Teaching Where You Are offers a guide for non-Indigenous educators to work in good ways with Indigenous students and provides resources across curricular areas to support all students. In this book, two seasoned educators, one Indigenous and one Settler, bring to bear their years of experience teaching in elementary, secondary, and post-secondary contexts to explore the ways in which Indigenous and Slow approaches to teaching and learning mirror and complement one another. Using the holistic framework of the Medicine Wheel, Shannon Leddy and Lorrie Miller illustrate the ways in which interdisciplinary thinking, a focus on experiential learning, and the thoughtful application of the 4Rs – Respect, Relevance, Reciprocity, and Responsibility – can bring us back to the principle of teaching people, not subjects. Bringing forth the ways in which colonialism and cognitive imperialism have shaped Canadian curriculum and consciousness, the book offers avenues for the development of decolonial literacy to support the work of Indigenizing education. In considering the importance of engaging in decolonizing and Indigenizing approaches to education through Slow and Indigenous pedagogies using the lens of place-based and land-based education, Teaching Where You Are presents a text useful for teachers and educators grappling with the ongoing impacts of colonialism and the soul-work of how to decolonize and rehumanize education in meaningful ways.
I unfortunately didn't get to complete this one before it was due back at the library. The book was very philosophy heavy, and while many teachers need that, I think I've established a pretty concrete philosophy from my other reading. What I was most interested about this book is the slow principles because, while I tend to feel a lot of time pressure, I love to take my time with things if I can. I wish I could find some practical tips on improving efficiency in some places so I can spend more time in others. Maybe the part I didn't read would have helped me out a little more with this. Hopefully I can pick it up again sometime when there's not a hold list!
This is a very concise read about Indigenous Pegagogy using the Medicine Wheel as a framework for thinking about how to decolonize your own teaching. There are no lesson plans or prescriptive steps. It really is about starting where you are and following your own path. It both teaches and practices student-centered learning in this way.
I'm 100% using this book as a resource in my work as an informal educator.
The only reason I gave this three stars is because it is a very intense read in the way that it is clearly written by two VERY smart people who are incredibly academic in their writing. I had to FOCUS when reading. I just wish it was a little more digestible since I was reading for a professional credit. I could probably read it 3 more times and get something new each time.