CRRP – Durham District School Board

I connected with a colleague in our class and through our discussions centered around decolonization of the education system as she highlighted the Durham District School Board’s Culturally Responsive Pedagogy guide for teachers. Culturally responsive pedagogy is gaining increasing popularity in educational circles focused on indigenization. One of the challenges surrounding this concept is truly defining what this term means and the pedagogy associated. I thought that this document did an excellent job of identifying what a culturally responsive classroom would actually look like.

One of the important points that is highlighted is connected to curriculum resources reflecting multiple perspectives. One of the major challenges of our colonized model of education is the dominance of the eurocentric perspective. Teachers need to take the time to question the source of the resources that they use in the classroom. Young students take these resources to be factually true and should be given opportunities to question and analyze them. Secondly, lessons and assignment built around students interests are vital to increasing motivation and engagement in the classroom. It also provides opportunities for students to elevate and be proud of their cultures not as the objects of study but as the method. Finally the importance of students listening carefully to ideas and opinions of others is an area that we have completely lost in modern discourse. When we look at the current narratives surrounding Indigenous communities and their advocacy for the environment, there is a lack of thoughtful consideration for the perspectives of a minority culture. This again places a spotlight to how education can play an important role in changing the narrative and creating a more equitable approach to understanding the spiritual and cultural connection that our First Nations communities draw from the land.

It is through resources such as the CRRP created by the Durham District School Board that we can raise a generation of Canadians that not only have a better understanding of Indigenous culture but are willing to take the time to listen to differing perspectives with an authentic consideration that works to move away from divisive dialogue to one of collaboration and understanding.