Author Archives: seanturn

Promising Practices in Aboriginal Education

http://www.maei-ppw.ca/professional_development.html

This website is designed for anyone who wants to know more information on Aboriginal education, classroom resources, laws and practices, multimedia, early childhood education, professional development etc. Primarily geared towards teachers and principals. Each issue from this website brings you to a page where there are numerous links to click on. The wealth of information seems endless.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada – Kids’ stop

https://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1315444613519/1315444663239

This website designed by the Canadian government is an excellent source of information on Aboriginals in Canada for students and teachers. It includes information on Aboriginal history, culture, games, stories and classroom resources for teachers. There are stories that you can download, listen to online and activities for the students afterwards.

Indigenous Education and Epistemic Violence

http://www.cea-ace.ca/education-canada/article/indigenous-education-and-epistemic-violence

 

Education Canada was founded in 1891 and includes a network of educators that contribute their ideas for greater student and teacher engagement in public education in Canada. The link above is an article written by Michael Chandler and he’s very brutally honest in his piece. He outlines Canada’s continuing failure to properly address the training and educational needs of its First Nations, Metis and Inuit students.

Teaching for Ecological Sustainability

https://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/inspire/research/WW_Teaching_Ecological.pdf

This document helps answer the question, “How can schools and teachers incorporate Indigenous ecological perspectives in environmental education?” It was written by two university professors and outlines numerous ways to incorporate indigenous philosophies and practices into the classroom. It is clearly laid out with easy to find headings and would be beneficial to any classroom. From utilizing aboriginal expertise to being open minded and prepared.

Key Policy Issues in Aboriginal Education: An Evidence-Based Approach

http://www.cmec.ca/Publications/Lists/Publications/Attachments/295/Key-Policy-Issues-in-Aboriginal-Education_EN.pdf

This document, agreed upon with the Canadian provincial and territorial ministers of education with Learn Canada 2020, outlines their dedication and commitment to improving the outcomes for Aboriginal students. It identifies the gaps in academic achievement and graduation rates between non-Aboriginal and Aboriginal students as an important area for attention. The CMEC (Council of Ministers of Education Canada) Aboriginal Education Action Plan outlines strategies for addressing these gaps. One such strategy is “strengthening the capacity for evidence-based decision making.” With this goal, CMEC instructed a report to consider how better data and evidence can be structured to support jurisdictions’ efforts to increase the academic achievement of Aboriginal students in provincial and territorial elementary and secondary schools.

 

United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/DRIPS_en.pdf

This is a great resource for teachers and students to find out more information about the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Stating that indigenous peoples are equal to all other peoples, while recognizing the right of all peoples to be different, to consider themselves different, and to be respected as such.

Shared Learning

http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/abed/shared.pdf

This is an excellent resource for teachers who would like to integrate Aboriginal content into their curricula from Kindergarten to grade 10. It includes shared learning and instructional strategies to be used in the classroom and includes subjects such as: Music, Visual Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies, PE, Language Arts, etc. It has a brief history of Aboriginal people in BC along with key terms students and teachers should know.

Learning About Walking in Beauty: Placing Aboriginal Perspectives in Canadian Classrooms

http://crrf-fcrr.ca/en/component/flexicontent/334-crrf-research-reports/23526-learning-about-walking-in-beauty-placing-aboriginal-perspectives-in-canadian-classrooms

This report was prepared by the Coalition for the Advancement of Aboriginal Studies (CAAS)
for the Canadian Race Relations Foundation. A long-time supporter of the Coalition for the Advancement of Aboriginal Studies (CAAS), Tim Thompson (Mohawk, Hotinonshón:ni) has said that the time has come for our curricula and our classrooms to prepare us for “our beautiful walk together.” Walking in Beauty is a concept he presented at a 1998 meeting about how to improve Aboriginal Studies secondary school curriculum in Ontario.

In 2000-2001, the CAAS conducted a national Student Awareness Survey, measuring awareness, attitudes and knowledge of facts about Aboriginal Peoples’ histories, cultures, worldviews and current concerns. Five hundred and nineteen young adults (460 Canadian, 35 Aboriginal and 24 Newcomer students in first year university and college courses across Canada) responded to this 12-page survey. This report shares their answers.

Groundwork for Change

http://www.groundworkforchange.org/

This website aims to help non-Aboriginal Canadians learn about Indigenous issues. It curates information — articles, videos, maps and links — meant to help non-aboriginal people learn about and connect with First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities. They have many simple drop down menus at the top of the site such as: Learn the Lingo, Learn the Basics and Learn Issues. There are other sites listed under each of these topics for you to read and learn from. It seems like an excellent source of information.

Aboriginal Perspectives – ISUMA

https://www.isuma.tv/aboriginal-perspectives      

This website was created by the University of Regina. It showcases videos from Aboriginal people where teachers and students alike can view and learn from them. There are accompanying lesson plans to be used by the teacher where Aboriginal perspectives are presented. Teachers can use the videos alone and create their own lessons as well; there is a link to upload your own lesson if you like to share it with others. Most of the videos are interviews with other Aboriginal youth and elders.