All posts by wilsonteacher

Teaching Well-Being: The Third Path

Few educators would disagree with the argument that that relationships and well-being are important areas of focus in our schools. However, as Dr. David Tranter, Lori Carson, and Tom Boland write in The Third Pathhow those things are taught  is definitely more challenging. Teachers are pushed to focus on curriculum expectations meaning that well-being and relationship-building becomes something akin to extra-curriculars, (sort of important, but not as important as numeracy and literacy) or treated like its own subject, (where teachers then measure a student’s ability to know and apply aspects of “well-being”). If we acknowledge that well-being is important, then clearly we need to rethink how we “teach” it in our schools.

So many sticky notes already!

I’ve only read the first three chapters of the book, but I like it for many reasons. First, the authors acknowledge that it’s all well-and-good to identify some kind of academic/theoretical solution, but the focus in the body of the text is on the how to get there, broken down into small chunks with clear visuals and examples. Second, there is no sugar-coating the fact that students are complex beings with issues that are brought into schools, there is no one-size-fits-all approach, and some paths aren’t easy to take. Finally, the fact that the authors are all from Thunder Bay reassures me that this book acknowledges the demographics of my area.

I also really appreciate the examination of what well-being even means. There’s no clear definition of that, either – and many educators aren’t great at establishing it in their own lives – so educators probably need help understanding what well-being is and how it relates to academic success:

The Third Path, p. 17

This is all summarized by a simple equation:

The Third Path, p. 23

The authors suggest that educators should use the curriculum, (with some flexibility) in a way that emphasizes the importance of relationships, (because that’s how humans learn) under eight conditions that promote achievement and well-being, (the body of the book) with the goal of positively affecting human development, (because we want our students to be more than human dictionaries and calculators).

My take-away after the first three chapters, (and hopefully my established practice at this point – which is probably why I like this book as it preaches to the choir!) is that:

  • Positive relationships and conditions for learning are necessary before any “curricular learning” can effectively take place.
  • Well-being will look and be different from student-to-student.
  • Well-being IS NOT just about doing well in school so that you become financially well-off later in life.
  • Educational research is not a hard science and there’s no guarantee this will work, BUT there’s an obvious benefit to knowing our students.
  • Understanding Common Attachment Behaviours (p. 37-40) and how students respond to different triggers and stimuli, (p. 41-46) can help educators understand and support our students. Educators have limited child psychology training, so this stuff is pretty valuable.
  • HOW we teach kids is so very important – and the conditions outlined in the book help educators think about this point.

Dr. David Tranter has created a great little video that explains what The Third Path is all about – and how we can’t just simply teach well-being. Check it out and let me know your thoughts…please!

I know that some of my colleagues are also reading The Third Path and I hope that I can continue the discussion with them. If you’re curious about the book, you can check out http://thirdpath.ca. Two of the authors, Tom Boland and Dr. David Tranter, are also active on Twitter.

 

Indian Horse and Seven Fallen Feathers: My Reviews

I haven’t had much time to read for pleasure lately, but I was inspired by some friends and students to pick up Richard Wagamese’s Indian Horse and Tanya Talaga’s Seven Fallen Feathers in the hopes that I would gain a greater understanding of the intergenerational trauma inflicted on indigenous people by Canada’s Residential School System.

I first heard about Indian Horse from a Superior-Greenstone DSB colleague, Laura Mason, who championed the novel. She used it in a senior English class and shared how the novel intertwined trauma with hockey while engaging readers. The book stayed on my back-burner until this year when one of my own grade 12 English students used it in her Independent Study Unit. She shared some very powerful excerpts that described – in horrifying terms – what happened in residential schools. We know much of these descriptions to be true as a result of the brave testimony of victims and survivors as part of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The story, as most likely know, has been reimagined as a film, (which was just recently released), though I have yet to see it.

The novel is beautifully-written despite the fact that the reader is almost always encountering loss. This includes the loss of parents to alcoholism, the loss of family members to death, the loss of trust in institutions, the loss of culture through residential schools and a racist society, and the loss of  self as main character Saul Indian Horse battles so much trauma. However, the novel also provides hope.

The hope lies in the fact that this novel is also about hockey and the beauty of the game. Saul Indian Horse is a naturally-talented player and despite society’s best attempts to strip Saul of his gift, he is still able to play on. Saul is also able to find closure – or at least come to peace with – his past as he travels back to where his story began.

Wagamese’s descriptions, his passion for his characters, and the important historically-influenced story proved spell-binding for me. The novel is emotionally-charged and although I finished it a week ago, it is still sticking with me. I can’t recommend it enough. I wish Wagamese were still alive so I could personally write to him and share how much I felt connected to his novel’s main character.

After putting down Indian Horse, I immediately picked up Seven Fallen Feathers, which documents the tragic circumstances around the deaths of seven indigenous youth in Thunder Bay, Ontario. In each case, the deaths involved a student who was in Thunder Bay for high school, since the vast majority of northern reserves do not have physical high schools. Options for students include distance education, traveling to places like Thunder Bay or Sioux Lookout, or receiving no high school education at all. What struck me the most about this book was the amount of research author Tanya Talaga and her team conducted to ensure that the stories she shares are factual. These facts, (cited in several pages at the book’s end) make the circumstances that much more horrifying: Systemic racism, a lack of appropriate support for students, a serious gap in educational offerings, communication breakdowns, addiction, and the reality that the death of seven young lives is the focus of the story makes Seven Fallen Feathers emotionally-charged.

The story is not about assigning blame or making non-indigenous people feel guilty. It’s about outlining what went wrong in the hopes that additional deaths can be prevented. When Talaga outlines the government’s stalling of funding and action, the questionable response of the police, and the ongoing trauma within the families invovled it’s hard not to feel guilty, though.

Talaga goes into great depths to detail the lives of the youth, celebrating their lives and their accomplishments – and the events leading up to their deaths. She describes the frantic searches, the panic of parents, guardians, educators, and counselors, and the aftermath. Some of the statistics are particularly tough to read:

However, like Indian HorseSeven Fallen Feathers provides some hope at the end. Governments and organizations are working hard – and working together – to make Thunder Bay safer. This includes, (after a lot of arguing, as outlined in the novel) a Coroner’s Inquest into the seven deaths, a review of the Thunder Bay Police, and new training for both educational institutions and those responsible for the health and welfare of students.

Both of these novels are important to me. The students and youth described in both are in many ways similar to the very students I teach. In the case of Seven Fallen Feathers, some share communities, last names and families. I want to have a better understanding of the effects of intergenerational trauma. I want to know where my students and their families come. I want to know the parts of Canada’s history that for far too long were kept in the dark.

I highly recommend both of these novels. I also highly recommend that anyone who has not familiarized themselves with the story of Chanie Wenjack, a Cree boy from Ogoki who died in 1966 trying to escape a residential school, learn his story. I remember learning so much about trauma, loss, and death in so many other countries in my own history classes without ever really knowing what happened in Canada.

Thanks for reading.

 

 

A Flying Lesson in Empathy and Patience

After two days of meetings in Toronto in late May I was sitting in the lower departure area of Pearson International Airport. The departure lounge was full of people waiting for their plane, anxious to get to their destination. Within the crowd was a mother and toddler. The toddler was having a full-on meltdown and nothing the mother tried, (nor anyone attempting to come to the mother’s aid) would calm the child down. This went on for almost an hour. It was impossible to escape the screams, even with expensive noise-cancelling headphones. Most people looked over their shoulders at the mother and her child. Some rolled their eyes. Others gave empathetic looks. Everyone hoped the pair wasn’t on their flight.

Image result for screaming child airplane

My flight was called and it became clear that the pair was also headed to Thunder Bay. They boarded early and the looks of the other passengers continued. I soon boarded the plane and took my seat, which was immediately behind the toddler. At first, the child was incredibly calm and he engaged in some play with the flight attendants. The mother chatted with the flight attendants and explained that the child was adopted. His birth mother was a drug user. The child, Jack, was on the autism spectrum but was in early stages of identification. I was introduced to the mom and Jack and we chatted for a few minutes as we reached cruising altitude. Jack seemed to be in good spirits. Then, with almost no warning, another meltdown began. At first, it was because the he couldn’t run freely around the airplane. The meltdown escalated into arm flailing and screams – those same unescapable screams from inside the airport. Mom held on to him in her seat, trying to both sooth Jack and keep him safe. And then, the best part: people in the vicinity began to help.

First, the flight attendants stepped in by giving him jobs to do, like reorganize pop cans in the beverage cart. Second, other passengers worked to entertain Jack. Still a few others engaged in conversation with a very exhausted mother. Jack even was able to use the in-flight intercom to say hello to the pilot. The flight continued with the collaboration and cooperation of several people. Jack calmed down. Our flight eventually landed in Thunder Bay and Jack enthusiastically said goodbye to everyone in the back of the plane. The flight attendants maintained their awesome professionalism and multiple passengers offered to help mom deplane. It was a really great end to what many people might characterize as an awful flight.

This whole incident resonated with me because it was such a wonderful exercise in patience, empathy, understanding, helpfulness, and the need to be flexible. As I enter a new environment where I will be surrounded with early learners and the unpredictability of an elementary school I am reminded that the same traits I witnessed on board Air Canada 8539 are the very same traits that I must bring with me. Also, I’m reminded of the importance of offering help when I see someone who might be in need. Jack, (and his mom) was a good teacher for me. It wasn’t that long ago where I may have been one of the passengers rolling his eyes. Hooray for personal growth, right?