The Little Hummingbird

I have been teaching preschool for the past three years with the City of Surrey. In my classes I always make the effort to bring in my own curated list of books from the public library that relate to our themes of the day/week and help with social and emotional learning. I was introduced to a marvelous book while attending a workshop run by the Dalai Lama Centre for Peace and Education. This book was The Little Hummingbird by Haida author and artist Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas. This book was presented in the workshop as a story to help children explore themes of kindness, compassion, and altruism. Perhaps early childhood educators could discuss that no matter how small you are, you can do something small that makes a big difference. I thought this was an empowering message. I read this book to my classes and we made kindness our number one rule in class. Anything about cleaning up, sharing, and other positive behaviour were not rules because they all fell under being kind. Children were more kind to themselves, to others, and to the classroom space. I noticed a huge improvement in my class and my “management” of the class. Because we had the explicit discussion around kindness on day one in conjunction with reading The Little Hummingbird and similar books, my classes last year knew what their social and emotional behavioural expectations were which seemed to put them in a positive mindset. The classroom felt like a more welcoming safe space for these young children. I think that this book had a powerful altruistic message for the children. How amazing is it that The Little Hummingbird braves a forest fire and works without hesitation to put the fire out, drop by tiny drop. I would ask my students what small things they could do to help a friend, help the class, or help the environment. I always heard many wonderful answers and felt inspired at the empathy that many of the children displayed.

During the November 6th lecture entitled Decolonizing and Indigenizing our practice, Dr. Amy Parent discussed this book. I thought to myself “I know this book very well. I read it over twenty times last year. I know what the message of this book is and why we should read it to children.” However, Dr. Parent did not focus on what the children might or should get out of this book. She interpreted the forest fire in the story as a representation of the epistemic problem in education and Eurocentric beliefs and knowledge. The Hummingbird’s single drops of water was the process of taking decolonizing micro actions. I had never thought of myself as the Hummingbird in the story. I always felt like the Rabbit who sobs “What can I do? This fire is much to hot,” or the Owl who justifies their lack of action because their beak is too small and their wings will burn if they get too close. I have reflected on this before, of feeling like I am too small and that what I do won’t really matter unless I am a big powerful being who can change the world in massive ways. In my second reflection of the semester, I wrote;

This overwhelming sense of “Crap, there’s so much I don’t know how to react to and handle” is followed by “But I’m learning and having an open mind and heart is all that matters.” In this, and in all sensitive topics that we have discussed thus far, I do not know where I stand. If I am not Greta Thunberg giving passionate speeches at the UN, am I doing enough for climate action? If I am not knowledgable on multiple perspectives and histories, am I ignorant? If I do not actively advocate for each marginalized community, am I being a good ally? I have been grappling with this pressure that I have put on myself to do everything, be everywhere, and know everything. I don’t know why I am doing this. I want to be the best teacher I can be but it feels like the more knowledge I acquire about the injustices and sadness in the world, I start to worry that I am personally not doing enough. I am and will probably always be trying to find a balance between the responsibility and pressure I put on myself as an educator and citizen of this earth, and taking the time to care for my mind, body, and spirit. (Reflection 2, September 30, 2019)

In response, my teacher gave me a clearer perspective;

The awareness of the world's vexing issues can easily overwhelm our sense of agency.  Our compassion can outrun our ability to do something about the world's woes, and this can be a form of injury to our souls, because we seem powerless in the face of something unacceptable.  I think the important thing is to a) commit yourself to one thing that you can rally around, and dedicate your life to that cause, and b) learn to draw strength from the very work to which you commit yourself.  In other words, you can learn to let your work nourish you, such that you gain strength from doing what you feel most passionately about . . . We need musicians and music teachers to heal and celebrate through music.  Art is so inspiring and healing in ways that other disciplines cannot offer.  How does John Coltrane and Miles Davis play all that beautiful jazz even while growing up in a racially oppressive country?  It's because there's something indomitable about their spirit, and that spirit expresses itself in music.(Response by David Chang , October 12, 2019)

I think this reflection and response perfectly reflects how I am beginning to evolve into the teacher and person that I want to be. I was feeling very overwhelmed in my reflection. There are too many problems in the world to face alone, and I feel like EDUC 400 drew from all the societal and systemic injustices that exist and had us grapple with what we would personally do to fight against these issues. Because of this, I grew more anxious at the thought of becoming a teacher. However, thanks to my teacher’s poignant response, I realized I must be clear and passionate about what I commit myself to, which is music. It is in music and being in relation with other musicians that I draw my strength. I feel powerful when I sing or lead a choir in a song. I know that in my role as a musician and music teacher I will have the power to instigate change, heal, comfort, spark joy, and do so much good in this world. I truly feel that this is my gift and responsibility to share.

References

Parent, A. (2019). Decolonizing and Indigenizing our practice. Lecture presented at SFU Education 400 seminar, Burnaby, BC.

Yahgulanaas, M. N. (2010). The Little Hummingbird. Greystone Kids Publishing.