Reflections on innovation from a non-Inuk Nunavut teacher, at the end of a long career
*all photos courtesy of Patti Bligh
For this interview, I chose to have a conversation with Patti Bligh.
Patti moved to Cambridge Bay with her young family in the 90's, and was a teacher at my school for the last 23 years. Patti also served as vice-principal and a co-principal in our school before retiring from teaching this January, to try out something new.
I particularly wanted to speak with Patti for this interview because I have also experienced working with her in our school context as:
a parent, as I have taught all of Patti's living children: Douglas, Neil and Siobhan. - Patti and Gord's oldest child, Kaitlyn (pictured in the foreground of their family photo, above), had severe developmental/physical disabilities that necessitated 24/7 care. Kaitlyn had many health challenges, and passed away at the age of 9.
a team teacher in our Aulajaaqtut program - where I experienced her remarkable ability for innovation firsthand. I owe so much of my confidence to tackle complex problems (Westley et al., 2007, pp. 7-10), and my commitment to doing so with my students, colleagues and our community to my time spent team-teaching Aulajaaqtut with Patti (and many other wonderful colleagues)
Patti and I talked for over an hour for this "interview", and with her encouragement, I decided to push myself to share what I feel is most valuable from our conversation in ways that attempt to embody the messy, imperfect, vulnerable processes of pushing through the uncertainty and fear that can come with innovation. 🙈
Please be kind as you engage with this experiment from someone who is trying to find their way into bringing all of herself to her work, while honouring the diverse learning and accessibility needs of her friends (that means you)! ❤️
*poem was written by Beth, referencing Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit values and inunnguiniq.
For context:
1. Samples of Patti's poetry:
2. Selected quotes from our conversation:
*Note: Quotes from Patti appear in the colours of her beloved Saskatchewan Roughriders, a football team that Patti's family embraced as a symbol of their culture as native Saskatchewanians.
This was an intentional choice, as her eldest son Douglas came home from school as a small child, confused about what "his culture" was as a white kid growing up in an Inuit community.
In school, his class was learning about "our culture" (which in Nunavut, means Inuit culture). As one of the only non-Inuk students in his class, Douglas did not intuitively understand that he was not Inuk, and came home excited to share what he was learning about "we, Inuit". He was heartbroken to learn he was not in fact just a blonde-haired Inuk and asked, "well then, what IS my culture?"
This in itself is a remarkable example of both the inclusion he experienced from his loving, inunnguiniq-centred Inuit teacher and classmates, and also of the complex problems of identity and allyship that emerge specifically for settlers who grow up (or live long-term) in Inuit Nunangat.
3. On the tensions between qanuqtuurunnarniq (or innovation), and highly prescribed curriculum/the standardized diploma exams our students write in grade 12.
and
on how to foster creativity despite institutional barriers to practices more aligned with holism/inunnguiniq:
*Beth's is the first voice you hear, Patti's is the second.
Final thoughts...
Over our 14 year relationship, Patti has been a colleague, mentor, and friend. I know her to be a deeply reflective person, and during our conversation, she shared some of the hard parts she found about being a non-Inuit teacher in Nunavut, and how that means sometimes getting it wrong, and behaving in ways that cause harm. This is a reality all settler teachers in Inuit Nunangat must face (myself included), which connects to considerations of allyship more generally. However, I think this also speaks to the profession of teaching as a complex problem in and of itself, as teaching is about relationships (Westley et al., 2007, p. 10). Teachers aren't robots - we are fallible humans who are also working to improve our communication and relationship skills on our own journeys towards inunnguiniq.
On her journey, I have seen Patti invest more time and energy trying to understand Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, and volunteering in service to our community than most Southern-born Nunavummiut I know. Patti believes strongly in the concepts of restitution, and sees Nunavut's consensus government model as one example of a way our education system in Nunavut could benefit from re-thinking the colonial model of hierarchy, which serves to concentrate power in our education system into the hands of mostly non-Inuit (often transient) settler administrators, board office and union staff.
As Patti retired, many former students, parents and colleagues reached out to her and made public posts sharing the positive impact she had on their lives.
When I asked Patti to reflect on ways she saw her efforts as contributing to the health and well-being of our community, she shared the following:
Finally, if you really want to know who Patti is, and understand where her heart is an innovative educator, I can think of no better way than to share two of her favourite songs. Patti often shared, analyzed and sang these songs with students over the years. I hope that through this work, I have allowed you to feel some of the influence she has had on my own journey towards inunnguiniq, as I strive to find my own innovative ways to be of service to my kids, and my community.
References
CBC News. (2017). No political parties: How Nunavut’s consensus government works [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/2sEVjwiXfSU
Government of Nunavut. (2013). Aulajaaqtut 10-11-12 Teacher’s Handbook for Nunavut Senior Secondary Schools. Government of Nunavut. https://www.gov.nu.ca/sites/default/files/aula_handbook_10-11-12_jul_2013_with_resource_list.pdf
Neary, D. (2022, January 12). Cambridge Bay high school bids farewell to longtime teacher. NNSL Media. https://www.nnsl.com/news/cambridge-bay-high-school-bids-farewell-to-longtime-teacher/
Nunavut Department of Education. (2008). Inunnguiniq: Critical Pedagogy for Nunavut Educators. Nunavut Department of Education.
Tagalik, S. (2012). Inunnguiniq: Caring for Children the Inuit Way. Retrieved from National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health Publications: https://www.nccah-ccnsa.ca/docs/health/FS-InunnguiniqCaringInuitWay-Tagalik-EN.pdf
Westley, F., Zimmerman, B., & Patton, M. Q. (2007). Getting to maybe: how the world is changing. Vintage Canada.
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