Following our investigations for experiences from orange shirt day we wanted to continue to expand this learning of Indigenous teachings. Through some research we found “The Seven Grandfather Teachings” which is a set of Anishinaabe guiding principles, which give people tools for how to live a good life. During our research we concluded this would be beneficial to dive deeper into as it touched on some many great things including respect, love, bravery, honesty, wisdom, truth and humility.
During our research we found a set of short videos which helped to explain each of the different teachings. We began by watching the first short video which depicted a buffalo, which taught us about respect. In a smaller group we opened up a discussion about respect, first asking what is respect, and providing time for them to think and share their thoughts. Through the video and our discussion, we came to the conclusion that we need to respect all living things. We listed these as people, animals, plants and water as they all have life and need to be respected. “We also need to respect ourselves” added Molly (age: 3). Later in the afternoon this teaching was displayed as we found an insect lying on a leaf within our garden in the playground. We revisited the fact that the insect is a living thing, therefore we need to respect it by not harming it. So, they sat back and observed the insect providing it respect.
We also watched the next short video which depicted an eagle teaching us about love, once again opening up conversation about the topic of love. We learned that we need to show love to the land because it gives us everything that we need to survive, including water, food and air. We expanded on this by talking about how we can get food through planting, and how we are provided with air from trees. Therefore, we need to reciprocate our love back to the land. We also revisited this as we wanted to show love back to the land by watering the plants within our garden as they to also need water to survive.
With us beginning this deeper dive into “The Seven Grandfather Teachings” we plan to continue learning about the five other teachings of bravery, honesty, wisdom, truth and humility; as we believe that these teachings are valuable and is beautifully aligned with “How Does Learning Happen” and its core values!
Both "How Does Learning Happen? Ontario's Pedagogy" and “The Seven Grandfather Teachings” emphasize the importance of relationships, respect, and holistic development in education.
