What began as Orange Shirt Day in 2013 and is now more formally known as Day of Truth & Reconciliation, has actually been in existence since 1973 and is based on the lived experiences of young Phyllis Webstad. Just six-years-old at the time, Phyllis entered the St. Joseph Mission Residential School, outside of Williams Lake, BC. wearing a new orange shirt. It was quite rare for a First Nations child to be seen wearing new clothing, so Phyllis wore her orange shirt with pride and excitement. Unfortunately, upon entry to the school, Phyllis was stripped of her new orange shirt and forced to wear the school's institutional uniform. The lived experiences of Phyllis, among many other First Nations children (and their families) that attended Residential Schools, are a tragic and gruesome part of our Canadian history that are now being shared more widely in order to better understand the trauma of these individuals and the lasting impacts it has had on their lives.
While there are many public events, community spaces and media outlets that we're able to participate in and learn from in order to better understand this day and it's historical tragedy, it's our responsibility as educators to ensure that the children in our care are being introduced to these topics as well. No child is too young to begin learning about equity and fairness in our social landscape, and no child or person is too old to adjust their point of view into a more empathetic and understanding perspective. It's simply in the way these matters are taught to children, ensuring that the activities and programming is appropriate to their developmental age.
Culturally Significant Creative Activities
This year, our educators introduced several new elements from First Nations culture into their classrooms for the children to create, discuss and learn. We saw the creative interpretation of Orange Shirts created by our Toddler & Preschool classrooms. An activity to go along with the notion that children are autonomous beings, and should be encouraged and supported to make their own decisions that honour their social, emotional and physical needs. Something that young Phyllis was so wrongfully denied of.
Our classrooms also created woodland animal scenes and discussed the significance and respected role that animals have in First Nations cultures. Handprints represent the elemental colours of a traditional Medicine Wheel in red, black, yellow and white, each colour signifying a different self-guided teaching. Red is Physical, Black is Emotional, Yellow is Spiritual and White is Mental. Together these signify that all of life is interconnected, and all people are connected as one.
In our older classrooms, we also saw more complex literature for the children to read, as well as the introduction of "Dot Art". Perhaps a medium that children have used many times in the past, but this time our educators helped link it to First Nations cultures, where it is rooted and is widely recognized as traditional Indigenous art.
Teach & Grow
As educators, we recognize our duty to teach, guide, and lead our students through lessons on equity and difficult truths. Our aim is to help them develop an understanding of the world around them, while fostering a sense of community, empathy, and self-respect. We take this responsibility seriously, knowing it is a privilege to shape the leaders of tomorrow, today.
Comments