Hist 3510
Tracy Penny Light
Oct 21,2017
Reading Analysis #6
Today everyone fights for equality, it’s not fair that just because someone is of different colour that they should be treated differently. So what is it that needs to change why is there still inequality everywhere? It could possibly be because still today in the education system there is still inequality and when viewing it at a young age it teaches children that discrimination is what is normal, which makes this cycle of a problem. This week’s article really gave me a different perspective on the inequality from the past in regards to the residential schooling system. With being from a First Nations background all that you hear are the negative stories that came from my family attended residential schools, but I learnt that there is a little more to it.
The article that was most interesting was “‘A New Understanding of Things Indian’: George Raley’s Negotiation of the Residential School Experience.” By Paige Raibmon. This was most intriguing because it showed that not all experiences were horrible at residential schools, and in this case it was thanks to Raley the principal. It was interesting to find out that there wasn’t all bad people who were in charge at school and that there were some people that fought to make residential school a more pleasant experience even if it may have costed more. Thanks to him those who went to his school felt safe and at home and even gained education making them continue on further, making their studies useful.
Helen Raptis’ article almost seemed like an excuse as to why residential schools had such negative impacts on those who attended. It was a run-down of how these schools were highly underfunded. Now I feel if there had been that much thought into how the money was spent each year why couldn’t they have made it more affordable. I feel that really it’s just money that’s all it ever is and in the end if you spend it, it will all work out that’s just how life is. This article was a lot to take in just because it had so many facts in it. But I also felt this article was almost boring because it just seemed like an excuse for why the government has treated First Nations so poorly.
In addition to what Raptis said I felt Barman’s article “Schooled for Inequality: The Education of British Columbia Aboriginal Children.” I felt like this was another way of explaining excuses for this tragic event that happened. Although this one laid out every reason it was bad with examples like why the class room time was seen as work, why teachers did what they did to their students and how most of this was a result from the underfunding. But I don’t feel that this is an excuse for this punishment that these people had to go through.
With all of these things being studied does it not show that with the right people and some more money and time and effort put into these schools, that these schools could have been a good thing. Yet time and time again people come up with excuses for why there was this inequality and why it was ok for this to happen. I feel that with this awareness that this abuse has happened to people that everyone needs to spread it and make it so people learn that this is completely wrong. People in education systems need to learn from this and stop treating others different, even though it is little compared to this it can still hurt. Lessons can be learned from this by educating yourself on how to created equality for everyone and hopefully this will end eventually.
Bibliography
Barman, Jean. “Schooled for Inequality: The Education of British Columbia Aboriginal Children.” in Sara Burke and Patrice Milewski (Eds.), Schooling in Transition: Readings in the Canadian History of Education, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2012: 255-276.
Raptis, Helen. “Implementing Integrated Education Policy for On-Reserve Aboriginal Children in British Columbia, 1951-1981.” Historical Studies in Education 20, no.1 (Spring 2008): 118-146.
Raibmon, Paige. “‘A New Understanding of Things Indian’: George Raley’s Negotiation of the Residential School Experience.” BC Studies 110 (1996): 69-96.