Persona+and Scenario


 * Persona: **

A 16 year old female Aboriginal student, Sonoma, resides at the Tsinstikeptum Reserve in British Columbia and is currently in Grade 10. She is interested in becoming a high school teacher on the reserve after completing her education. Within her family, she is the only member to make it past the elementary level of school. Her father is works in wholesale trade, which has been a largely unpredictable business due to the economy in the past few years. Her mother has four children to attend to, of which Sonoma is the oldest. After school Sonoma helps her mother with chores such as preparing dinner, doing laundry and helping her younger siblings with homework, as neither parents are good at subjects like math, reading, writing and science. She usually gets to start her own homework and assignments in the evening, often going to bed late. Sonoma is proud of her Okanagan heritage and wants to learn more about her native language and traditions.


 * Scenario: **

Sonoma is currently struggling in school and the teachers cannot provide enough attention to specifically help her. The current curriculum is lacking culturally relevant material, making it more difficult for her to find the content interesting which compounds the problem. As her parents are poor at standard Western subjects, they are unable to help Sonoma with her studies. At times, Sonoma feels helpless as she doesn’t have anyone to turn to for extra help. The teacher is never available after class, and basically leaves the school once class is dismissed. The current school activities reflect the Western cultures. Therefore, Sonoma has suggested to the teacher to include some Aboriginal -related activities such as crafting or hunting. However, the teacher turns the idea down by saying “I cannot do anything to help you”. The lack of sufficient help is beginning to discourage Sonoma from continuing her studies. Sonoma often asks her teachers about various words and phrases in Colville-Okanagan Salish. However, her teachers can rarely give a proper response as their knowledge of the Native language is limited. For the most part, Sonoma's friends also take little interest in learning more about their language and culture. When she comes home, she finds herself so busy with family life and school work that by the time she is free, her interests lie in typical social interactions that most teenagers are involved in. Sonoma has noticed that throughout the years, a increasing number of her friends have lost interest in school. This is evidenced by their lack of participation or their withdrawal from school altogether. Sonoma herself is beginning to feel torn about her school life; while she does enjoy learning and passing information to others, she finds the curriculum at school to be lacking, and the contrast in abilities among her peers makes it hard for the teacher to move forward at a normal pace. At night when she is doing homework, Sonoma often stops to think about these issues and whether she really wants to continue with her education. These issues in their entirety create an unproductive and uninspiring environment which leads to a lack of motivation and a low retention of knowledge in Sonoma's life, as well as in that of her peers.