Top 5 takeaways from SEP

While knee-deep in packing, sifting through sweaters and jackets and cans of chickpeas, not only is it difficult to decide which will help me survive more in the throws of North Spirit Lake winter, it's difficult to believe that Teach for Canada's Summer Enrichment Program (SEP) ended a week ago. It seems like yesterday that I arrived, surrounded by 31 other teachers, who like myself, were teetering precariously between nervousness and excitement as they contemplated their future as a teacher in the north. Looking back now, it's hard to remember all the details. Rather it's the feelings that stick. Instead of letting those feelings find their way back to their usual crannies, I'll draw on them to make sense of those three weeks of little sleep, hikes, basket making, language learning, fishing, feasts, zumba classes and lectures packed with the kind of knowledge you don't usually learn in school. So here are my top 5 takeaways from SEP.

1. Stories are powerful.

We were told many stories throughout SEP, but the one that sticks out the most was about fish. Eric, the storyteller, began the story by telling us to open our eyes. He told us that if we want to find tradition, all we have to do is look. He then proceeded to tell about a time he went fishing with a local First Nations man and was confused to see him taking his largest catch of the day and throwing it across the lake. Why would he do that? Eric was asking himself, but before he could ask, an eagle swooped down and carried away that fish. Eric learned that his fishing companion had strategically caught fish for various animals. That he was honouring different animals and practising ways of being that have been around for centuries. This, Eric explained to us, is traditional knowledge. While this story is about fish, it's also about perspective. About how easy it is to forget that what one person thinks is right or logical can differ greatly from what another person thinks. And as we know, when a group of people have been told their way of thinking and being is less valid than another group, it has ongoing consequences for those people. So what can you do when people perceive and think about the world differently? Pay attention, I suppose, and develop double vision. I think stories help us develop double vision. I also think that it's our job as educators to ensure that our students and ourselves are exposed to as many different types of stories as possible. That our students are exposed to stories that reflect and validate their way of being and thinking -- stories which have in many cases been stolen or suppressed for Indigenous learners -- and also stories that are completely different from what they know. This exposure, I hope, will enable us all to better appreciate difference in its various forms.


2. "Hurt people hurt people".

This take-away is really about empathy and self care. There is a proverb I remember from my childhood: Do onto others as you would have them do onto you. But what happens when people don't do onto you how they would want you to do onto them. What if people instead do onto you what has been done onto them: hurt. This, I learned, is lateral violence. When a person is working through unresolved feelings of shame, anger, and/or rage and instead of finding healthy outlets for those feelings, that person begins to harm members of their own community. This harm can be starting rumours, passive aggressive behaviours and/or emotional abuse. This term was explained within the context of a workplace, and we were told that we will most likely encounter people who are working through feelings of frustration and anger. Importantly, lateral violence is not unique to First Nations communities. Workplace bullying and toxicity can happen anywhere; however, lateral violence does seem to happen with greater frequently in communities where people are marginalized and facing ongoing oppression. So what is useful about this information? Why is it valuable to know that "hurt people hurt people". It's a valuable lesson to understand because greater awareness can lead to more informed action. And if we are more informed about the motivations behind the harmful behaviour of others, as educators we can empathize with our students and/or coworkers who are in pain while also de-personalizing their actions. We do not need to internalize what other people say about us. We possess the ability to see ourselves, and consequently to be the version of ourselves that we wish to be.


3. The brain, like the heart, is a muscle.

Two teachers from the previous Teach for Canada cohort led a very useful session on growth mindset. For those who are unfamiliar, growth mindset refers to the idea that intelligence is not fixed; it is the belief that we can become smarter and smarter over time through taking risks, making mistakes, and learning from them. This adorable video explains the difference between a fixed and growth mindset. While I was already familiar with the idea of a growth mindset I appreciated the recap and emphasis on it. I also appreciated taking the time to talk about how teachers can develop and model that mindset to our students. After talking about many challenges that we will be facing, it was good to spend time talking about how we are going to fail and how those failures are going to make us better. It's empowering to know that effort and caring does matter, and that our brains, just like our hearts, can grow.


4. Thriving is a tightrope walk.

Perhaps one of the most important take-aways from SEP was to consciously and consistently take care of oneself. Self-care cannot be stressed enough. As teachers, or any professional, or any person for that matter, we need to be able to take care of ourselves. Part of the gruelling application process for this job were multiple interviews that were meant to determine if we possess six qualities: humility, a genuine love of children, optimism, community-mindedness, an adventurous spirit, and resilience. Resilience, I have learned is not possible without self-care. Resilience isn't about experiencing anger or frustration or seemingly insurmountable pain. Resilience is about persisting through pain; it is about transforming those emotions into personal strength. Feeling is not weakness. Feeling enables growth. Our students are incredibly resilient. They remind me all the time that it is possible to take hurt and turn it into self-sustaining strength. This process, as I have experienced it, and witnessed it in others is not always a smooth road. Thriving takes practice. Thriving takes time. We cannot go from 0 to 100, and that is not necessarily resilience. Resilience is going from 0 to 5, 5 to 10, 10 to 20, 20 to 40, 40 to 80. Resilience is not giving up on yourself or the world. It's saying it will be better, and you will be part of that better. Angela Lee Duckworth has a great video about resilience, or more specifically what she calls grit.

5. Hope is not a noun; it is a verb.

Last but not least, these three weeks reminded me that hope isn't so much a state of mind, but a climb. Optimism doesn't mean being happy and positive every single moment of every single day. At least not for me. (Perhaps I'm a bad optimist though). Optimism for me is about sifting through moments -- the highs and the lows -- and distilling good from it. It's about seeing people for their good. It's about seeing every misstep, every mishap, even every tragedy as a force that possesses the ability to push you forward towards who you want to be, and what you want the world to be. I would be lying if I said I am not angry some of the time. Angry that it's 2016, and I have never walked alone at night without being afraid. That I been catcalled too many times to count in my life. Been told that I am beautiful and a b---- in the same mouthful. That I do not need to look to come across thousands of youtube comments stating how disgusting LGBTQ* people are. Angry that many First Nations youth are living in extremely impoverished conditions without clean water and access to the internationally acclaimed education system Canada has to offer. But then I take a breath. I calm down my fiery spirit and choose every day to see good in people. To see the hurt that lives inside them is the same hurt that lives inside me, and that love that lives inside them is the same love that lives inside me. That is my comfort and that is my strength. And so it all comes full circle. Their stories are not so different from my stories. And that fear, that anger, that shame becomes connection, becomes universal, becomes truth. That is what helps me keep a smile on my face and be strong for my students. Because I genuinely believe that hope, like change, is an action that we can realize through living it.

So there they are, my top takeaways from SEP.  Thanks for the tips TfC. I think I am as ready as I'll ever be to teach up north. The next time you hear from me, I'll no doubt be in my new home.  I am so excited to meet my students and the wonderful people who live in North Spirit Lake.