Digital Storytelling and Aboriginal Learners
Storytelling has always been a means to pass knowledge and teaching to the younger generation in Indigenous communities. When used in teaching contexts, stories are used in ways to educate young people about the values and beliefs that First Nations consider important for their members. (McCue, 2013)
With the release of the findings and recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2015, these teachings are even more important to preservice Indigenous cultures in Canada to teach youth about ethics, concepts and practices found within each nation. (What We Have Learned: Principles of Truth and Reconciliation, 2015) The issue at hand, however, is how can storytelling move into methods that will engage youth in the 21st century? Using digital platforms, traditional storytelling is being created to continue to preserve culture and pass on teachings to a new generation of youth through. These creations using authentic platforms will be available for current and future generations to come. |
Benefits
The immediate benefits of digital storytelling is providing an authentic representation of Aboriginal beliefs and values. The popular image of Aboriginal culture seen in media influences student perceptions and has caused damage in Aboriginal peoples self-image and confidence in their own heritage and culture. In an effort break the shackles of colonialism (Hopkins, 2006) and to work towards achieving some of the goals of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, storytelling needs to be introduced into classroom settings.
The benefits of introducing include:
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Aboriginal digital storytelling has many benefits in the classroom. Perhaps the greatest benefit is students, whether they identify as FNMI or not, will gain new knowledge into the teachings and preservation of culture as recommended by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission as well as curriculums found across Canada. Students will gain a variety of 21st-century skills in the areas of composition, technology, production, collaboration as well as inquiry and reasoning as they read, create and share digitized versions of traditional stories. As well, students will provide opportunity for traditional stories and teachings to be created in authentic manners for students in the modern school system.
One way digital storytelling can be brought into the classroom is through the ongoing trend of gamification. Adapting some of the approaches as described by Weston and Biin, a game provides engagement as a means of learning. Those creating the stories are taking the role of the storyteller while those playing become the learner gaining knowledge that one day they will pass to the next generation. An example of traditional storytelling brought into the digital age is Path of the Elders, a game that educated students in the history and culture of Treaty 9 Nations. Another example of digital storytelling as a means for healing, understanding and preservation of history and culture can be found in project similar to Portraits of our Elders, a collection of stories as shared of the lives and times of elders along the James Bay coast in Ontario. Students gain a variety of skills that are also found in the Ancestor project describes by Weston and Biin and the growing and adapting media utilized by Aboriginal peoples as explained by Baltruschat. |
The video above is an example of Aboriginal storytelling being integrated into a classroom using traditional and digital means.
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Challenges
There are some challenges that are currently affecting the use of digital storytelling creation in the 21st century. The largest hurdle is the lack of developed curriculum across Canada that incorporates Aboriginal teachings and values. (Weston and Biin, 2013) In Ontario, the most recent versions of curriculum suggest teachers include Aboriginal teachings and stories into classrooms but there is little direction as to how this is to be done. The only Aboriginal curriculum available for teachers in the province is the Native studies curriculum, which as all open courses meaning there is no obligations for students to take these courses. The TRC has suggested that all students take an Aboriginal studies course in school, but this has yet to be implemented.
A second challenge includes access to resources in order to digitize stories and provide students with the tool necessary to do so. (Willox, 2012) In many Aboriginal communities, schools are often funded as federal schools, meaning the amount of funding is far less than what is available to provincially-funded schools. This means that students may not have access to sources that would allow them to easily digitize stories or edit them in a manner to develop, preserve and share. The last challenge is to allow the creation of materials that will interest and engage 21st century youth. (Baltruschat, 2004) With APTN being the only Aboriginal network in Canada, there is limited airtime for Aboriginal-created content. As well, with APTN having a smaller budget and less revenue than other networks, there is much difficulty competing for viewership with other networks that target a broader audience. |
Conclusion
Canada's Aboriginal people are the fastest growing segment in Canada but have some of the fewest cultural resources available for access. There needs to be a large-scale effort in the preservation of culture, language and teaching that reflect the needs for a 21st-century population. Through digital storytelling, these aspects can be preserved for future generations, but they need to be created in manners that are relevant and engaging to their modern audiences. Through expansion of opportunities ad exposure, greater allocation of resources and refinement and modernization of curriculums, the recommendations of the TRC and can be satisfied as Aboriginal youth work to preserve their identities in the 21st century and beyond.
To continue your Digital Storytelling journey take the link below to Digital Storytelling with ELL Learners.