Truth and Reconciliation commission of Canada: Calls to Action
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 calls to action that the Canadian government can take towards taking steps to heal past wrongdoings of colonization and oppression. Among these calls, there are 4 specifically focused on education (62 to 65). In essence, they ask for the history of the Aboriginal people to be included in the curriculum, integration of first people knowledge in the classroom, time spent on increasing student’s knowledge of intercultural understandings, if money is given to a school for religious studies that they must include a segment on Aboriginal spiritual beliefs, and for the establishment of a research program that advances understanding of reconciliation.
As teachers, we are part of the arm of the government that is in control of these calls to action. While we may not have the power to control government expenditure, we do have a lot of power over what the curriculum of our classroom looks like. If we are teaching about the history of the colonial settlers and we don’t talk about Aboriginal history, whether that be in their interactions with the settlers or pre-colonial history, can we say that we have taught our students the history of Canada? It is impossible to separate the history of Canada from the history of the people who have lived in it. If we want our students to grow into compassionate and open-minded citizens then, in a diverse world, we must teach them about cultural empathy and understanding. I think it is my job as a teacher to bring these values to the forefront of my classroom.