Jenna Wiebe (Blog 1)

BLOG – Chapter 1 – Page 1-13

After reading the first chapter of the textbook, I realize how different my experience of schooling has been compared to those in the Attawapiskat First Nation.  Although I grew up in a small town, I had the privilege of attending a provincially funded school, equipped with both a gym and a library, and heated classrooms and hallways.  Unfortunately, this was not the case for those in Attawapiskat, as stated on page 4 that “the community had been waiting to have a new school built after the old one was closed in 2000 due to site contamination”, which led to the prolonged use of portable classrooms  (4).  When I now look at the schools I used to attend, the elementary and the high school, they both have at least one portable classroom on the property.  However, this is not due to the contamination of any part of the school itself, as was the case in Attawapiskat, but due to the fact that the town’s population is growing and there is simply not enough room within the school itself to keep up with the influx of students.  In this case, some students have to travel outside to reach other facilities, like the students in Attawapiskat were required to.  However, facilities like a gym and library are still available to the students of these portable classrooms within a very short walking distance, perhaps unlike those in Attawapiskat. 

On page 2 the text states, “there is a common belief in Canadian society (and beyond) that education is essential to ensure a good quality of life and that education holds the key to an individual’s success”, a concept that had been taught to me growing up (2).  When I was younger, it was expected that when I grew up I would attend a University; and in turn become educated to create a financially stable future for myself.  This notion ties in to the later ideas implied in the text that parents want a better life for their children (2).  I believe I had been taught this because my parents had not attended University and wanted to be sure that I would have the opportunity to experience a higher level of education and establish a career for myself.

An important character in this chapter is introduced on page 5, where Shannen Koostachin created a movement that “is considered to be the largest children’s rights movement in the history of Canada” and which focused on the aspect of creating “schools with quality, culturally based education for First Nations students” (5).  I feel that Koostachin used a key tool in her campaign—the use of social media, which allowed people to become aware of the situation in Attawapiskat, where a school had been promised to be built in 2008 and was not yet an actuality (5).

This first chapter of the text allowed me to grasp a better understanding of issues related to sociology in education.  Prior to reading this chapter, I had a vague understanding of education-related issues on reserves, but I had not heard of the incident that occurred in Attawapiskat.  I believe it is important to understand and have a knowledge of issues that have taken place in the past in order to eliminate the recurrence of these issues in the future. 

DISCUSSION QUESTION:

  If it had not been for Shannen’s campaign, would a new school have been built in Attawapiskat?  When?