Indigenous knowledge and perspectives are an integral part of the new K-12 curriculum in British Columbia. Integrating Indigenous content and the First Peoples Principles of Learning (http://www.fnesc.ca/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/PUB-LFP-POSTER-Principles-of-Learning-First-Peoples-poster-11×17.pdf) can be challenging for many teachers, who question their ability to do so meaningfully or authentically.
Philosophy for Children pedagogy and its emphasis on storytelling, exploration, curiosity, and patience is a positive way to incorporate the First Peoples Principles of Learning into a teacher’s lessons. Utilizing FNESC-approved texts that authentically represent Indigenous voices is another great way to bring Indigenous content into the classroom.
Specifically, Philosophy for Children dovetails with at least three of the FPPL:
Learning is embedded in memory, history, and story
P4C recognizes and exploits the power of storytelling to convey knowledge and wisdom and to pique curiosity (which increases student engagement). Stories are the vehicle for learning, but they do not tell or lecture; rather, they invite deliberation and questioning. Learning through story allows students to see a problem in vibrant colour and great detail rather than the bland and indistinct greys of traditional teaching. We can also bring to the discussion the thoughts of past thinkers, and use them to guide, but not dictate, our own thoughts.
Learning involves patience and time
Because philosophy does not admit of clear answers, its inquiry requires much patience and time. Indeed, for philosophers, the tackling of particular problems can be a lifelong endeavour. Sometimes, there is no answer. That can be discomfiting for students. But it is important to realize that just because there is no singular answer to a question does not preclude there being better answers than others. The realization that some answers are elusive, some answers are illusory, and some answers are manifold is an important consequence of P4C, and one that is shared with Indigenous ways of knowing.
Learning requires exploration of one’s identity
Who am I? Who are we? Are those different questions? How can we possibly hope to understand the world if we don’t, as the Delphic maxim goes, know thyself? Learning must begin within, if one is to fully appreciate the complexities of the world without. Our own identities are a source of humility and certainty, hope and hopelessness, right and wrong. Our cultural and community identities help us understand both ourselves and the broader world. And our various identities – race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, etc. – inform how we perceive and interpret the world. Without knowing ourselves, we can know nothing.
“Stolen Words” by Melanie Florence is a great example of an appropriate resource for a P4C lesson on identity (and language). It is about a grandfather who tells his granddaughter how his language (Cree) was stolen from him (in a residential school). It raises many questions: How does language contribute to identity? How would you feel if you were not allowed to speak your language? What are the reasons for the loss of language? What is lost when language is lost? And many others. Understanding these concepts on a deeper level can contribute positively to students’ understanding of, among other things, residential schools, colonialism, and cultural genocide.
Resources:
First Nations Education Steering Committee: fnesc.ca
First People’s Principles of Learning: http://www.fnesc.ca/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/PUB-LFP-POSTER-Principles-of-Learning-First-Peoples-poster-11×17.pdf
Stolen Words: https://www.cbc.ca/books/stolen-words-1.4286447
Philosophy for Children in the British Columbia Classroom 