Indigenous Peoples and Disabilities Course Reflections, Summer 2022

Over this summer months I took two courses at OSU for the Art Education Masters Program. These were the elective courses in the program, each a shorter course but still packed with as much content as a regular semester course. The first course was a course titled “Reel Injuns,” which focused on Native American art and culture and how it has been portrayed in western culture in the past, and how that is changing in the present. The second course was Universal Design for Learning, which focused on the practices of creating an environment in which all students are capable of achieving through equity instead of equality.

The course on Native American culture allowed me to learn more about the Native American history and culture surrounding my local area of Columbus, Ohio as well as learning from different types of lived experiences. This course had a unit that focused in on the Newark Earthworks near my school, which I found very interesting. It provided a new understanding of the local area that both myself and my students have at least heard of, and possibly interacted with in the last few decades. This was combined with the assignments that asked grad students to think about the ways in which ideas or practices exist across cultures to see what is the same instead of what is different. I found the explanations by Brian Brayboy on the indigenous way of thinking about community to be very helpful, and worth encouraging in a classroom setting. The ideas he put forth focused on being a very “community first” type of education, which goes counter to the typical western American way of celebrating the individual above all else. I found that I appreciate the care that is put into that view of education, since I am often noticing that the typical western view tends to demand of the individual things that may seem to serve a community on the surface, though the intent is to serve another individual or other ends. Some ideas I found challenging was this idea of the difference between “indigenous science” and “western science.” I struggled through this at the beginning because it felt to me like the premise of indigenous science does seem more like the western science, with a caveat stating that sometimes we just can’t know things because they aren’t in the plan for us at this time. As I learned later, it began to make more sense to me as a way of thinking about why science would be used and to what ends instead of science being advanced for the sake of advancement, regardless of what effects it has on the earth. This concept tied in well with the focus I often have in my own classroom of recycling and reusing materials that may harm the earth in their disposal.

The second course that I took was Universal Design for Learning class. I greatly enjoyed this course. Given the difficulties of the current school year, I knew that this course would be one of the most valuable ones that I could take. The focus on creating a classroom environment, systems, and relationships that allow all students to succeed regardless of status or ability was something I was hoping to create in my classroom. The “rising tide lifts all boats” idea does come with a lot of front-end work to create the “tide,” but this course provided me with enough quality content that I could accomplish this work. On paper, I am teaching 4 courses (unofficially 7 with large differentiated groups that need separate preps) this year, and some of which are happening in the same room at the same time. The typical practice of lecture and demonstration based art education cannot function in this teaching environment. I struggled with the problem of finding time to accomplish all the front-end work throughout the summer. As a teacher there is often the problem of “one more thing” being added to your to-do list by someone else. I found the practice of designing with UDL very arduous at the beginning of the course. Learning the process of slowly transitioning into the UDL framework was quite helpful in assuaging the fears of starting the process. The goal is not to reinvent the entire course curriculum overnight, but to use what you have done in the past to modify bits and pieces until the entire course is transitioned. The opportunity to learn more about myself and the ADHD I have had my entire life was very meaningful to me this summer. This course taught me more about the social model of disability, which states that someone does not have a disability, but is disabled by society. Disabilities don’t exist all on their own; there has to be something (society, situation, relationships, etc.) that has created a barrier to success that impedes the progress of the individual. I have enacted a different method of creating sketchbooks for my students this year that would involve practices that would allow both myself and my students to stay better organized as a tool for assisting students to remove barriers that would stop them from completing and turning in their works. We are using a “bullet journal” style sketchbook that is going to be built over time in a paper folder to help organize concepts and tasks. I have also begun enacting more practices in the classroom that would specifically assist me as an ADHD teacher, but would also assist any of my students in completing their work in a more effective fashion as well.

Annotated Bibliography:

Some of the readings and video resources provided during these summer courses I found to be helpful in growing as an educator and student. A few of the readings involved sites like the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, which provided rich stocks of resources for learning more about methods and practices for both teaching and learning about the diverse cultures of indigenous peoples. Other readings like the like More Than Meets the Eye by Kleege involved reading about the lives of diversity of experience that the physically disabled experience in their day to day, and provided insight into how I can provide experiences that would benefit the disabled students in my classes.

Americans: A Dialogue Toolkit for Educators. Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. Accessed May 21, 2022. https://americanindian.si.edu/sites/1/files/pdf/education/NMAI-Americans-dialogue-toolkit.pdf

I found that the Smithsonian offered resources specifically for teachers through this pdf reading. I have found a specific unit plan that covers 3 60-minute modules related to their Americans exhibit. The unit plan offers a dialogue toolkit for educators that would be helpful in conducting conversations with students about the specific exhibit, but also in general. The 19-page PDF covers a lot of example questions that would encourage conversation between students and teachers to facilitate an understanding within the Americans exhibit, though they could also apply to any conversation designed to help students understand how they are alike and different to the Native Americans they are learning about. The PDF states:

“Dialogue acknowledges that there are different ways of knowing about any given subject … Because dialogue attempts to be a non-hierarchical mode of communication, a facilitator’s primary role is to uphold equality among all participants.” (Smithsonian, pp 4).

The reading also includes on page 7 some useful information on troubleshooting dialogue facilitation, which I think would be especially helpful when discussing subject matter that could cause discomfort or debate with the participants.

Atalay, S., Shannon, J., & Swogger, J. Journeys to Complete the Work. https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/books/s7526d43c.

The reading called “Journey to Complete the Work” explains that essentially the European colonialist mindset is that you own the land and the materials that reside on it, while in the indigenous mindset you are a caretaker of the land and part of it. The colonialist mindset seems to have this concept of “squatters rights,” in which all materials found on a location belong to the squatter if the earlier residents are no longer present, regardless of the intent behind the materials left behind. While progress has been made towards repatriating human remains to the related tribes, there is still much left to do. NAGRPA has started a good cause that can work well when both the institution and the tribes can work together. However, there seems to be more power on the side of the institution in regards to their ability to choose to disregard collected evidence by tribes. There seems to be a disconnect between the requirement for museums to complete an inventory of remains and objects and the ability of some museums with larger indigenous item collections to comply in the timely fashion. This can either come down to a matter of not enough time, or not enough man-power, to complete an accurate inventory. I had also not thought about the point made concerning the reburial traditions being new. It would make sense… I’m sure it wouldn’t have been something those past civilizations would plan for. Why would you assume someone would dig up your grave, and that you may need a ceremony for it? Since the indigenous culture is still alive and practicing, it does make sense that new traditions for new situations would need to arise.

Brayboy, B. [Ohio State Online]. (2019, September 24.) Interview – Brian Brayboy, Part 1 [VIDEO]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1ZJQmqiiD4&ab_channel=OhioStateOnline

Professor Brian Brayboy’s discussion of indigenous knowledge systems focused on 4 main concepts; epistemology (how do we think about knowledge), ontology (how do we engage in the world), axiology (what is beautiful and right), and the perpetuation of peoples. He stated that indigenous knowledge systems have a focus on the perpetuation of peoples, and are fundamentally about survival (Brayboy). The act of spreading the knowledge of what this place is and what it was for, and its connection to the history of all of Ohio I think would be important in the continued survival of the ancient Mound Builder peoples memory and its connection to the contemporary tribes that are their descendants. The video interview was covered these topics in regards to the Newark Earthworks and how it served as an example of this community focus to learning and education. The purpose of all cultures is to perpetuate oneself, and education is how this happens. It could be the way a verbal history is passed down, or the written documentation of practices that create systems to live by for future generations, or something else entirely. The perpetuation does not have to be at the expense of other cultures, but often times the western philosophy of perpetuation does fall into this practice. The indigenous culture practice of creating something that will outlast oneself to leave something meaningful to the future generations would be a valuable concept to adopt more fully into western culture.

Kleege, G. (2018). Chapter 2: Touching on Science. More Than Meets the Eye: What Blindness Brings to Art. (pp. 29-42). Oxford University Press.

This chapter of the book begins with a description of a hypothetical blind person who, through an operation, is given the ability to see in some capacity. It continues by explaining the struggles a formerly blind person goes through due to the lack of support and understanding that is often times present from researchers who see things as a binary of “sighted” vs “blind,” and fail to miss the in-betweens. The chapter goes on the cover how previously sighted people who have lost and then regained their sight also find struggles in the transition from one way of interacting with the world to another. The chapter further explains how the assumption that all people know how to view and understand pictures is also a form of bias, citing several historical examples. This reminds me of Magritte’s “Treachery of Images,” which is alluded to in the chapter. Often the blind find that their eyes can “lie” when they begin to comprehend 2D images as other sighted people do. This has given me some additional things to think about when I teach contour line drawing. I often make the analogy that it is like taking your finger or a laser pointer and following the edges of the object itself, but this could also be adjusted to accommodate for students without sight. I could also explain that students can literally touch the object itself, following the physical ridges and edges of an object and mapping them onto a 2D surface. It may not be a perfect method, but I think it would at least be a start to adjusting a lesson for both sighted and blind individuals in my classroom.

Nelson, L. L. (2021). Design and deliver: planning and teaching using universal design for learning. Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.

This reading covers the premise that UDL is not a list of steps on a checklist, but a framework that allows learners to take ownership through an understanding of their learning. UDL requires teachers to investigate how the learning environment & lessons is designed, and how to communicate and through what tools and resources will learners learn. When something is planned, it takes the form of understanding from visualization to solution, while design begins with the solution in mind and moves the visualization. All learners inherently learn differently from one another, and all learners learn based on the content. There are many factors like student interest and perceived skill that affect learning. UDL has a focus on removing barriers to allow students to complete the work they must do in an effective manner that acknowledges their learning differences without belittling them. This practice of changing the learning environment might also include alterations of how relationships interact in class, or when done online.

Novak, K. (2016). UDL Now! A Teacher’s Guide to Applying Universal Design for Learning in Today’s Classroom. “2 Types of Learning Standards & UDL Implementation.”

This reading cover why it is necessary to design lessons with the standards in mind, and how to use ICS (Integrated Comprehensive Systems for Equity) in order to build UDL into a classroom setting. The ICS practice comes with 4 non-negotiables, including a focus on equity, aligning staff and students, transforming teaching and learning, and leveraging policies and funding. ICS provides a step by step model that ensures that school systems are capable of supporting and scaling up the best practices like UDL. The two types of standards included in this reading are a content standard and a method standard. A content standard is one that requires specific knowledge, and a method standard is one that focuses on a specific task or means. The verbs written in a standard in helping to determine what type of standard you would be working with. Content standards might include something like “describe,” “analyze,” “differentiate,” or “discuss.” On the other side of this, a method standard may include language like “perform,” “solve,” “or “create.” This reading also covers the use of scaffolding and how each student should be provided with it if the standard asks for them to demonstrate their learning. The most important thing is that the students are showing progression of skills and knowledge, but it isn’t necessarily important that they do the work exactly as stated to them. Implementing UDL practices would start with the standard to be analyzed, determining the audience for the standard, and to determine what aspect of the standards students are required to know, and which they must do.

A concept map of some of the inform learned this summer is below. The text is small, so a rtf document has also been attached for reading they key points.

Indigenous Peoples and Disabilities Course Reflections - Summer 2022.rtf

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#Annotatedbibliography #ClassReflections #ConceptMapping