After reading chapter 1 of Sociology of Education in Canada, I was astonished at the ongoing events going in the Attawapiskat First Nation community. I was equally ashamed at the lack of prior knowledge or awareness of the extreme circumstances that are occurring only a province away. It is embarrassing as a future teacher how little knowledge we may have of cultural backgrounds that happen to unlike our own. In all likelihood we will be teaching students from various backgrounds knowing little about their customs are how they are raised.
The lack of urgency from the government with regards to the Attawapiskat First Nation is unsettling. It is mind boggling that in a state of emergency it would take over a month to respond and intervene (pg. 3). Imagine the outrage if the Red Cross waited a week let alone a month to respond to victims of natural disasters such as hurricanes and earthquakes. To compound the issue, was this being the third state of emergency in as many years which is a damning indictment of the negligence of our government (pg. 3).
I couldn’t imagine the helpless feeling that must have overwhelmed the community. Not only was their community in disarray, they were deemed unimportant by their own government. Lack of adequate housing or a safe school was not considered a pressing issue (pg. 4). This is appalling that a government could so blatantly turn their back on entire community. To be totally disregarded by your own government has to have an impact on your self-worth. Seeing as seemingly no one cares about your well-being must weigh on the psych of the community and its residents.
Discussion Question: As future teachers we have experienced some sort of privilege to get to where we are now such as socio-economic status. How can we relate to students in our classrooms who may come from a lower socio-economic background? What as teachers can we do to help students who have more on their plate than they can handle?
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