Lecture 1 - Education Before Schools (1).pdf

1 Lecture 1 - Education *before* Schools: Informal Education in Indigenous & Early Settler Communities (Reminder: lectures & Powerpoints may not read well on phones) Lecture Overview: 1)Intro - what *is* "education"? 2) Education and Indigenous societies 3) Education & early settler societies 4) Con...

1 Lecture 1 - Education *before* Schools: Informal Education in Indigenous & Early Settler Communities (Reminder: lectures & Powerpoints may not read well on phones) Lecture Overview: 1)Intro - what *is* "education"? 2) Education and Indigenous societies 3) Education & early settler societies 4) Connection with/questions on the reading Introduction– A fundamental principle of this course: All societies have education. All societies educate. Some societies look down on the education of others. If we had met in person, I would have read the follow land acknowledgment: The department of history at the University of Winnipeg acknowledges that we live and work in the ancestral and traditional territories of the Anishinaabe, Anishininew, Assiniboine, Cree, Dakota, Dene, Métis Nations. We also acknowledge that the discipline of history has been used to support programs of dispossession and assimilation directed against Indigenous peoples. Teaching and learning Indigenous histories allows us to confront colonial history as well as honour and respect the people who have called this place home for millennia. You’ll notice, in our department, we have included not just references to *who* originally inhabited the land, BUT ALSO how *history* has been used to hide such facts and to dispossess and control Indigenous people. Among many other things, this course will engage with these questions. It looks at education not just in EuroCanadian terms, but also in Indigenous terms. Specifically, we will look at:    methods and principles of Indigenous education (1st lecture) ways Euro-Canadian society aimed to impose *their* ideas of education on Indigenous People – (Reading in 1st lecture; later Lecture on residential schooling). Recent issues in Indigenous education – Lecture 11 (inequalities & resistance take new forms) To begin, consider: what *is* education?  any system of training/learning that fits you to survive in your particular society  *our* society today? – learning is extremely *formalized* -takes place in *institutions* - courses, certificates, degrees *tell* others we are “educated” -our education? - geared to fit us for *paid employment* Contrast with – the cases we'll consider today  where TODAY we want education to get jobs, to get money, to (finally!) get the things we need to survive (pay for food, clothes, shelter)  the education of THESE earlier societies - taught them to how to acquire these things DIRECTLY (i.e. teach you to gather/produce your own food, make your own clothes, build your own shelter) So…to some extent – societies seek the same fundamental things EXCEPT – today *WE* want many more *things* - this has made a high division of labour/cash economy indispensable today (i.e. almost *everyone* specializes & we *purchase* things/services we can’t produce ourselves) 2 - *both* these features (high division of labour & cash economy) are (generally) *absent* in the societies this lecture will consider (In fact, there is *some* division – by gender/ by age - *sometimes* ability BUT *mostly* individuals are “generalists” – i.e. many have many skills)  Is education ever about MORE than pathway to basic goods? – yes! – in past & present societies: 1) education to learn social norms, dangers, getting along with others 2) education for a richer *interior* life / to make *sense* of world around us 3) education - for life of the mind/spirit - religion/ spiritual practices, story-telling Examples of these will show up a little in this lecture also. Word about this lecture: I’m going to be *generalizing* about informal / non-institutional ed today    generalizing about Indigenous societies AND about early settler societies (“settlers”? = all those immigrants who came here from somewhere else) both groups encompassed great variations (the Cree, the Wendat, the Haida would not want to be considered all the same, any more than the French, the English, and the Dutch would have!) This course respects this principle of difference and variation, yet also (due to time constraints, etc.) will focus on some general commonalities. (It is understood we could make many more courses on any of these individual groups!) Education & Indigenous Children Some general background / Key features of Indigenous societies: a) they lived off what the land provided – *hunted* large and small game, fished – *gathered* berries, roots, plants – vast knowledge of uses of plants – ALSO cultivated crops – where and when possible Stop to consider: People often assume that agriculture was “foreign” to Indigenous peoples, that it was Europeans who introduced it to them. Reality: lots of examples of Indigenous agriculture. The Wendat (secondary reading is based on them) provide just one example in the eastern part of the country. In fact, Indig peoples refer to the age old practice of planting “the three sisters” –SLIDE 2 – corn, beans & squash. Squash – 1st domesticated 8-10,000 yrs ago. Planting the 3 together – showed the intelligence, practical know-how and resourcefulness of these people. Consider – beans can climb the corn; squash spreads out around base of corn; prevents weeds from growing. Today science tells us beans also deposit nitrogen in the soil (which maybe Indigenous science already knew!). SLIDE 3 (has comments on video) -Watch video clip (2:46) on ancient agriculture at the Forks. Link here: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/ancient-farming-evidence-found-at-winnipeg-museum-site1.1359171 SLIDE 4– more evidence of agriculture around present-day Lockport - maybe as early as the 1400’s 3 To repeat, there were (and are) great variations among Indigenous peoples across Turtle Island (“North America”) Eg. #1 Your first reading (on 17th c Jesuits trying to “educate” Indigenous kids) is based on a group – the Wendat (of present-day Quebec/southern Ontario/northern New England states)– who had developed agriculture to such a point that they lived more or less settled lives in villages. These villages were often as large as European towns of the same time period. See – SLIDES 5 & 6 Eg. #2 The southern West Coast (BC)–great contrast to the climate and resources of, say, the Prairies - temperate climate – no harsh cold - access to rivers year round – plentiful salmon! - both led to more settled life in permanent villages, time for *art* (totem poles here) -some also involved greater social hierarchy – some even had slaves b)many other groups were “nomadic” – What does this mean? - –(*not* just aimless wandering around!) -had predictable, seasonal migration patterns – based on vast knowledge of the geographic regions they inhabited, which resources could be accessed where & when: 1) summer – move towards rivers/lakes/ocean - fish available when rivers running -often at meeting point of two rivers - natural access pt - these points also gathering points for groups from different directions 2) winter –dispersed into smaller groups moved inland (away from rivers) to hunt larger game c)small family size (compared to Euro-settlers) - maybe 4 children per family – surprising to you? (we always assume more children in the past?) - key reality for these people – regular travel/movement - could not carry more than one small child/ family (while moving for game) -essentially – children are a *burden* - methods for limiting family size *did* exist – long periods of nursing (up to 4 yrs) - limits on sexual activity – women experimented with plants to induce abortion There were also natural limiters on population – malnutrition and disease (also true in Europe) - would limit parents’ fertility AND the chance of infant survival - many mothers died in childbirth (as in Europe) Key point – to understand education, must look at adult roles: 1) what *adults* do typically determines what children need to learn Adult work was gendered (some exceptions could occur) So…*generally* men and women did different things “Men’s work?” – work that was done “away from the home base,” -required *mobility* / ability to be *absent* for periods Eg. - hunting (larger game), trade with other nations, going to war 4 “Women’s work”? – work that could be done close to “home base" (the defining factor –care for infant children - no one can replace nursing mother) - BUT – they were *not* 1950s "housewives"! - yes, they cared for (the smallest) children BUT -women also did *productive* work – from the hunt they: - produced *clothing*, tools - produced food – SLIDE 7 -roles not entirely rigid - Cree women on the prairies also trapped smaller game like rabbits, etc. -occasionally a woman might join a buffalo hunt (though not typical) - interesting point – women were also the ones who typically cultivated crops Education of Indigenous children? - teachers? – might be mothers, fathers BUT also grandparents - consider: the productive work of younger men and women was so important that it might often make sense to draw on older generation for the teaching of children - no formal *schools*– when introduced to European-style schools – had no word for “school”! -some groups referred to schools as: “going to sit!” – says a lot about our formal ed?! -BUT kids received *informal* ed – from early ages What were the goals of this informal education? – to teach children: 1) to survive *physically* within the hunter/gatherer economy AND 2) to survive *socially* amongst the group General *approaches* to Indig training/ed (could call these Indigenous “pedagogies”): - offer a substantial *contrast* with Euro-settlers – education here, was: 1) more *indirect* & non-coercive indirect? – less focus on "lessons" - rather *modeling* of right behaviour not a lot of *compulsion*/force AND it was *rare* to use physical punishment [fascinating! - missionaries were *critical* of Indigenous people being “too *kind*” to their kids!] 2) this education also included *praise* for all efforts at imitation - encourage even vaguely right behavior! -instead of physical punishment - preference for use of *warnings* (re: significant dangers) - at worst? when right behaviour not followed - ridicule/*gentle* shaming was used - a powerful tool for shaping human behavior eg. Even much later – in 1940s, a researcher studying Plains Cree society- recorded this story: - young boy - when he disliked his food – was in habit of throwing himself on his back/hollering - (tantrum) -rather than physically punish - parents started putting a container of water behind 5 boy @ mealtime - when he pushed himself back – got drenched with water! - worse? – he became object of laughter - tended to help kids “adjust”! 3) respect for *individual autonomy*- another contrast w. Euro-Canadian traditions European child-rearing- many *rules* & constant admonishment/advice giving -*don't* do this/that - "get away from the fire!" – “don't run on the ice!” - many Indigenous cultures - let the child learn by doing – [Europeans would take much longer to think of this! (progressive ed) – later in course] - let her *experience* that fire is hot, let him see that the river is cold in the fall, etc What were the methods of this education?: A) For youngest kids - *Play* as education -children in all societies play - adults frequently *manipulate* play to educational purposes -in Indigenous societies – play was used systematically / *deliberate* BUT - wasn't done overtly – youngest kids would never be aware of this as “education” eg. bows & arrows (given to boys) – SLIDE 8 - small replicas of adult bows - given larger ones as child grew and gained in strength - one boy’s recollection on B.C. Coast: "my brother made them for me and we used to go out in canoes...[after the salt-water duck - which they would shoot when the birds dived] "We go to where they are diving... and get our bows and arrows ready for them when they come up." -each boy's arrows were marked with special markings - so they'd know who had made a strike -another toy for Plains boys - wooden "wheel" made of twigs – heavy & solid - one boy would roll it forcefully along ground - others would try to hit with bows/arrows -game, yes, BUT also taught excellent skill of learning to hit a moving target What about girls? – toys also used to habituate/orient kids to adult roles: -eg. evidence that Wendat women made small pestles for girls – these were similar to the kind adult women used to grind up corn – other examples?: Dolls from corn husks/ doll clothes also given to some Indigenous girls - accustomed/oriented them to future roles as mothers (Look on last slide – upper corner) – example from 19thc American mission -later missionaries were aware that girls used dolls to learn *Indigenous* forms of mothering – they used photos like this one to show who was holding their baby “correctly” – funny, the Indigenous cradleboards this girl is imitating meant mothers could actually *do* other things with their free hands! BUT also note: SLIDE 8- older girl in same photo - girls didn't need dolls for long! caring for younger siblings went on in many societies - even Euro-settlers -(again, mothers - had more skilled work to do) - apart from youngest infants - child care often performed by older siblings (even boys could care for younger children – especially if earlier in birth order) as kids grew...there was also: 6 B) education for more productive roles in society: -needed to learn to replace their mothers/fathers as they aged & ALSO to help out where they could already - guided by the 3 L's: "looking, listening, learning" - not long after, they were helping – Another way to say it: Kids were watching and imitating - SLIDE 9 (Dene boy fishing fr canoe) - girls did similar things - watched women cutting up meat, drying it, pounding it into powder - became pemmican ways children could observe: 1) boys accompany fathers on fishing trips BC Coast: went along and had target practice (with bows), shooting at floating weeds One man recalled: "A boy would be taught to sit perfectly still at the prow of the canoe until he was signaled by a smart shake of the [boat] to up and shoot." If the effort failed because he lost his balance or snagged his bow on the [edge of the canoe] his father would encourage him: 'Get up, raise your bow and shoot [at the same time]' - his voice always low and full of patience. When [the boy] finally succeeded [even if by accident hitting some weeds without aiming] his father would praise him generously.' slightly older boys - caught their first salmon (West Coast) - again praised lavishly - fish cut up into many tiny portions so all siblings & adult relations could sample it! --- similar with girls' first berry picking excursion 2) berry picking - common activity for children - simple, didn't require speed/agility/skill mostly time-consuming - good use of child's labour -some children - trained by mothers (not a tough job!) - could be sent off into bush for whole day - picking berries (often on their own) 3) maple-sugar production - speaking of “education”… Watch this Heritage minute clip – SLIDE 10 – just one of the *many* things Euro-settlers learned *from* Indigenous peoples – https://www.historicacanada.ca/content/heritage-minutes/syrup - SLIDE 11– collection of syrup - another task easy for kids to help out with -read the recollection – shows that lots of traditional skills continued into the 20th c. (and of course, some continue even today) 4) winter hunting trips – whole families, girls and boys traveled together - learned about stalking game - simply by watching parents C) Methods of Teaching about Danger & about Social Behaviour: Story-telling - way to pass on imp messages /also entertained! - SLIDE 12- campfire - story-telling as *warning*: - story of Tul ti lew Silheni [Vancouver Island – Coast Salish people or Hul’qumi’num] - who was she? – an old, ugly, hairy, smelly woman - able to fly – carried cedar-bark basket on back -scooped up children who were out after dark – then ate them! - 7 - why tell this story?? – too scary for children?! –but fear can be useful -act as *protector* - *nature* represented greatest danger to children at this time - wild animals, storms, rugged terrain especially in the dark This story: - reminded children to pay attention to signs of dusk (night coming) - position of the sun in sky, hoot of owl, how far am I from village? - when *dark* you had to be back with the group/homebase relate back to autonomy - autonomous movements? - during daytime, when not helping out, kids likely played off by themselves - women engaged in productive work - couldn't watch kids every minute - had to instill warnings to keep them safe story-telling as ridicule? - used when children *didn't* heed warnings / acting in ways that were anti-social -child might act out during the day -parents might not draw direct attention no punishment at the time - evening - story-telling time -around the fire - teller would weave his/her story around the events of the day - slowly moving towards the events (in only *vaguely* disguised form) that ridiculed the child's behaviour earlier that day You might think: -This is not really *education*? - BUT these practices *were* teaching child how to survive (don't get killed by wild animals / AND how to survive socially - don't bring ridicule on yourself) other stories - creation stories, stories about origins, about abilities of different peoples - passed on sense of identity / where are we from?/ what are our purposes? - here, education something *more* than practical - making sense of yr place in the world creating a rich *interior* life - communication – children were also taught early on to communicate orally and to use their memories – committing stories and events to memory was the way to retain cultural knowledge, later to pass on knowledge of treaties, etc. [Interesting: later Canandian treaty makers were astounded at how well elders could recite the details of treaties made with them!] EDUCATION & EARLY SETTLER SOCIETIES Background points: What do I mean by "settler"? - everyone who was *not* Indigenous to this territory -people who *emigrated* from other countries - 1st ~250 years of “Canadian” history - immigrants were from France & Britain [-only later - late 19th-early 20th c- Ukrainians, Poles, Chinese, Mennonites, etc]. - this is the *colonial* period here–there is no country called “Canada” until 1867 – first colony - “New France” (1600s-late 1700s) - later colony – “British North America” (late 1700s – 1867) - 8 Note: while the general principles I outline here held for all parts of what will become “Canada” & over a long time span – 1600s-early 1800s - examples I use are often from Ontario or prairie settings (in the 1800s –called the 19th c. (1900s= 20th century – people often get this mixed up on exams!) Nature of Settler Economies? -*some* imp. similarities with Indigenous lifestyles 1) like Indigenous, their economies also land and resource-based – agriculture, fishing, lumbering - BUT more focus on desire for *settled* lives – don’t wish to move around 2) like Indigenous people – before industrialization – most *also* work for themselves, not for wages - they produce to survive, not to make profit - production for subsistence - fishing, farming, cooking, sewing, candle-making, etc - it’s all for *themselves* (in this early settler period) 3) work and home are *one* and the same place – almost nobody “goes to work”- even tradespeople who make more specialized goods – shoemakers, – often work out of their homes (often lived *above* or *behind* their shops So… what kinds of *education* evolves in this kind of society? - most important finding: - children had to learn to become contributors to the family economy -(like Indigenous kids) – education to take on the productive roles of their parents -contrast to indig kids? - some say settler children possibly had *less* carefree lives, with *more* emphasis on work at earlier ages than Indig case - cultivating of more crops = more on-going maintenance and work -in *contrast* to Indigenous kids -early European settler cultures – - harsher views of child-rearing - obedience, not autonomy was the rule! - physical punishment was typical for kids who deviated from “the rules” Informal education, then, as in Indigenous societies was: - the most important kind of education for many years -true, that some *formal* schooling does emerge - BUT not the priority - due to nature of the economy, things you needed to learn – not necessarily taught in a school Main forms of this informal ed (in many parts of the country): 1) training to take their place in agricultural economy - meant different things for girls and boys: BUT similar to the 3 L's i.e. lots of looking, listening, learning - or watching, then imitating -evidence from art?: - SLIDE 13– girl helping to make bread Girls – from an early age: – learned by helping mothers with their daily and seasonal tasks: - cooking, baking, canning, sewing, gardening, some animal care (chickens, turkeys, etc) - SLIDE 14- feeding chickens as toddler! Women’s production? -made not just clothes, also food, candles, soap, butter! - child care – of younger siblings - as in Indigenous societies 9 - like Indigenous - gender roles not always rigid - during planting and harvest time – girls/women/all helped in the fields Boys –SLIDES 15 & 16 - at 7 or 8 yrs old, set to work in fields - planting/ harvesting - driving horses, ploughing, rudimentary building skills (fencing, etc.) - note: with the *smallest* children - tasks were *not always* gendered -eg. small kids did many things; simple, repetitive tasks – emptied chamber pots, hauled water, scared birds off of crops, brought lunch to field workers Another type of pre-industrial education: (this was relevant to a smaller number of children/youth): 2) apprenticeships - to artisans in craft production – SLIDE 17-blacksmith & son - recall - *most* people made *most* items they needed - BUT – consider – some things not so easy to make without specialized knowledge - might make your own clothes – ever tried making your own shoes?! - might build a fence – ever tried building a barrel? -these people – shoe makers, barrel makers, etc – considered “craftsmen” or artisans – their work required *an education* - took in children to teach them these trades (dressmaking - also considered a craft for women who hired girl apprentices) - this education – was becoming *more* formal - very specific skills, discrete period of training Who became apprentices? 1) most often - sons/daughters of craftspeople – as in photo of blacksmith - easiest to simply train up your own child- start at early age, always around But also sometimes: 2) those brought in from other families (sometimes orphans in Ontario) -why? – perhaps you had no sons, your sons grown, sons not talented at the work? - families signed *contracts* which governed these relationships - in this case –kids often older – started at 16 – trained for 3-4 years - not usually beyond age 21 Working conditions (for apprentices): clearly a more laborious, intense *education* Like the master (adult) craftsmen - Long hours – 6 days/ wk – 12-14 hour days (*surely* more work than Indigenous children) 5 a.m. – 8 p.m. – 2 hours off for meals - context – everyone worked long hours BUT– apprentices -even longer– prep work before master came in, cleaned up after -Apprenticeships were guided by a system of reciprocal obligations: 1) apprentice – had to “obey” master – help out every day at work 10 - not entitled to marry (some up to age 21) - control over his behavior? – youth often *disliked* - how do we know? –some ran away –“masters” sought to get them back - SLIDE 18 –ad for “runaway” appearing in Quebec newspaper [tip: to read ad, the letter that looks like “f” is their fancy “s”] 2) the master craftsman– also had obligations - teach the apprentice a trade -BUT ALSO- care for - feed, clothe and house the apprentice - sometimes supplied “education” –religious training –or some basic literacy - in many ways - acted as a parent – in loco parentis was the term for this -*moral* education also master's responsibility: rules – no taverns, no cards, no gambling, “no fornication”, Summary: compare an "educated"/skilled person in these early periods with today - what one needs to learn to survive has changed *vastly* in just 200-300 years take any one of us - cast us back into either of these types of societies - girls/women – most of us - don't make our own bread, don’t sew - hunting? - if most of us had to catch our own food- there’d be a lot more vegetarians! – [some exceptions –some Indigenous people today still hunt and fish] likewise - drop any one of these people down in our society – they would be considered largely *uneducated* - couldn't write up a resume, understand our technology BUT again - consider the definitions of education we started with - they still apply here! - their education (like ours, we hope!) ensured their survival within *their* society - as students looking back then, we consider these forms of education different, but also *valuable* in their own context (and possibly more fun than you’re having!) -a final key point – I have pointed to some *similarities* between Indigenous & early settler societies – both living mainly off the land, using natural resources, having informal education of children BUT -don’t forget differences – - Euro-settlers desire for settled lives, more intense agriculture led to their *taking* of land from Indigenous peoples – This would have *lasting* impacts right to the present -different views of children & child-rearing – Indigenous peoples generally shunned/disliked the use of physical punishment & favoured praise and encouragement as methods of teaching - Euro-settlers had much harsher views of children, favoured use of physical punishment, reprimands, to train children to “the right ways” In your reading, we will see what happens when these two worlds meet and Euro-settlers (French Jesuits in Quebec) sought to “educate” Indigenous youth in *their* ways 11 Connections to the Readings: Secondary source on French Jesuits & the Wendat (“New France” colonial period): – Consider while reading: 1) What will happen when the two systems of child-rearing meet? –especially when one group – the French Catholic Jesuits – believe they must Christianize & “remake” Indigenous children? 2) How do both groups understand the relationship differently? 3) Look out for how there were *variations* in how Indigenous kids responded. Notice also their *agency* (i.e. they had the power to make *choices* in how to respond. They had their own will, plans, and desires.) 4) Regarding Indigenous responses to Jesuit education, notice points of resistance as well as adaptation.