Clint Johnston: Teachers have an important role to play in reconciliation

Opinion: Children respond to lessons about the history of residential schools because they have such a strong sense of justice

Like me, most non-Indigenous Canadians never learned anything about the history of residential schools when they were students. We graduated ignorant of atrocious historical facts: that over 150,000 Indigenous children were taken from their families and forced to attend institutions designed “to kill the Indian in the child,” that at least 6,000 of those children died and many were buried on school grounds, and that countless more later died from the trauma they suffered there.

But now, thanks to the courage of thousands of survivors who shared their stories before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and because of the shocking evidence from ground-penetrating radar studies in Kamloops, Kuper Island, and other sites, these terrible truths have come to light. Ignorance is no longer an excuse. Denial is not an option.

As Canadians, we are in a painful but necessary period of national truth-telling, reckoning with the past so we can build a more just future. Teachers have an important role to play, and we take our responsibility seriously.

This Friday, on the second National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, I’ll be wearing an orange T-shirt that says “Reconciliation: A journey for all Canadians.” It’s a journey that B.C. teachers have collectively been on for more than 20 years, and one that we must continue.

In 1998, the B.C. Teachers’ Federation launched a province-wide initiative to help improve the public education experience for Indigenous students, as they were more likely to be identified with special needs, more likely to drop out of school, and less likely to graduate than their non-Indigenous peers.

The first steps involved researching the ways in which our education system is failing Indigenous students, educating ourselves about the devastating impacts of colonialism, and — hardest of all — confronting the anti-Indigenous racism in our society, schools, homes, and hearts. This continues to be a complex process of learning and unlearning, one which will be ongoing for decades into the future. Together we have taken significant steps along this journey.

Walk into virtually any school in B.C. today and you will see vibrant, visual representations of the arts and cultures of local First Nations. Indigenous content is now infused across the provincial curriculum. Courses in 18 different Indigenous languages have been developed and approved for credit. Some public schools named after colonizers have been given new Indigenous names. The BCTF delivers hundreds of professional development workshops on Indigenous education every school year. To be certified, student teachers are required to take at least one course on Indigenous history and culture. Although not yet funded or implemented, plans for a new graduation requirement will ensure all B.C. students will have completed some Indigenous-focused course work by the end of Grade 12.

These are only some of the important changes made in the past two decades, and they are showing results. In 1999, only 31 per cent of Indigenous students graduated with their Grade 8 cohort. By 2021, the graduation rate for Indigenous students was up to 63 per cent, although it was 89 per cent for non-Indigenous students. While there has been a significant improvement, we still have a lot of work to do.

Despite the many challenges, I hear from teachers across B.C. who are heartened and inspired by our students as they guide them on this journey of reconciliation. Parents and the media sometimes question whether we should teach the history of residential schools to elementary school children, but teachers know that it is necessary and how to deliver it in an age-appropriate way.

Children respond positively to these lessons because they have such a strong sense of justice. They readily understand that it was simply wrong to seize youngsters from their mothers’ arms and take them far away to residential schools where they were forbidden to speak to their sisters and brothers. They can imagine how it must have felt, and they empathize strongly.

Today, students are going home and teaching their parents about the hidden histories that were censored from our education in years past. This gives me and teachers across B.C. such tremendous hope because we know that the truth has to be told before reconciliation will be possible.

As Justice Murray Sinclair said at the release of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission report: “It is precisely because education was the primary tool of oppression of Aboriginal people and mis-education of all Canadians, that we have concluded that education holds the key to reconciliation.”

Clint Johnston is president of the B.C. Teachers’ Federation.