of the Sipekne’katik First Nation dropped lobster traps into St. Marys Bay, a body of water in one of Canada’s more lucrative fishing areas, citing their constitutional right to exploit this natural resource in the name of earning a “moderate livelihood.” The ensuing weeks have been comprised of conflicts resulting in the destruction of not only property belonging to both sides in the dispute, but also the creation of a palpable tension in what is often described as a welcoming and accommodating community.
In the news, on social media and in discussions on the community’s wharves and coffee shops, one may be privy to a variety of opinions and viewpoints that place blame on one of the fisher factions and with DFO. Or, they may hear a plethora of the possible next steps in the enduring dispute regarding the exploitation of the country’s natural resources for profit.
Much of what is shared reflects an undertone of fear — a fear of losing a way of life, a fear of constitutional rights being violated, and a fear of getting hurt and losing property. Fear is often based in the unknown or a lack of knowledge and understanding regarding a specific subject or phenomenon.
Those of us who were educated in Nova Scotia public schools during the 20th and the 21st centuries have not been provided an education that equally and justly explains the history of Nova Scotia and Canada — from the perspectives of both the colonizers and the colonized. Unfortunately, this lack of cultural inclusivity abounds in curriculums throughout the country and has thus proliferated a lack of cultural understanding and, in turn, fear.
The province of Nova Scotia has initiated steps that support the creation of more culturally inclusive classrooms. For example, Nova Scotian universities that offer Bachelor of Education programs will be required, beginning in September 2021, to provide pre-service teachers with the opportunity to develop competencies that reflect an understanding of the uniqueness of Nova Scotia’s educational context, focusing on the systemic racism faced by its marginalized populations.
This is an appropriate first step in enriching schools’ teaching staff with educators knowledgeable about both the majority and the marginalized. Professional development opportunities should also be offered to current classroom teachers so that they may enrich their teaching toolbox with knowledge and pedagogical practices that better represent the cultural contexts of all their students. Such actions will facilitate the creation of more well-rounded, inclusive school communities.
Currently, Nova Scotian high school students are required to complete one Canadian history course prior to graduation. Students may select from one of the following courses: Canadian History 11, Mi’kmaw Studies 11, Études acadiennes 11, African Canadian Studies 11 and Gaelic Studies 11.
Students have access to a variety of language courses, but they are not required for graduation. However, as one may notice, these options are limited to senior high students. What about elementary and junior high students? Efforts should be made to provide elementary and junior high students with the opportunity to explore the culture, language and history of those other than the majority or the colonizer.
To accomplish this, the province can adopt curricular practices that are more organic than static, permitting the evolution of curriculum outcomes that better reflect societal composition, changes and evolution. This being said, the publishing companies that create school textbooks and accompanying resources must also accept responsibility for perpetuating the colonizers’ story while ignoring that of the colonized and marginalized by creating more inclusive teaching resources. The province must enforce this by using taxpayers’ monies to limit their purchasing to more inclusive teaching resources.
Finally, as a province, we must insist that our education system better reflect the culture of those who live here and those who have contributed to its evolution — both pre- and post-colonization. To do this, we must ensure that those who are in charge of our education system include cultural inclusivity as a foundational value.
In providing all students with an authentic knowledge and understanding of the historical and cultural backgrounds and practices of the province’s peoples, we can prevent the creation of fear created by a lack of understanding. Instead, perhaps, these students, our future community leaders, will be able to respond to conflict and crises through co-operation, using the most appropriate, collaborative practices of each other’s cultures.