SD72 will be represented in the BCSTA’s Indigenous Education Advisory Council
A School District 72 trustee was appointed to the BC School Trustees Association’s (BCSTA) Indigenous Education Advisory Council.
“It was two days of meetings and very interesting,” said Jan Gladish, the appointed trustee. “We met on the traditional lands of the Stó:lō Nation to deepen our understanding of the territory and the school district’s Indigenous education initiative, which is very fascinating… Some of the things they’re doing over there are just amazing.”
The Indigenous Education Advisory Council intends to strengthen the work of all trustees and inform them on the importance of teaching and supporting Indigenous learners and their educators, and the different ways to do so.
Gwen (co-chair for the Assembly of First Nations Knowledge Keepers Council and a member of the board of First Nation Education Steering Committee) and Steven Point (former Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia) were guest speakers at the meeting.
“She (Point) says that every school district should have a teaching long house or big house or equivalent space where staff and students can learn about local First Nations in an experiential and protocol-informed way,” recalled Gladish. “She also felt that students must be encouraged to pursue post-secondary education and that maybe we need to find out if we’re doing that well enough in our district.”
Gladish also said Point said racism is a reality in schools and must be addressed directly.
“I don’t question her on that. She feels that Indigenous students need visible representation of their culture and school spaces in curricula, and you know, maybe we just need to think about how we’re doing, where we are at with that. We don’t know. We haven’t thought about it. We haven’t talked about it really much, I don’t think.”
Residential school denialism and other harmful government policies that have harmed and still harm Indigenous people were also discussed.
“There are some diners who refuse to acknowledge that residential schools took place and that there were harmful policies that drove that initiative and had such a damaging effect on Indigenous people, like my parents. So there’s a need to kind of address that in some way to raise that awareness with the trustees around the province,” said Gladish.
Other topics considered revitalization of Indigenous Languages, Indigenous leadership, and land-based learning. These three topics will be addressed by three different subcommittees, of which Gladish is a part.
“I think that’s a beautiful space for you to work in, and represent and share with us because you hear the reports at the larger meetings, but we’ve never really had any connection to the work of the Indigenous Advisory Council. I’m very excited to hear where that goes,” said School District 72 School Board Chair Kat Eddy.
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