Tag Archives: FNESC

MOD #4 POST #2: Language Education Planning

http://www.fnsa.ca/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/61415-FNESC-Language-Education-Planning-WB-MARCH16-F-WEB-1.pdf

This document by the First Nations Education Steering Committee (FNESC) and First Nations School Association (FNSA) is a user-friendly guide created for Indigenous communities and advocates hoping to create and plan Indigenous language programs. This guide is meant for planning language programs at any level and meant to work alongside other resources available online. Whether the user is planning a language nests, school language programs, immersion programs for kids, or adult language programs, all of these can be supported by this workbook.

The workbook includes fillable activities with guiding questions to help the user develop their plan/idea. Activities include:

1) Forming your core group

2) Encouraging community involvement

3) Surveying language education in your and neighbouring communities

4) Environmental scan of language resources in your and neighbouring communities

5) Developing a vision and a plan for language education in your community

6) Evaluating what you did

The workbook then guides the user into thinking about engaging parents and families, teacher training and education required, curriculum building, and funding. This step-by-step guide is helpful for those hoping to revive language through education.

M2. P4

The FNESC which stands for First Nations Education Steering Committee has an incredible website with tons of valuable knowledge and resources for Educators. If you click on the image below, you will be taken to a PDF of authenticated First Peoples resources along with documents to help you or your school evaluate the authenticity of resources you find or bring into your building. As I’m focussing on Identity, I loved how each resource is annotated in-depth with information about all the authors, the retelling, Indigenous Language used, and features of the resource such as if it includes a teacher guide.

Module 1 Post 5: First People’s Principles of Learning

First Nations Education Steering Committee (FNESC) is a Vancouver-based organization dedicated to creating resources and supporting First Nations learners in British Columbia. Their resource, First People’s Principles of Learning, has been a hallmark of B.C.’s curriculum for the past couple years. FNESC suggests the FPPL acts as a “respectful and holistic approach to teaching and learning”. Learning, in this case, can refer to learning inside or outside the classroom. The principles listed prompt us as human beings to engage with oneself in a constant and consistent cycle of exploration and reflection. Learning (and therefore living) is intimately tied to ones well-being and connectedness. The FPPL is worth exploring no matter where one might be in life.

Module 1 Post 1: Traditional Ecological Knowledge

First Nations Education Steering Committee (FNESC) is a Vancouver-based organization dedicated to creating resources and supporting First Nations learners in British Columbia. The specific resource I am referencing is “Science First Peoples” — a teacher resource for understanding and implementing First Peoples’ scientific knowledge for grades 5-9. FNESC works diligently to ensure their resources align well with the B.C. curriculum while also delivering curricular competencies in a way that recognizes and embodies Indigenous ways of learning. Specific local examples, stories, and materials are used throughout the guide to make for a more interconnected learning journey.

Module 1 Post 5

My heart is heavy this week as news breaks of the children found at a former residential school in Kamloops. And once again I look to my role as an educator within a system that has failed so many. Further, Lee Brown’s interview has served as a reminder that the “traditional” forms of education only serve those that see themselves represented within the system. And so I continue to reflect and change my practice. I come back to the First Nations Education Steering Committee (FNESC) and their guiding principles on learning. This website also provides rich resources for helping to move First Nations education in BC. While it is generalized in that it attempts to reflect a collective First Nation practice as much as possible, it serves as a reminder of the approaches I take in my classroom.

https://www.fnesc.ca/first-peoples-principles-of-learning/