Tag Archives: education

M4P5: AlbertaEd – Walking Together & Talking Together

Alberta Education created a very comprehensive and interactive guide called Walking Together that provides educators with the necessary resources needed to incorporate FNMI perspectives into the curriculum.

One of my goals in my final project is to create a teacher self-reflection tool to determine which Indigenous perspectives are addressed in a particular lesson. The self-reflection tool would be a circle, similar to the front page of Walking Together, with the perspectives around the outside divided into pie pieces and then specific keywords underneath each perspective, to help guide the teacher in really analyzing their lessons.

I think this resource could also be used as a student activity, perhaps with the student reflecting on how the participation in the activity aligned with Indigenous perspectives. The student version would have student friendly language and offer sentence starter prompts for each perspective/keyword.

However, before introducing this self-reflection tool, students and teachers would both need to have an awareness of Indigenous knowledge and these various perspectives before the tool would be used meaningfully. I plan on creating an interactive multimodal game where these perspectives will be explored as a part of my final project.

M4P4: MathCatcher – Meet Small Number

“Mathematics Through Aboriginal Story Telling”

MathCatchers is an outreach program for educators and learners, encouraging numeracy through storytelling, pictures, and hands-on learning. They created a character named “Small Number” who ‘engage(s) Aboriginal learners in math and science through the use of First Nations imagery and storytelling.’ Through various videos, the opportunity for various discussions about anything from basic counting and pattern recognition to exponential growth and probability permutations and combinations. These videos will serve as a foundational part of my final project, with many Alberta curriculum pieces being tied to various sections of the video. I envision these videos being part of the regular classroom routine, with students constantly being brought back to the story and encouraged to dig deeper into the math and culture embedded within.

“The main character in our animations thus far is a boy called Small Number. He is a bright, playful kid, with the ability to recognize patterns and calculate quickly.”

M4P1: Education – Calls to Action

With the focus on creating an Indigenous knowledge-based curriculum/lessons/assessment plan, it is important to acknowledge the work currently in progress in regards to the 94 Calls to Action. There are two Calls to Action in particular that I will be referencing in my final project. CBC News has created an interactive resource (#Beyond94) which measures the progress of the Calls to Action. This resource is something that should be referenced when speaking to teachers about the importance of incorporating Indigenous based knowledge in the classroom.

10: Draft new Aboriginal education legislation – In Progress

  • Most recent update… “In June 2021, the Yukon government announced the creation of a separate school board for First Nations, paving the way for schools geared specifically toward Indigenous students in the territory.”

12 Develop culturally appropriate early childhood education programs – In Progress

  • In 2018, a framework for Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care was released, and in February 2021, the government proposed to invest $2.5 billion to support this mandate.

This image is an up to date account of the progress being made in the 94 calls to action. It is concerning to see 20 projects not yet started, the majority of them falling under the “Reconciliation” category. 

M3P5: Did you live near a residential school?

CBC News created an interactive website called ‘Beyond 94: Truth & Reconciliation in Canada.’ It holds many resources, but one in particular caught my eye – an interactive map titled: Did you live near a residential school?

I typed in my birth year and the address of the home I grew up in, and I found out that there was a residential school only a mere 16 kilometres away. This is a harrowing and stark reminder of the legacy of residential schools, especially with one being so close to where my students and myself live. This is a powerful resource, and it is one that I think needs to be shared widely. If a teacher typed in the birth year of their students and the address of the school, I think this would be a good starting point on a lesson/discussion about residential schools, being sure to encourage students to ask questions and express any emotions.

M3P4: Mi’kmaq Immersion School

A quote that stood out to me in this video was said by the teacher:

“I don’t know how you expect me to teach young kids their own culture when I don’t even know anything about my own culture.”

Culturally responsive education is important in the revitalization of Indigenous cultures. This video explores how a Mi’kmaq school in Manitoba has achieved “total immersion in language, culture, and community.” The school focuses on math and reading skills. The teacher interviewed spoke about how he has come to remember his “why” for teaching and has also been able to learn so much more about himself and his own culture in the process. I chose to include this video because it affirms the importance of cultural immersion and serves as a model for other programs.

This screenshot shows young students learning about the Mi’kmaq sweat lodge and singing the Mi’kmaq ‘Honor Song.”

 

M3P3: Indigenous Storywork Protocols

“Educating Heart, Mind, Body & Spirit”

I came across this site after reading about Dr. Jo-ann Archibald’s Indigenous Storywork framework. It shares various resources for educators but also for the public, and it also highlights and shows respect for the Elders who contributed to the website. The educator resources are not typical lesson plans, but rather they are a set of questions that create a framework Indigenous story telling; Dr. Archibald poses many questions that help guide and prepare educators for various protocols for using Indigenous stories. One important protocol she outlines is to acknowledge the storyteller, and the Indigenous culture from which the storyteller is a member, and then provides some contextual and cultural background for the story. This is a good entry point for me to be able to include Indigenous stories in my own teaching practice.

M4. P1

Jo-Anne Chrona said it best when speaking about the FFPL and what needs to happen first:

“a deep understanding of the FPPL is first necessary, and this understanding can then be used to guide educators’ choices about what is important to learn, and what kinds of learning experiences to create for, and with, learners in the contexts the learners and educators are in. This will vary from place to place, and community of learners to community of learners” (2014).

As I was researching the worldviews, I came across this incredible video resource from Focused Education Resources. You can find the link HERE. Of note for me, was the video below which goes through connectedness and relationships. Through this course I have developed a deep understanding for the importance of these particular principles and how we must “look for ways to relate learning to students’ selves, to their families and communities.”

References

Chrona, J.First peoples principles of learning. Retrieved from https://firstpeoplesprinciplesoflearning.wordpress.com/

Focused Education Resources. (2021). Retrieved from https://focusedresources.ca/en/supports-tutorialsvideosguides

Module 4, Post 5 | Publishers & Reconciliation in Canada

The Calls to Action do not specifically mention publishers, though these businesses can be important players in the dissemination of knowledge. BookNet recently published some interesting articles on how publishers can find their role in reconciliation by seeing themselves in the Calls to Action. Notably,

  1. We call upon the federal, provincial, and territorial governments, in consultation and collaboration with Survivors, Aboriginal peoples, and educators, to (i) make age-appropriate curriculum on residential schools, Treaties, and Aboriginal peoples’ historical and contemporary contributions to Canada a mandatory education requirement for Kindergarten to Grade Twelve students.
  1. We call upon the corporate sector[…] to (i) Commit to meaningful consultation, building respectful relationships, and obtaining the free, prior, and informed consent of Indigenous peoples before proceeding with economic development projects. (iii) Provide education for management and staff on the history of Aboriginal peoples, including the history and legacy of residential schools, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Treaties and Aboriginal rights, Indigenous law, and Aboriginal–Crown relations. This will require skills based training in intercultural competency, conflict resolution, human rights, and anti-racism.
  1. We call upon Library and Archives Canada to (i) fully adopt and implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the United Nations Joinet-Orentlicher Principles, as related to Aboriginal peoples’ inalienable right to know the truth about what happened and why, with regard to human rights violations committed against them in the residential schools.

https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2021/6/21/taking-action-towards-reconciliation-in-the-book-industry

https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2021/6/21/what-it-means-to-talk-about-reconciliation

 

Module 4, Post 3 | Weaving Indigenous and western knowledge

An article focusing on the growing interest in educational and research institutions across the country embracing a holistic approach to its scientific methods, which integrates Indigenous knowledge with classroom teaching methods to decolonize education.

A response to the TRC’s Calls to Action, this collaboration reinforces the cultural values of Indigenous knowledge and highlights applicability across a broad range of subjects.

https://www.universityaffairs.ca/features/feature-article/weaving-indigenous-and-western-knowledge/

Module 4, Post 2 | Education is the Key to Reconciliation

Justice Murray Sinclair said,

Education is what got us into this mess — the use of education at least in terms of residential schools — but education is the key to reconciliation. We need to look at the way we are educating children. That’s why we say that this is not an aboriginal problem. It’s a Canadian problem.

How do we go about solving this problem? For starters, we ensure that curriculum reflects Canadian history accurately.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/truth-and-reconciliation-chair-urges-canada-to-adopt-un-declaration-on-indigenous-peoples-1.3096225

https://www.univcan.ca/media-room/media-releases/education-is-the-key-to-meaningful-reconciliation/

https://www.utoronto.ca/news/not-just-part-past-u-t-s-jennifer-brant-teaching-subject-residential-schools-canada