As a teacher with most of his professional experience in Alberta I have little knowledge of how other provinces set up their Aboriginal policies but I do know that Alberta has some extensive resources related to the matter.

Available at http://www.education.alberta.ca/teachers/fnmi.aspx this site is very comprehensive and contains numerous policies, documents and curriculum information related to Aboriginal Education.

Here is a collection of the most relevant links:

• Languages and Cultures
• Curriculum
• First Nations, Métis and Inuit Services
• FNMI Education Partnership Council
• Resources
• Policies
• Projects and Initiatives
• Aboriginal Learner Data Collection Initiative

Some of the highlights of the site include the Did you know section which is very informative across a variety of subject areas.  This section includes census stats, facts and figures related to the following:

• Language and Terminology
• Residential Schools
• Legislation
• History
• Sports
• Teaching
• Policy Framework
• Aboriginal Veterans
• Statistics

The last section that really caught my eye was a new document focused on Promising Practices in FNMI Education – Case Studies.  This document offers a case study of two schools with High First Nations populations and offers as a great snapshot view of the current state of First Nations education in Canada.

On the Indian and Northern Affairs Canada website they have a very interesting section devoted to Aboriginal Communities in Canada that are considered success stories.  Here are the communities they have listed:

• Akwesasne
• Blood Tribe
• Cape Dorset, Nunavut
• Eel Ground First Nation
• Sprouts Day Camp, Iqaluit
• St. John’s Native Friendship Centre, Newfoundland
• Wikwemikong
• Wendake First Nation, Quebec
• Westbank
• Membertou First Nation
• Centre for Aboriginal Human Resource Development Inc.
• Nunavik Youth Hockey Development Program Kuujjuaq, Quebec
• Haida Heritage Centre
• Wabano Centre
• Four Host First Nations – Olympics Art & Culture

Each success story contains a case study on the community and most share a video.  Again this is an excellent resource for gaining some insight into Native communities and more importantly successes within these communities.

In my research on First Nations in education I encountered many figures and facts that paint a pretty bleak picture for many Aboriginal youth and communities in Canada but this resource focuses on some of the great strides and pioneering efforts some of these communities are leading.

On of the success stories that really stuck out was the one focused on Eel Lake.  This community has been focused on blending new technology with traditional cultural teachings.  The group has been using technological aids such as smart-boards, videoconferencing and the internet, the Eel Ground First Nation is gaining recognition as one of the most technologically advanced in Canada. Since it first opened its doors the Eel Ground First Nation School has seen attendance triple with their groundbreaking approach to learning.

Hit this link for more information on this project and a video of the community at work.

Linking Oral Tradition with Science

An interesting website brought to my attention by a colleague when I mentioned what I was working on for my analytical paper. He actually stumbled on it while cruising the OceanLine site itself. We are always looking for material that includes a First Nations perspective. We share all math and science material that we encounter at our monthly meetings. Not all of it is appropriate or accurate but we strive to uncover as much quality material as we can collectively.

 It was definitely an interesting read and the links to OceanLink andthe Things to Consider were excellent. Things to Consider will be on the agenda for the next math/science meeting. TEK is discussed at length.

The First Nations Education Steering Committee (FNESC), an independent organization focused on increasing the quality of education for all First Nations people, is led by First Nation representatives throughout British Columbia.  Along with their commitment to improve education, the FNESC provides support services the First Nations Schools Association and the Indigenous Adult and Higher Learning Association.

Important links include:

First Nations Schools Association

Jurisdiction over Education

Indian Studies Support Program

Indigenous Adult and Higher Learning Association

Post-Secondary Education and Training

Seventh Generation Club

First Nations Parents Club

BCeSIS

Aboriginal Recruitment for 2010 Games

Atlantic FN SchoolNet Helpdesk

First Peoples’ Cultural Foundation

FNESC logo [Online Image]. (n.d.). Retrieved November 17, 2009, from FNESC website. http://www.fnesc.ca/index.php

Math needs to listen to other cultures

I think the title of this article says it all. Although this is not a ‘living’ webpage I really believe that this article is a must read for educators. Whether a math teacher or not, the idea of the social responsibility factor in education is appealing. “Ethnomathematics’: I love it. Another example of what traditional scientific knowledge has to offer the western view.

Indigenous Science Network 

I came across this site while working with my math team on the implementation of new curriculum. We were looking for links to include in a resources list  for indigenous math and science.

The site includes links to news, research articles, conferences and calendar of events. What drew us to the page was the indigenous science link.

The Aboriginal Education Research Network or AERN is a voluntary forum of educational stakeholders and academic institutions in Saskatchewan whose goal is to foster collaborative research in Aboriginal Education.

The objectives of AERN are to:

• forge stronger links between research and educational practice and research and policy development;
• develop a comprehensive research agenda and identify provincial research priorities in education;
• develop a code of ethics and research protocols for shared research initiatives;
• build and promote the building of capacity in the area of Aboriginal education research;
• communicate research findings among members, the wider educational community and the general public;
• collaborate in specific research projects through joint grant applications and pooling of research resources;
• identify sources of funding for research; and,
• uphold high ethical standards and levels of research expertise in the province.

The network has been developed with the help of numerous government groups and educational institutions throughout Saskatchewan and has amassed a wealth of Aboriginal research including some of the following articles which I found of some relevance to course materials:

• Aboriginal Identity and Learning: An Assessment of Educational Practices in a Rural Saskatchewan Collegiate (2006)
• Aboriginal Knowledge and Perspectives: Identifying, Deliverying and Assessing Best Practices With Middle Years’ Students (2006)
• Factors That Contribute To Aboriginal Students’ Success in School In Grades Six to Nine (1999). Executive Summary.
• When Aboriginal and Métis Teachers use Storytelling as an Instructive Practice, (2006).
• Strengthening Community through Science Curriculum Actualization, (2006).
• Towards Full Engagement of First Nation, Inuit and Metis Students: A Study to Support Learning of Students in Transition, Executive Summary, 2008

These articles apply well beyond the context of Saskatchewan and delve deeply into Aboriginal Education in Canada.  Anyone looking for relevant and engaging research in any of these topics should explore the resource and see if these articles are useful for current research.

The BC ministry of education has assembled a page summarizing some of the research conducted in BC related to Aboriginal youth and Education.  The page can be found here:

http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/abed/research.htm

The site contains numerous relevant research reports relating to career transitions, student performance, Aboriginal education policy, behavious disorders among aboriginal students and  information on partnership projects.  Here are some of the more applicable research articles found on the site.

• Learning and Career Pathways
• Sharing Our Success: Ten Case Studies in Aboriginal Schooling
• Student Performance Data and Research Tools to Ensure Aboriginal Student Success
• Over-Representation of Aboriginal Students Reported with Behaviour Disorders
• The Current Position of Aboriginal Support Workers in the BC Education System
• Readings and Research from BC

I think these resources contain a great deal of information related to current research in Aboriginal Education.  These links would be a great starting point for any student still search for a topic to research in this course.

I have been spending some time researching different materials that are aimed at bringing Aboriginal knowledge and history into the classroom.

There are a lot of resources out there and I becoming surprised by the number of them that are developed by educators who are attempting to reach their Aboriginal students through relevant content or promote cross-cultural understanding among their students.

This site is simply a blog article which provides links to a complete First Nations Identities Course.  An overview of this course can be found here.  Feel free to browse these great resources which are all in printable pdf form.

• Ojibwe language handouts and games
• More Ojibwe stuff
• nish bingo
• Syllabics
• More handouts!
• The Great Indian Bus Tour of Toronto: student version
• Final project/summative

There is a lot of material here and would be very useful for any teacher looking for quality Aboriginal Identity focused materials for the classroom.

Developed by the Heritage Community Foundation this site is an “edukit” which is designed to enhance student understanding of the knowledge developed by Fist Nation people throughout history.

http://www.edukits.ca/aboriginal/contributions/index.htm

This resource was developed in conjunction with numerous agencies including Alberta Aboriginal Affairs, Museums, Schools, Aboriginal researchers, historians and elders such as Billy Joe Laboucan and Laura Okemaw.

The site features a student and a teacher zone.  In the student zone you will find numerous activities, biographies, puzzles, games, links and a photo gallery.  The resources contain a great deal of information about Aboriginal people and honours the contributions made by such historical figures as Alex Decoteau, Pakan and Star Blanket, as well as present day people like Allen Sapp and Jordin Tootoo.  In the teachers zone you can find activities and lesson plans for integrating these resources into the classroom.  There are both junior and senior high sections containing links to curriculum outcomes, teacher information, a full lesson plan and related downloads.

Here is an example of the resources available for a Grade 12 Lessons on Aboriginals in Business:

Generalization & Rationale

Objectives

Introductory Activity

Main Lesson

Download

Anyone who is trying to incorporate more Aboriginal history and knowledge into their classroom should consider checking out this site.  Also it gives a good idea of how such traditional First Nation knowledge can be weaved into the curriculum.

I thought I would share this interesting research article discussing Aboriginal Culture in Canada involving digital technologies. The article, written by the Aboriginal Voice Culture Group, explores the future of . This group endeavours to explore the relationship and impact of information and communications technologies on Aboriginal cultures and identity in Canada.

The document directly relates to many of the topics we have discussed this week including:

Is ICT the potent enabler for the promotion, renewal and enrichment of Aboriginal cultures as many claim?  For example does ICT offer new possibilities for the preservation and teaching of Aboriginal languages?  Within the context of increasing numbers of Aboriginal peoples living away from traditional communities in large urban melting pots, can technology help safeguard the right of Aboriginal children and young people to learn their culture and speak their Indigenous languages?

The article is a great read and discusses many of the websites playing a role in helping Canadian Aboriginals to shape their online identity.  Here are some of the sites the article mentions:

• Métisradio.fm
• Sunchild eLearning Community
• Métis Museum of Canada
• ImagiNATIVE

Vanishing Voices

Description and Relevancy

This is a link to the digital version of the Calgary Herald which is currently featuring a 3 part series on the struggle to protect vanishing and extinct First Nations languages in Southern Alberta.  I thought it quite timely for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the first article examines the perspective of technology and language for these endangered languages at several points. Secondly considering the Robert Harding article in our current module, that examines constructed stereotypes of Aboriginal people in newsprint media, I examined the article closely to detect any of the stereotypes that Harding and previous studies identified.

Links

Part 1

• Article and Video
• Related Story on Language Classes @ Siksika High School
• Image Gallery

Part 2

• Saving Tsuu T’ina: Band hopes new program can revive language, tradition

Part 3 (Will Update)

In my research I came across a 2009 article that explores digital technologies and their impact on Aboriginal learning in Canada.  Written by Fatima Pirbhai-Illich, K.C. Nat Turner and Theresa Y. Austin and titled Using digital technologies to address Aboriginal adolescents’ education: An alternative school intervention the article is a good read.

The link to the article can be found here, if you click on this RSVPN link it should take you right to the paper after logging in with your UBC credentials.

This article is a very interesting and timely piece that researches how digital technologies can support the learning of Aboriginal students.  More specifically the ethnographic project examines the impact of digital technologies on academic and technological literacy of one class through a number of projects.  The technology-focused and multi-modal activities were capped by a student written and produced public service announcement and some images and parts of the script are included.

The paper provides an interesting snapshot of one group of teacher`s efforts to reach out to Aboriginal students using technology in a Canadian classroom.  Although no astounding conclusions are recommended or made it is encouraging that groups of teachers are taking it upon themselves to take a closer look at how technology can be used to foster and support Aboriginal youth in their classrooms.

In researching aboriginal science and technology education I have found a variety of resources that have been very enlightening.  One of the most interesting is a book that assembles a number of research articles and reflections on the subject of First Nations education in Canada

The Circle Unfolds takes a critical look at First Nations education form a science and technology perspective.  It provides an accurate history of Aboriginal education in Canada and reflects on how best to restructure and transform Aboriginal education in terms of learning processes and teaching.

Some of the articles deal with specific issues related to some of the research proposals we have written such as “Non-Native Teachers Teaching in Native Communities” by Taylor “A Major Challenge for the Education System: Aboriginal Retention and Dropout” by Mackay and Myles and “Redefining Science education for Aboriginal Students” by MacIvor.

The collection is both broad and deep providing a great overview of many of the challanges First Nations Education has had in the past and explores how it might change in the future.

Most of the book is freely available through Google Books so I suggest checking out the contents to see if there is anything useful for your own research.

First Nations University of Canada

First Nations University of Canada (2003)  was formerly known as the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College which was founded in 1976. The university boasts programs which are designed to specifically address the needs of Aboriginal communities. Programs at the university include: Indian Communication Arts, School of Indian Social Work, Indian Fine Arts, Intercultural Leadership Program, Department of Indigenous Education, a multitude of programs related to the health sciences and many more.

The FNUC allows students of all nations to learn in an environment of First Nations cultures and values.Their mission statement ” To enhance the quality of life, and to preserve, protect and interpret the history, language, culture and artistic heritage of First Nations.”   

Links

First Nations Veterans Memorial

http://www.kihs.knet.ca/drupal/

The Keewaytinook Internet High School (KiHS) is an innovative secondary school program now in its 10th year of operation, based in northwestern Ontario that allows students in relatively isolated, mostly First Nations communities to study in local settings. Students also get the opportunity to build connections with students in other communities, broadening their sense of identity.

KiHS provides a successful model for distributed delivery utilising ICTs that are now affordable and available for most communities. A key aspect of this model is community involvement: teachers, who generally come from “away”, become active community members; community elders participate as mentors and guides, encouraging attendance and persistence. While programming is tailored to fit students’ needs, the school does follow the same Ontario curriculum requirements as any other Ontario high school, be it in an urban, rural, southern, immigrant or “white” neighbourhood. I do question whether programming from a one-size-fits-all curriculum can be tailored significantly enough to truly meet the needs of such diverse demographics.

Links to other resources include News, the school’s moodle site, student email and…