A Teacher’s View – My Favourite Mistakes: Experiences Teaching Cree Students in Northern Quebec

Abstract

The experiences of a recently graduated (non-Indigenous) teacher are told in this first person account of 5 years of teaching in Canada’s far north. Although pre-service teachers often take courses meant to prepare them for working with Indigenous populations, this chapter reminds readers that much more than initial knowledge is involved. While relationship-building remains an important goal, these stories of first-hand experiences portray this process as more subtle, complex, and gradual than originally thought. Shared in the chapter are personal experiences and anecdotes, changes made based on some insights from various sources both in and out of school, a description and examples of attempts to teach students some of the mathematics curriculum from the Cree School Board, and finally a synopsis of the gratitude and humility felt by the author for the experience.

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