Tag Archives: education

Module 4- Post 1: The indigenous portal website

As the end of my ETEC 521 journey draws near and I am hammering away at my final paper the indigenous portal website is among those that I am looking to draw inspiration from. Here in a story entitled American Indian students find refuge in cultural curriculum I learned how tribal colleges came into being in the United States of America and the role that the government played in this. It started with the Tribally Controlled Community College Assistance Act that was signed by President Jimmy Carter in 1978 and authorized federal assistance to American Indian colleges. Next came the designated as land-grant institutions in 1994, giving them the opportunity to apply for millions of dollars in grant money. As a result of these there are 37 tribal colleges in the United States that are created and chartered by American Indian people with the specific purpose of offering higher education based in American Indian culture. We can definitely learn from this in the Caribbean.

Module 3 Post 5: Opening Doors to the Future: Applying Local Knowledge in Curriculum Development, Veronica Ingas

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Ignas, V. (2004) Opening doors to the future: Applying local knowledge in curriculum development. Canadian Journal of Native Education. (28)1/2. 49-60.

Ingas begins her article with statistics comparing Indigenous and non-Indigenous graduation rates and, like many others, identifies the significantly lower Indigenous graduation rates as evidence of an education system that is failing Indigenous students. The result, she postulates, of the contemporary system’s lack of valuing Indigenous cultural contexts and local level knowledge, and therefore failing to be meaningful to Indigenous students. More typically, the contemporary system has “distanced and denied First Nations [sic] knowledge” (p.49) and left students feeling that “their ways of knowing are inferior or inadequate.” (p.55)

Ingas goes on to describe how successful curricular models must value Indigenous ways of knowing, world view and traditional ecological knowledge, and describes the Forests for the Future science curriculum that she co-developed for the BC high schools through the partnership with community members, parents, Elders and educational professionals. Ingas’ preferred method of instruction is an inquiry based model that requires students to “assume the primary responsibility for planning, conducting and evaluating their investigations” (Moore, Moore, Cunningham & Cunningham, 1998, p. 280) through content that “should address issues, controversies or provocative questions inspired by experiences in the [students’ lives].” Kanevsky, 1999, p. 58)

Kanevsky, L. (1999). The toolkit for for curriculum differentiation. Lanny Kanevsy. October Edition.

Moore, D., Moore S., Cunningham, P., & Cunninghamj., (1998) Developing readers and writers in the content areas (3rd ed.) Don Mills, ON: Longman.

Module 3- Post 1: Yes, There are Amerindian Children in Barbadian Schools !

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At this stage of my ETEC 521 journey I am settling down some what and my focus is shifting from trying to understand indigeneity in general sense to looking at how it applies to my own teaching situation. I must thank Heather for helping me to sort this out. This new approach delivered fruits immediately as I just discovered there are significant populations of indigenous people in the Caribbean region where I am teaching right now. This article from the indigenous portal web site mentions over 2300 from one tribe alone. While at the site you can have a look at the Caribbean section for more information on indigenous from this region. Our curriculum in the Caribbean is determined by the regional examination body The Caribbean Examination Council and it does not cater for them in any way. As a matter of fact from the accounts of this article the children are being told by educators that their people are extinct. It mean that our education system has a long way to go if we are to care of our indigenous people.

This new knowledge has changed my perspective so I will be changing my research to look at a framework for including the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean in formal education with minimal risk to their culture.

The silver lining of this dark cloud is that the indigenous people of the Caribbean are leveraging the web to advance their cause as would be seen in the rest of my post to this web log.

Module 2 – Weblog

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First Nations Technology Council (FNTC) http://www.fnbc.info/capacity-development

This Website provides information on province wide initiatives that focus on supporting First Nations communities with technology. Their focus will be on language, culture, education, health, economic development, governance, land a marine stewardship and more.

The First Nations Technology Council is working towards providing data services to First Nations at reasonable costs. This is in order to aid many BC First Nations groups that are in remote locations in which it is costly for reliable technology services.

They also provide computer training for Aboriginal people on and off reserves.

This website shows the initiative to incorporate and make technology accessible for Aboriginal people in remote locations. This may help my personal research as I am looking into the effects of BC’s New Education Plan in which they are trying to incorporate more technology into schools. With FNTC on board, perhaps this could be a good collaboration.

First Nations Schoolnet http://www.firstnationsnt.ca/

This site has many resources that are available for multiple research topics. The home page has a list of current articles and issues on the site. There are sample lesson plans, information on topics such as Government Canada providing programs to improve First Nation Education, as well as scholarship information for students.

There is a link that provides information about course content in the IT training academy which provides students with training for career-ready skills. There is also information for online lessons in IT for things such as PC Hardware and Software training. This site has a lot of content related to indigenous training in technology and how to implement technology in schools. Content from this site will be useful for my research project as it is about incorporating technology in schools and the effect it will have on Aboriginal students.

BC Action Plan – Incorporating First Nation Education Act http://actionplan.gc.ca/en/initiative/first-nation-education-act

This site is an information site for the incorporation of a First Nation Education Act that is planned to be in place for September 2014. This site offers insight about the Initiative, who will benefit and updates on the initiative. This site also provides information on what type of money the government is putting towards this initiative.

This will help my research as it will provide statistics that I can use in my writing.

Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada http://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1100100033601/1100100033605

This site has a lot of useful information. On the left hand tabs, you can read about many different topics such as benefits and rights and economic development, but in particular I looked under the Education tab. This tab provides information on the First Nation Education act (which has extra information to elaborate from the previously listed website on my weblog) as well as Elementary/Secondary Education Programs, Post-Secondary Education programs, First Nation Education Partnerships and Agreements and more. Since my Research is in the secondary level for schooling, this site is very beneficial because it also provides links to First Nation Student Success Programs, publications and references, and National Program guidelines for 2013-2014. All of this information will be helpful for my research.

Aboriginal Education – Ministry of British Columbia Website http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/abed/

This again is a great site for information on Aboriginal Education in BC. The tab on the left that shows Aboriginal Performance Data is particularly helpful for my research as it has seven years of reports on Aboriginal Student performance in the BC public school system. This will help me discover possible trends in learning, and since technology is increasing, be able to see if there is a noticeable correlation of increase/decrease in performance levels of Aboriginal Students over these years.

Module 2- Post 5: Teaching and Learning for a Sustainable Future

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Teaching and Learning for a Sustainable Future

http://www.unesco.org/education/tlsf/index.html

This is by far the most interesting website I have encountered in this part of my journey into the world of education of indigenous people. It is essentially an online multimedia teacher education program by UNESCO that provides professional development for student teachers, teachers, curriculum developers, education policy makers, and authors of educational materials. It is made up of 27 professional development modules, organized in four thematic sections. Of special interest to this blog is the module Indigenous knowledge & sustainability that covers topics such as:

The wisdom of the elders;
Why is indigenous knowledge important?;
Living by indigenous knowledge;
Indigenous and formal education;
Enhancing the curriculum through indigenous knowledge.

These make this module an invaluable resource for any teacher that is new to indigenous education but what is more important is that it shows how the web can be leveraged for professional development of educatiors. Which is a concept that those involved in the education of indigenous people can exploit for their own needs.

Module 2- Post 3: Closing the Gap in Education? Improving Outcomes in Southern World Societies

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Closing the Gap in Education? Improving Outcomes in Southern World Societies

http://books.publishing.monash.edu/apps/bookworm/view/Closing+the+Gap+in+Education%3F/55/xhtml/title.html

This online book that is published by Monash University served as gentle reminder of the power of the internet and the objectives of this blog within the context or this course. The book is the result of a 2009 conference of the same name. It was the third international conference in a series of partnerships between the Monash Institute for the Study of Global Movements (MISGM) and Monash South Africa. It looked at the pressing challenges facing education systems – Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. These countries have considerable underlying similarities, including colonial settlement histories, multicultural societies, and separate dualistic pockets of poverty and affluence. This provides a wealth of information for educator and stakeholders who are looking for solutions for the problems associated with the education of indigenous people. Below are the links that I preferred but the entire book can be a useful resource.

Section 1:The scope and substance of marginalisation in education

Section 2:The structure and entrenchment of disadvantage

Section 3: The challenges facing Indigenous education

Section 4: Enhancing social justice and equity

Module 1 – Post 5: Indigenous Education and the Prospects for Cultural Survival

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http://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/united-states/indigenous-education-and-prospects-cultural-s

What makes this article different for me is that it provides insights in to the education of indigenous people by chronicling the complex history of an indigenous people educational institution from a boarding school to a university. Because is focuses on an institution rather than a program it provides a working example both how the thinking on the education of native people has evolved over the years and the challenges that arose over time. As I read I became convinced that more institution that caters for the need indigenous people are needed in the world of education.

Module 1 – Post 2: Education, indigenous knowledge and globalisation

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http://scienceinafrica.com/old/index.php?q=2003/march/ik.htm

The interesting thing about this page is that it presents a model for education that was developed through collaboration between young and old, and between rural Africa and the industrialised world, which might serve as a catalyst for other grassroots organisations to develop educational strategies appropriate to their own circumstances. This was done in an effort to counter the still a widely held view that anything associated with culture and hereditary values is pagan. It reminded of the efforts Inuit Broadcasting Company in the screen memories article.

Module 1 – Post 1: Ifugao Knowledge and Formal Education -Systems of Learning in the Philippines

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http://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/philippines/ifugao-knowledge-and-formal-education-systems-l

This web site explores learning system of the people of one Ifugao village of Mayoyao in the Philippines. It serves as another example that highlights the issues that are at stake when we try to educate indigenous people from a western stand point in a way that would preserve as much of their cultural as possible.

Patason

Module 1 – Weblog Due June 3

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Weblog 1 – Marijke Henschel May 27,2013

(http://www.afn.ca/index.php/en) Assembly of First Nations Website:

The ASF website is one made by an organization that represents all First Nations Citizens in Canada. On the site there is access to latest news and current issues of the First Nation Citizens in Canada at this particular moment. There is access to information on topics such as health, residential schools, population statistics and more. There is a lot of information on government interactions, funding and more in order to deal with misconceptions about First Nations people. There are also posts by the National Chief Shawn Atleo expressing topics such as the latest federal budget, letters sent to the Prime Minister of Canada and more.

This site would be very valuable for research of First Nations issues as it has current and past issues on the site, and in general has a large variety of information on various topics such as; Education, Ending Violence, Finance, First Nations E-Community, Land Rights and Claims and Parliamentary Relations.

(http://www.dickshovel.com/www.html) First Nations: Issues of Consequence

This particular site’s link will send you to the index for the site. This site seems to be a collection of different opinions and writings from the internet and includes historical pieces and interviews. This site seems to focus on the atrocities committed against First Nations People in the past and the stereotypes and misconceptions they have had to endure. Since the site is not from scholarly journals it may not be directly useful for research material but there is so much content on this site that it could definitely be used as a starting place for research ideas. If you are interested in residential schooling, there are many resources dedicated to this as well as the American equivalents of residential schools. As this site contains thought-provoking and controversial matter it can definitely be used to find a direction for research.

(http://www.iwgia.org/) International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA)

This website focuses on many different types of topics surrounding the Indigenous community such as: Poverty, Racism, Development, Intellectual Property Rights, Identification of Indigenous Peoples and more. The main focus of the site seems to be on the rights of Indigenous peoples. This site would be great for research in international Indigenous affairs as links are provided to organizations around the world (United Nations) and other subcommittees. This site has scholarly references and academic citations which would be a great asset when looking for research on International Indigenous people’s Issues. There is also the ability to search different publications for articles on the site.

(http://firstpeoplesvoices.com/index.htm) Native History – Native Experiences – Native Voices of First Nations People

This particular site has many different types of topics. One tab on the left hand side (Invented White History and Imagery) was quite shocking as it shows examples of American Indian people as being portrayed as wild and savage in the “darkness” through old paintings and other examples in history. This site provides access to Western beliefs about First Nations as well as how western society and beliefs were basically forced upon them. Other tabs with great amount of information would be the “Native Values” tab on the left. “Cultural Genocide” is also very eye-opening as well.

This particular site would be beneficial for research on the trials and tribulations of Indigenous people and how western culture has taken them over. If you read “About the Author” of this site, you will find that it is written by a non-First Nations woman.

(http://www.fnuniv.ca/) First Nations University of Canada

This particular site is a University web page. This University was founded in 1976 with connection to the University of Regina and has multiple campuses in Saskatchewan. The site has a list of programs, as well as job opportunities. Some examples being a Health and Science Camp Supervisor, Community Based Program Coordinator and Business and Public Administration position at different campuses.

Although this site has less research on Indigenous history and knowledge, this would be a great example of First Nations support towards post-secondary education. This also may provide insight into possible techniques in order to motivate First Nations students to pursue education beyond high school.