Today we had the lovely Kelsey MacDonald speak to our class. Kelsey is the Indigenous Lead Resource & Land Based Teacher K-12 in the SD57 Indigenous Education Department. In this position she helps other teachers incorporate Indigenous and land-based learning in their classroom.
In her presentation she taught us a bit about herself, her job, what resources are available, and we sang the river song together. Hearing her speak about her experiences and the path that has led her here was inspiring, she is genuinely passionate about bringing more learning outdoors and embracing Indigenous cultures. I have heard from many people that Kelsey is so helpful and vital to know, she helps whenever she can or points you in the next direction. building community inside the classroom is really important but I think it’s easy to forget how important the community outside the classroom is and the wonderful resources that can be found in our district.
When I was in grade school there wasn’t much talk about digital footprint because the internet and social media was still so new. We were told to be careful what we put on the internet because future employers could see it. These days there is a lot more emphasis around online safety, it’s important to be conscious of your digital footprint, what information you put on the internet, and how it might be used.
On average, parents will post more than 1,000Ā images of their children onlinebefore they’re old enough to haveĀ their own social media accounts,Ā according to a new report on the digital lives of kids. And by 18, those kids will have created upwardĀ of 70,000 posts themselves.
A lot of kids will have a digital footprint before they even get to kindergarten; being on the internet before they even know what the internet is. Since this is different to previous generations there is little known on how this will effect children and society long term. That is why it’s important to children about their digital footprint at a young age.
As younger generations continue to experience the trials and errors of life both publicly and permanently, how we assess digital footprint must evolve
For me as a teacher it’s important that I help my students understand and protect their digital footprint. For this reason teachers have to be careful when posting students’ work online because, while it may be helpful for another educator to see, if you’re not careful it can cause a safety and privacy issue. Some things to considering before posting a student’s work online are:
Copyright & Ownership: the student owns their work.
Identifiability, content and risks: ensure work contains no identifiable information (ex. metadata, file name, location)
Storage Location & Risks: consider risk of any online posting (ex. wider sharing, non-canadian housed servers, US patriot act implications, etc)
Explicit informed consent & risks: legal & ethical responsibility to getĀ informedĀ consent (consider that word āĀ informedā¦ do parents/guardians understand the risks?)
Safety and protection plan: is there a plan to respond to an e-safety incident?
Media waiver (likely) non-coverage: consult with school Principal
Digital footprints aren’t all bad, this blog is part of mine and with it I can interact with the teaching community, learn more, and strengthen connections. Digital presence can be powerful, it’s just a matter of making educated decisions about what is in your footprint.
Newly elected school trustee, Erica McLean, came to talk to us today about her point of view on Indigenous learners, systemic racism, trauma, and poverty in the Prince George area.
Image credit: Prince George Citizen
Erica grew up on the Gitxsan reserve, worked in over 30 schools and is now a school trustee for SD57. In her presentation she discussed SD57 special advisors report from 2021 that addressed racism in the school district. The report states that “there is a clear and palpable lack of trust and hard feelings between many of the Indigenous stakeholders in Prince George, the First Nations and the District.” Erica had an issue with this report and said āI donāt think we have a systemic racism problem. I think we have a trauma and poverty problem.ā
Erica implies that the generational trauma from residential school, racism and inflicted poverty is more to blame than systemic racism. I think it’s important to note that she never said systemic racism wasn’t bad or present in our city, just that it’s not the problem.
Even if the district does belive that systemic racism is the biggest problem, we should be getting to the cause of the issue and address it. I think this is the point Erica is trying to make and I agree with it.
As future educators our view on this problem is vital. Trying to tackle systemic racism will take decades and can seem daunting. However, fixing poverty and addressing trauma is something we can do today and will have lasting effects into the future.
