Culturally Responsive Teaching & Literacy:

The Benefits of Integrating Storytelling and Oral Traditions in the Early Elementary
Classroom

Melissa Phillips

MET Program, UBC

ETEC 521: Indigeneity, Technology, and Education

Instructor: Shirley Anne Swelchalot Hardman

December 7th, 2020

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Introduction

My teaching career has been somewhat unconventional, as most of my experience is in

supporting young learners who are struggling with learning to read and write. Despite all of the

professional development that I have received and the resources that I have read, there has

always felt like there was an important piece of the puzzle missing in what constitutes best

practices for literacy instruction. I have observed that it is often difficult to teach students to

read and write who struggle with oral language, but the expectation of my position has always

been to target reading and writing skills exclusively, as though oral language skills would

develop naturally with time. In addition, as a teacher that was providing literacy intervention and

learning support, I did not know how to connect literacy instruction with being culturally

responsive beyond including some books every now and then from an Indigenous author. I am

embarrassed to admit that I saw it more as the responsibility of the classroom teacher.

However, in researching Indigenous storytelling, oral traditions, and the models for

culturally responsive teaching, I have realized that I had substantial gaps in my understanding of

literacy, literacy pedagogies, and how instruction is enhanced by culturally responsive teaching.

I still have a lot to learn, so these are mostly my reflections backed by research on how I came

to the understanding that integrating oral traditions and storytelling into the early elementary

classroom helps to build the foundation for providing inclusive, culturally responsive early

literacy instruction.

Culturally Responsive Teaching

In late 1989, my family moved from Vernon to Bella Coola, BC, which is the traditional

unceded territory of the Nuxalk First Nation. In Bella Coola, Indigenous art was showcased,

eulachons were dried on the side of the river, and visits from Nuxalk Elders to teach language

and culture were common occurrences in the classroom. Nuxalk culture and traditions were not
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relegated to a history textbook, and my teachers were committed to hands-on and experiential

learning experiences both in and outside the classroom. We did not live in Bella Coola for very

long, and I know that I only had a small glimpse of Nuxalk culture. However, it has only been

recently as I have reflected back to this experience thirty years ago that I have been able to

name why these early elementary experiences were memorable and significant. My teachers

were attempting to be culturally responsive and this is very different from what I experienced

during the rest of my time as a student in the K-12 public school system in British Columbia. It

also made me realize that the shift towards culturally responsive education becoming a part of

the mainstream public school system has been an incredibly slow process in Canada.

Competencies and Collaboration

Today, I live in Grande Prairie, Alberta, on the traditional land of the First Nations that signed

Treaty 8, although the majority of the Indigenous people that live in Grande Prairie identify as

members of the Métis or Cree (Nehinuw) Nations (Statistics Canada, 2018). In Alberta,

teachers are required to meet the competencies as outlined in the new Alberta Education

Teaching Quality Standard (TQS). The fifth competency of the TQS is “Applying Foundational

Knowledge about First Nations, Métis, and Inuit” (Alberta Education, p.6), which is summarized

as “a teacher develops and applies foundational knowledge about First Nations, Métis and Inuit

for the benefit of all students” (Alberta Education, 2018, p. 6). When looking at this competency

through the lens of western, colonial education where the teacher is framed as an expert on

content and pedagogy, this competency was intimidating for me as a non-Indigenous educator

with good intentions.

However, as I have had the opportunity to build my knowledge of Indigenous world views, it

has become less intimidating as I realize that if you approach education from an Indigenous

worldview on learning, the expectation is not that the teacher be the content expert but rather
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that one incorporates aspects of Indigenous pedagogy into the curriculum by viewing it as a

reciprocal relationship between many members of the community (Nicol et al., 2012). An

Indigenous pedagogy permits the teacher to also be the student, as learning within an

Indigenous worldview is deemed to be a collaborative process (Goulet & Goulet, 2014). This

collaborative, reciprocal approach is at the heart of being a culturally responsive educator.

In their book Teaching Each Other: Nehinuw Concepts and Indigenous Pedagogies, Keith

and Linda Goulet (2014) describe the importance of this collaborative approach to education

from the Nehinuw (or Cree) perspective:

When students see their teachers and school staff working with parents and other

community people, it is a strong signal that the old, disparaging colonial system is being

dismantled.  When students see themselves and their people in the curriculum, connections

to their own world are strengthened.  Learning thus has relevance, meaning, and

understanding (nisitootumowin)" (p. 175).

Therefore, a teacher should work collaboratively with students’ families, the Indigenous

resource workers, Elders or Knowledge Keepers, and other staff members to continue their own

learning and find authentic opportunities for students to engage in culturally relevant activities in

all curriculum areas in order to be culturally responsive (Goulet & Goulet, 2014).

Culturally Responsive Teaching Models and Frameworks

When exploring the different theoretical models or frameworks that have been proposed

for providing culturally responsive education in the Indigenous context, one of the main threads

that seems to connect them is the significance of incorporating storytelling (or storywork). For

example, Nicol et al. (2012) found that the teachers who were engaged in action research, as a

part of their study to develop a model for culturally responsive mathematics education for

students in an Indigenous community, considered storywork to be an integral part of the model

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they developed. It helped to connect the other aspects of place, action, inquiry, and

relationships together.

In addition, the model of effective teaching for indigenous students developed by Goulet and

Goulet (2014) based on their personal experiences and research embodies the Nehinuw

educational values of “social relationships and interactivity”. This model is represented as a

circle where all four aspects of education and their subcategories are interconnected and

cyclical. One of the aspects of education they highlight is the “connection to the process” and

its subcategory “culturally responsive learning environment'' (p. 87). Within their explanation of

creating a culturally responsive learning environment, Goulet and Goulet (2014) emphasize the

importance of utilizing storytelling as a teaching approach, as “oral stories were a vehicle for

inclusion of cultural content into the curriculum” (p. 150). Therefore, in seeking to build a more

culturally responsive classroom environment for early elementary, incorporating oral tradition

and storytelling into literacy instruction would be the perfect place for an educator to begin.

Oral Tradition and Storytelling

Familiarity with the way that western society has placed reading and writing at the top of

hierarchy of literacy knowledge and attempted to use the written word to denigrate, erase, or

appropriate Indigenous culture and knowledge is a fundamental understanding for culturally

responsive teaching (Hare, 2011). Residential schools were designed to indoctrinate and

assimilate Indigenous children by forcibly separating them from their families to interrupt the

transfer of knowledge about their land, culture, traditions, and language under the guise that

western schooling and learning was somehow better (Hare, 2011). In contrast, oral traditions

provide a means for cultural information to be transferred between generations though stories,

songs, dance, and art, and while it can be used for the purpose of “expressing spiritual and

emotional truths (e.g., via symbol and metaphor), oral tradition provides a record of literal fact –
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including laws, beliefs, customs, histories, and other forms of cultural knowledge” (FNESC &

FNSA, 2020). Therefore, integrating oral tradition and storytelling into the curriculum is a means

of being culturally responsive by reconnecting children with their traditions while validating oral

tradition and storytelling as a valuable component of literacy. This process assists in

decolonizing the western style of education, yet integrating oral tradition and storytelling needs

to be approached thoughtfully and respectfully (Archibald, 2008).

Storywork Principles

In their book, Indigenous Storywork: Educating the Heart, Mind, Body, and Spirit (2008),

Dr. Jo-ann Archibald provides invaluable information about the storywork principles and the

considerations for protocol that need to be considered when incorporating Indigenous stories

into the curriculum. From their extensive study of storywork, Archibald (2008) isolated the

following four principles that are critical when applying storywork into the curriculum: “respect,

responsibility, reciprocity, and reverence with and by community-based storytellers” (p. 101-

102). Part of my interpretation of the storywork principles are that respect and responsibility

require recognizing that every group of Indigenous people will have their own “traditions,

protocols, purposes, and rules” when it comes to utilizing stories (Archibald, 2008). Not every

story is appropriate for children or considered part of the public domain, and just like other forms

of literacy, stories have different genres and purposes while some may be for entertainment,

others are for teaching (Archibald, 2008). When inviting a storyteller into the classroom, the

storyteller is responsible for selecting the story, and it is important to know the protocols

associated with inviting a storyteller into the classroom, as building this relationship and

understanding the symbolism of the protocols that one if following are part of the learning

process (Archibald, 2008).

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For the storywork principles of reciprocity and reverence, this is connected to the

understanding of an Indigenous world view on learning where we learn from each other. It

incorporates the understanding that learning is about discovering the answer for oneself through

reflection, rather than being told what and how to think (Archibald, 2008). In this sense, Elders

may also use personal life experiences to teach where the purpose of the story is for the reader

to reflect and guide their decision making rather than providing a set answer (Archibald, 2008).

It is important when listening to a story to be patient, reflect, and try to develop one’s own

understanding of what the story is telling them (Archibald, 2008). By inviting experienced

storytellers into the classroom, a teacher will learn more about the storytelling process and

pedagogy for themselves, plus the children will be more engaged and benefit from the authentic

experience (Archibald, 2008).

However, an Elder or storyteller does not always need to be present to incorporate

Indigenous storywork principles into the curriculum. In this case, accessing and collecting

authentic storytelling resources becomes important, and with technology and the internet, many

Indigenous Elders and storytellers have kindly shared recordings of their stories online for public

access. However, when using these resources, honouring the traditions associated with

storytelling are still important. There are different ways in which stories may be told, these

include telling a story without providing any explanation and allowing the listeners to reflect, the

use of a talking circle for discussion, role playing, or re-telling the story (Archibald, 2008). From

an Indigenous perspective, the talking circle creates a safe space where learning is shared and

students are able to express themselves (Goulet & Goulet, 2014). The purpose is not for the

teacher to interrogate the class about the story. Indigenous knowledge systems honour the

importance of everyone in the circle having a voice and being respectful of each other, and for

many First Nations this is just one of many understandings represented by the sacred circle

(The Alberta Teachers’ Association, 2006). Respecting different interpretations and thoughts
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about a story is a different approach to literacy instruction than what is typically seen when the

focus is on print based literacy. However, viewing oral language and listening as the foundation

of literacy and communication, and actively working to develop these skills are necessary in

creating a balanced literacy program that is also culturally responsive.

Culturally Responsive Literacy

As a teacher, most of my experience has been related to literacy where I was supporting

students in learning to read and write. Learning more about storytelling and oral traditions has

helped to expand my definition of literacy and potentially even solved a problem that I was

grappling with last year as a reading intervention and learning support teacher. Why do so

many students struggle with using speech-to-text for writing when they are introduced to this

assistive technology in the intermediate grades? My hypothesis now is that many teachers are

neglecting oral language skill development in early elementary. For example, if a student is not

able to orally tell a story, then it will also be incredibly difficult for them to write it. Research has

shown that despite the fact that we are predisposed to wanting to tell stories and that speech

and language are a part of the curriculum, oral language skill development is neglected in many

classrooms in favour of reading and writing (Hibbin, 2016b).

Thus, in addition to being culturally responsive, there are many curricular benefits to

developing oral language and listening skills through storytelling without feeling the need to

incorporate print or writing (Hibbin, 2016a). The skills that are taught through storytelling help to

develop oral language, listening, and comprehension skills that will later transfer to reading and

writing, such as re-telling, memorization, visualization, and meta-cognition (Archibald, 2008)

However, learning these skills in the context of oral language helps students to develop their

schemas and conceptual understandings on topics (Goulet & Goulet, 2014), as well as practice

how to fully express themselves and comprehend stories or information without the added
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pressure of needing to learn it for the first time in conjunction with decoding text and/or learning

to write (Hibbin, 2016a).

Finally, one of the most compelling reasons for including storytelling that connects with

being culturally responsive are the socioemotional benefits for students (Goulet & Goulet, 2014;

Archibald, 2008; Hibbins, 2016b). Storytelling is considered to be more interactive versus

reading a book to a child, as the storyteller is able to engage with the children and see their

responses (Archibald, 2008). Discussions about the story, including re-telling, help children to

learn to collaborate, view things through other perspectives, and thus, develop empathy for

others and their experiences (Hibbin, 2016b). Within Indigenous cultures, the stories and the

interactions that occur have healing powers (Archibald, 2008). Integrating an Indigenous

perspective on literacy by incorporating storytelling into the curriculum helps to create a more

holistic approach to education. In describing literacy in the Indigenous context, Dr. Trudy

Cardinal (2015), a Métis and Cree scholar, describes it as "building and sustaining relationships,

engaging in conversations, and telling and hearing stories of the ways we make sense of the

world" (p. 6). I really cannot think of a better definition or purpose for literacy.

Conclusion

When I began my research, I thought that in the end I would be able to produce a project

that demonstrated that I had a step-by-step approach in place for how to integrate Métis and

Cree storytelling into the context of early literacy instruction. However, I soon realized that I was

getting ahead of myself, and that I was still in the process of building my understanding of the

significance of storytelling and oral traditions within Indigenous cultures, as well as what it

means to be a culturally responsive educator. My learning is not complete, and I am sure that it

will be a life-long process. However, I feel like I now have the foundational knowledge upon
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which to build my practice. When I return to the classroom, whether it is as a classroom teacher

or providing literacy and learning support, I know that I will have the goal of incorporating

storytelling into the curriculum to provide culturally responsive literacy instruction. This type of

instruction honours the fact that oracy is a part of literacy and helps students build oral

language, listening, and socioemotional skills while learning about Indigenous culture and ways

of knowing. From there, I hope that I can continue to grow in my abilities to be a culturally

responsive educator, as I expand my knowledge of Indigenous education as well as the culture,

traditions, and language of the Indigenous communities in my area.

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