Tag Archives: professionaldevelopment

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.

M2P5: Tua’ll (and then) I used math to tell a story

Tua’ll (and then) I used math to tell a story: Using think alouds to enhance agency and problem solving in an indigenous high school mathematics class

This thesis is an action-research project in a high school math classroom that focuses on student discourse and agency. I am excited that I found such a detailed and extensive account of someone’s journey of incorporating Indigenous culture into an Indigenous high school mathematics class.

Below are some findings, implications, and questions from the report.

M2P3: Alberta Ed Sample Lesson Plans

“These sample lesson plans support Education for Reconciliation through the inclusion of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit perspectives; treaty education; and residential schools’ experiences, with learning outcomes identified in the current Alberta programs of study.

Each sample lesson plan includes content(s) or context(s) related to one or more of the following aspects of Education for Reconciliation:

  • diverse perspectives and ways of knowing of First Nations, Métis, or Inuit, including values, traditions, kinship, language, and ways of being;
  • understandings of the spirit and intent of treaties; or
  • residential schools’ experiences and resiliency.”

I was excited to find this resource, but then noticed that Mathematics was not a subject included, which makes me eager to try to gather resources for teaching math in the K-12 classroom, but also makes me question why?

M2P1: Stepping Stones

“Stepping Stones is a publication of the Alberta Teachers’ Association Walking Together: Education for Reconciliation and is intended to support certificated teachers on their learning journey to meet the First Nations, Métis and Inuit Foundational Knowledge competency in the Teaching Quality Standard.”

This resource is helpful in providing a detailed overview of various topics including, but not limited to, terminology, Treaties, Canada’s history, First Nations Traditions and culture, and residential schools.

M1P5: Indigenous Education Resources

This website houses some amazing information for Indigenous Education.

A school is also highlighted on this website:

“Nala’atsi is a school based in Courtenay, British Columbia for students with Indigenous ancestry in grades 10 to 12. It is a 10 month program that provides individualized support for students whose needs have not been met in a mainstream classroom setting. Nala’atsi aims to give students a sense of community and belonging, a safe and compassionate learning environment, as well as access to a variety of exciting cultural activities within the community and beyond.”

M1P4: Indigenous Cinema in the Classroom

“Our educational playlists are selections of films on themes that tie in with Canadian curricula and address the important issues of the day. Many of the playlists are also linked to our study guides.”

Within the “Indigenous Voices and Reconciliation” tab, some playlists that I have flagged for review are:

  • Indigenous Cinema in the Classroom Professional Learning for Educators
  • Indigenous Cinema in the Classroom (Ages 15+)
  • Indigenous Cinema in the Classroom (Ages 12-14)
  • Indigenous Cinema in the Classroom (Ages 6-11)

https://www.nfb.ca/education/educational-playlists/#indigenous-voices-and-reconciliation

M1P2: British Columbia’s FPPL

First People’s Principles of Learning

  • Looking forward to referencing this document and incorporating these principles into my classroom, and seeing how they can align with Alberta curriculum.
  • I also found this link as an “informational URL” on the BC Government’s website, offering suggestions for how teachers can include the FPPL in their classrooms.

M1P1: The Alberta TQS

“The professional practice of all Alberta teachers is guided by the Teaching Quality Standard (TQS). This standard is the basis for certification of all Alberta teachers and holds them accountable to the profession and to the Minister of Education.”

In 2008, a sixth competency was added: Applying Foundational Knowledge about First Nations, Métis and Inuit. As it is important for all teachers to keep up to date with their professional practice, the TQS is an important document that I will be referencing throughout this course.

Alberta Teaching Quality Standard infographic

MOD #1 POST #5: Learning Bird

Learning Bird : https://learningbird.com/

Learning Bird is a company that works with schools and communities to build local Indigenous culture, language, and history into the classroom content through school resources, school programs, and language programs. Part of their services includes helping Indigenous communities digitalize their cultural artifacts and languages, provide teacher professional development opportunities, and develop curriculum. Their platform includes an LMS to support distance and differentiated learners and a bank of multi-modal resources to support teachers in their classrooms. However, this is a paid platform and requires a subscription to use their services.

MOD #1 POST #2: BCTF Professional Development Workshops

https://bctf.ca/pd/workshops.aspx?id=233054

The British Columbia Teachers’ Federation (BCTF) has a series of workshops available for teachers, ranging from resources for employment equity for Aboriginal Educators to teaching resources. One of my research interests is learning about how we can support teachers, so they feel comfortable integrating Indigenous perspectives and ways of knowing in their classrooms. Availability to professional development resources and workshops is one way we can support teachers. The website mentions virtual workshops and there are three adapted for online facilitation, Infusing Aboriginal Content (K-9), Project of Heart, and UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. I do not know if these are available online because of the ongoing global pandemic and if they will continue to be available online post-pandemic. According to the website, workshop costs are covered by the BCTF, but schools need to provide facilities and supplies.

From BCTF (2021), the criteria for booking a workshop:

  • booked through the Professional and Social Issues Division
  • facilitated by BCTF facilitators who are classroom teachers
  • require at least three weeks’ advance notice
  • for groups of 15 to 30 (special circumstances and small schools exempted)
  • for intact teacher groups, school staffs, etc.

 

References

BCTF (2021). Professional and social issues workshops program. British Columbia Teachers’ Federation. https://bctf.ca/ProfessionalDevelopment.aspx?id=38669#process