“NATURE IS THE FIRST TEACHER AND MODEL OF PROCESS. LEARNING HOW TO SEE NATURE ENHANCES OUR CAPACITY TO SEE OTHER THINGS.”
– GREGORY CAJETE (LOOK TO THE MOUNTAIN, 1994)
Many words in the Indigenous languages (across Turtle Island) that I (as a white settler) have been exposed to integrate an element of listening to the land and non-human kin deciding on names for things. This process is underpinned by listening to the land and her kin and of “learning how to see nature” (Cajete, 1994). For example, hummingbird in the Haida language is dukdukdiyahm because of “the delicate bird song and the sound of [their] beating wings” (The Little Hummingbird by Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas).
When my colleague and good friend shared this story with me, I found that I was able to remember the word dukdukdiyahm because of the story attached. Stories are a powerful tool for language revitalization and visibility. Stories that capture the attention of learners help strengthen memory recall of new vocabulary.
If video creation is used as a tool for language revitalization in a classroom, there are many opportunities for multimodal learning. I see the benefits as including:
- hearing the language(s) being learned while seeing the written or pictorial representation of the language(s)
- seeing a visual of words, phrases, feelings or emotions being expressed
- opportunities for creative storytelling
- encouraging self-regulation: learners can self-pace, take breaks as needed
- ability to revisit information in an accessible way (rewatching video, or relevant chunks)
- opportunity for videos to be shared with community members
- ability for differentiation
- exploring personal connections to languages including expressions of pride, personal history and narratives, reclamation/reconnection to language, and much more
- building technological literacy skills by using video editing software
- … and the list goes on!—So feel free to share more benefits in the comments section below.
How can educators encourage student-led exploration of identity through video creation projects?
A video editing assignment I would like to try with grade 6/7 students is a personal exploration of identity with a connection to language expression. Students would be guided through a process of self-location and positionality. Students are then asked to explore ties to languages of their ancestors (if possible/known—teacher should have sensitivity around this and an awareness of the lived-realities of their students).
For this project, students are then given creative liberty to create a video project to explore their story of self/identity (note: make sure example projects with a variety of styles are available for inspiration, but emphasize students should tell the story in the way that feels best/most authentic to them). Students should be encouraged throughout to seek support and feedback from the teacher and their peers (through a guided reflection & feedback process).
