My Final Representation For ESST 317
I felt it was more meaningful coming directly from me rather than reading a script. I worked hard and dedicated lots of time to this reflection, hope you enjoy!
This is a video about my pledge I made in my ESST 317 class. At the very first class, I was told to make a pledge which was uncomfortable because I had never made a pledge before and I was unsure about what to do. I wanted to do something that would be meaningful and would help me to learn more about the province and country that I live in.
Making a pledge felt frustrating and tedious and I was super hesitant at first because there were no guidelines other than telling us that we had to make one for the following week. I am a busy person with school, work, family and I thought on top of all that, now I was expected to make a pledge? To be completely honest, I was so against the idea because I did not want to do another thing outside the class, because it was overwhelming to balance everything. I felt that making excuses was easier than actually doing something. So despite my excuses, I convinced myself to make a pledge as I realized that “now is the time to leap” and if I did not make a pledge now, when would I?
After about a week of thinking I decided to make a pledge to donate weekly to Indigenous foundations and I thought I was set. The following week I had contacted the two foundations, All Nations Hope Network and The National Voice of Indigenous Woman in Canada, where I learned that one only accepts food donations and one only accepts cash donations. I figured, I could do this and was hoping to start the following week.
I felt my pledge was all over the place and the aim of it seemed to change a few too many times. I realized my “leap must begin by respecting the inherent rights and title of the original caretakers of this land” which is why I chose to donate to the two Indigenous foundations. By the time I got to week three, I had already shifted my pledge and began donating my time and did not donate to one or any of the foundations I had originally chosen. My question to myself is how did I break a pledge so quickly? I realize why I decided to consider this apart of my pledge because it was better than nothing. Week four, I did two things, one which was directly related to my pledge and one that veered off a bit. I donated clothes to the salvation army, of which I knew I could get no money for if I had sold them online. Since The National Voice of Indigenous Women foundation only accepted money, the few clothes that I thought I could get money from, I sold and in turn, donated that money online to the foundation. I had stated in blog 4, “helping out this Indigenous foundation I think is very important because they have given so much up, not willingly, so I think it is important to give back as much as I can. Indigenous peoples are humans, the founders of this land, so we need to appreciate and celebrate that. Although I cannot make that big of a change, I can donate and make a small change. In my opinion, everyone can make a change, big or little, and every opportunity for change is important.”Although I was making these realizations, for the next three weeks, I had veered away from my pledge again. In blog 5,6,7 I was donating to Youth clubs, blood and my time. I realize these are all good to do, but it was not in align with the pledge I had made. If it was not for the feedback that I was given, who knows what foundation I would have donated to next. I was told that I was “doing too much for too many people” and I never truly realized what that meant until I was making this video about the process. I really veered off and completely got caught up in the idea of donating. Blog 8, was my realization of having to reconsider my pledge, although it was more about going back to my original plan than reconsidering. Through this I had to critically think of what I was actually trying to achieve and how I could carry it forward with me into my future classrooms.
It was clear that throughout my pledge I was too flexible and although I may have been too flexible in that I completely veered away from my pledge, I was able to think about what practicing being an engaged citizen really meant.
Practicing being an engaged citizen was challenging and something new to me. I had never thought about myself as an engaged citizen before and I honestly, did not even know the real definition of what it meant. In blog seven I talked about how “an engaged citizen to me, means being active in the community and becoming apart of the community, being one.” I discussed throughout my blogs how I thought I was becoming more of an engaged citizen because I was donating to different foundations and essentially trying to make a difference. However, I still do not know if I can consider myself an engaged citizen because I am not completely okay with being uncomfortable as it is hard for me to be critical all the time. I realize the importance of being critical and in the process, we are becoming more aware of our surroundings and how we can do better. But my wonders are, is anyone fully an engaged citizen? I still do not know if I can pin point a definition.
I am involved in the community and I am considered two different kinds of citizens, which are a personally responsible citizen and the justice orientated citizen. I have made various donations as I talked about in blog 9 and I believe, my donations help me to "build character and honesty, integrity, self-discipline, and hard work" as Westhimer and Kahne (2004) had stated. I also believe I am the justice orientated citizen as I talked about in blog 10 because there is a meaning and reasoning behind my donations. The underlying reason to why I donate to Indigenous foundations is because they are often overlooked and tend to be forgotten about because people believe that the government is funding everything for them. This affected my sense of self by focusing on those that are overlooked in society and as a Treaty Person, I have realized that this is not true and I need to help out as best as I can. Although I have made these assumptions and realizations, am I really an engaged citizen or just doing what I am told to do? I believe it is something I have to do on my own to truly be an engaged citizen. It does not mean one who is doing it for grades. It is a start, but I realize I need to take more action. I have made a goal for myself, to continue to keep up with this pledge and hopefully one day I can consider myself The Participatory Citizen. As a teacher, I want to do weekly or monthly donations with my students, depending on what they can do, and have students become apart of my pledge. As a teacher I will “emphasize preparing students to engage in collective, community-based efforts" as Westhimer and Kahne stated (2004). If I can do this on my own, I will then consider myself an engaged citizen, but as of right now, I need to be honest with myself and realize the truth.
I realize “now is the time to leap” and I will begin turning these small steps into leaps. Although my pledge did not go the way I wanted it to, I am going to work on making this pledge a success. I think I need to further research, to ensure I am fully committing to my pledge. This could have been an alteration that I made to my pledge in a positive way. As a class, we could donate to these foundations and this would allow me to intervene Treaty Education into simple, yet complex areas. Orr (2004) stated, “engage young people and faculty together in the effort to solve real problems. I do not propose such efforts as “service” projects alone but as ways to integrate learning with service.” Students will understand the evolution of Canada and First Nation and Métis peoples by carrying out a pledge similar to mine. I think it is important to not neglect this subject but rather make it a part of my teachings because Treaty Education can be linked to different subjects. We will work towards reconciliation and find ways within the class and community.
Therefore, it is clear that my intentions were completely shifted and I was too flexible throughout the process. I realize “small steps will no longer get us to where we need to go. So I need to leap” which I will be able to do through my future classroom.
