Tag Archives: Aboriginal Education

Module One – Initial Research

My interest lies in indigenous storytelling using new media or traditional platforms within educational and extended community spaces. Even after narrowing the scope to Canada, I find it an overwhelmingly vast – and therefore promising – area of research.

Specifically, I would like to explore storytelling projects guided by expressions within oral, dance or art practices. My findings so far fall into two general categories: (i) featured projects reflecting local manifestations of storytelling within the larger global context, and (ii) general resources reflecting larger missions of a more global scale designed to support work across the country.

Here are five websites that reflect those categories. They are by no means exhaustive; they fall within a broader network that led to their discovery, and lead to so many more!

(1) First Nations Pedagogy Online

This is an online community that provides a wealth of information about best practices, pedagogy and resources including a Learning Centre, in support of First Nations storytelling.

(2) Aboriginal Arts & Stories

This site bills itself as “The largest and most recognized art & creative writing competition in Canada for Indigenous youth.” It contains a teachers’ page with a comprehensive and valuable Teachers’ Kit designed to help educators create safe spaces for expression, handle sensitive issues and support a process using Aboriginal Arts & Stories Learning Tools. The site features links to previous arts and writing winners.

(3) Town of Rigolet Storytelling Camp

One example of local storytelling is Rigolet Inuit Community Government’s UKausiga Youth and Elder Storytelling and Culture Sharing Camp. Digital stories on the website were created in 2009-2010 as a part of the Changing Climate, Changing Health, Changing Stories project, a community-driven, participatory, storytelling project that “utilized digital media to gather place-based narratives, documenting the impacts of climate change on human health and well-being and sharing adaptation strategies.” According to the site, the My Word Storytelling & Digital Media Lab continues to operate and facilitate Digital Storytelling workshops.

I will be looking for projects similar in scale to this one, in communities and schools. If they are digital in nature, my hope is that they will share local stories on a global scale online. Specifically, I hope to find works featuring oral storytelling, art and dance as mentioned above.

(4) The Canadian Education Association’s First Nations Schools First!

This website is home to an event that took place in Vancouver in 2016. This learning symposium’s theme was “sharing successful indigenous learning,” focusing on ensuring the success of all Indigenous students. The event featured workshops, case studies, speakers and networking.

(5) Finally, a two-part bonus, featuring two Canadian foundations that are active in indigenous-focused philanthropy:

(a) The McConnell Foundation states that a principal focus of its granting is Indigenous youth, recognizing that it is the fastest growing segment of Canada’s population and that partnerships with Indigenous communities and others are essential towards everyone’s shared future. The page features a list of grants and initiatives working with a range of relevant partners.

(b) Through the McConnell foundation, I discovered The Right Honourable Paul Martin’s Martin Family Initiative (MFI), whose mission appears to be completely education and entrepreneurship focused in nature. It is an organization with an impressive roster on its team of influential and powerful individuals who are working together on a range of initiatives such as the Model School Literacy Project. The resources page is extensive.

Please watch founder Paul Martin speak about the MFI’s mission to work with indigenous communities here. Other MFI videos are available on the MFI site and its Vimeo channel here.

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If I may give an Honourable Mention, the Ontario Teachers’ Federation Useful Links for Aboriginal Education is another site worth mentioning. In a future post, I will feature some of the other notable sites I discovered. I’d love to include them all here, but the list would be much too long!

Lessening the Cultural Divide through the Teaching about Indigenous Culture

In thinking about what my final assignment will be focused on, I have two somewhat differing ideas and routes in consideration. Watching films such as Nanook of the North, however archaic it may be, has me interested in ways in which third-person/outsider narratives can positively contribute to Indigenous identity and self-representation. Of course putting the film-making process into the hands of the culture itself would be most impactful, but it is evident that film-making is not always a self-representation, but rather a representation of an “other.” Therefore, how can we mitigate this misappropriation of cultural identity that inevitably comes from this process?

On the other hand, instead of focusing on the mishandling of Indigenous identity, culture, and values by the media, how can educators help lessen the “us vs. them” mentality that is still perpetuated. Now more than ever, the BC school system is acknowledging the deep-rooted historical legacy and importance of the First Nations in our province, by having incorporated more facets of Indigenous culture into the curriculum. But frankly, teachers won’t always be equipped with appropriate or accurate strategies/knowledge to shed light on this culture in a fruitful way. Educators are part of the third-person narrative that so often harms Indigenous (self) representation. How can we better equip our teachers to offer an Indigenous curriculum that not only discusses the culture based on observation, but relays the feelings and cultural understanding experienced by those that are a part of it.

SEA TO SKY SCHOOL DISTRICT’S CULTURAL JOURNEYS PROGRAM

http://www.squamishchief.com/lifestyles/squamish-comes-together-in-an-education-program-following-first-nation-teaching-1.9029385

In Squamish, at Stawamus Elementary, students experience a place-based educational program, similar to what Suzanne Stewart describes, called “Cultural Journeys” where “the Kindergarten to Grade 6 classes are guided by the principle that all learning is grounded in understanding the connected relationship of language, land and culture”. In this program “…Squamish Nation ways of knowing and appreciation for the land are weaved throughout the curriculum”.  Markedly, this program is not exclusive to native students, it is a choice program and many non-native students attend. Technology doesn’t come up in the description of the “Cultural Journeys” program, nor in the school video (see below), however it is mentioned with regards to the Grade 7-12 program “Learning Expeditions”. This begs the question of how technology in integrated and whether or not place-based learning is so primarily focused upon in the later years program.

Module 1 Entry 5

PLACE BASED LEARNING IN ABORIGINAL COMMUNITIES

In this 2011 interview with Suzanne Stewart from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, place-based learning in Aboriginal communities is discussed. Stewart explains how place-based learning has resulted in an increase in attendance and sense of identity for Aboriginal students in Ontario. She explains that due to the legacy of residential schools and colonial history, not much value has been placed on Western education, however, place-based learning is changing this. Notably, Stewart offers a definition for place-based learning that is not only referring to geographical place, but also to the social, political, and cultural position of all people involved in the community.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0kRVhva0w4

Module 1 Entry 4

ABORIGINAL EDUCATION NEEDS TO BE PLACE-BASED

http://www.cea-ace.ca/blog/mark-fettes/2014/06/3/aboriginal-education-needs-be-place-based-education

This educational blog post from June 18 of 2014 calls for the integration of place-based learning in Aboriginal education. The author problematizes how simply integrating Aboriginal culture, like language, into the current educational system (based on western values and created for the purpose of homogenization) isn’t enough to address issues of Aboriginal students. He calls for “a different vision of schools in general” where curriculum and teacher training are also revisioned.

Module 1 Entry 3

MY RESEARCH FOCUS AND WAB KINEW ON LEARNING TO CODE

I am particularly interested in learning more about how indigenous people are using modern/western technologies in order to re-know/learn traditional ways of knowing and doing (technologies). This is something that I have been increasingly interested in as I hear more and more first-hand stories about how indigenous communities are connecting and sharing ancestral knowledge and using technologies to uncover artifacts that have journeyed far from their place. The following weblinks touch on key themes from Module 1, particularly that of place. I am quickly learning that perspective also lends to offshoots in conversation about technology and Indigenous education.

Keywords: modernization, relationships, place-based, aboriginal education, technology, identity, language, perspective

https://twitter.com/wabkinew/status/849248012006248448

What I find particularly interesting is how this tweet illustrates the complexity and varying opinions on technology integration in education. Wab Kinew tweets “It’s important we move technology to early years and make sure every kid, not just the high achiever, learns to code”, sharing a New York Times article . This statement strikes me as quite contrary to much of our readings and many Aboriginal perspectives on western technology, but what strikes me as most interesting, are the comments that follow Kinew’s tweet suggesting an understanding of the natural world be more important. Kinew responds saying both technology and “critical thinking about the natural world” are important. But what does this look like? How can these two notions be married?

Module 1 Entry 1

Module 1 websites for research purposes

In thinking about what I would like to do my research on, I was brought back to a concern or sense of confusion I have about the new BC curriculum. I teach grades 2-3 in North Vancouver, and have several students with First Nations ancestry. In rolling out the new curriculum this year, I have found that the curricular outcomes targeting First Nations content in the primary years are extremely broad, and I’m finding it challenging to find appropriate relevant resources to target those particular outcomes. It would be beneficial to explore authentic, meaningful resources developed by the First Peoples for First Peoples and others.

Here are a few I have come by so far…

Aboriginal Worldviews and Perspectives in the Classroom http://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/education/administration/kindergarten-to-grade-12/aboriginal-education/awp_moving_forward.pdf

  • This document provides useful background information on engagement, a vision for the future, and discusses attributes for responsive schooling, including those of teachers. It falls short of providing classroom lessons and examples of how to role out the process, but offers a more general idea of the way to move forward in the realm of education.

Authentic First Peoples Resources http://www.fnesc.ca/wp/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/PUBLICATION-61460-FNESC-Authentic-Resources-Guide-2016-08-26.pdf

  • An annotated list of resources written by First Peoples for a student audience. It is a collection of informational and fiction works, but is quite language heavy, and would work well for teaching themes and issues in the older grades.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada https://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1302889494709/1302889781786

  • Government of Canada resource with links to reading and listening activities, primarily for the younger grades.

In Our Own Words http://aboriginal.sd34.bc.ca/sites/default/files/In-Our-Own-Words-final-Apr-16-web_0.pdf

  • A collection of practical lesson ideas for the K-3 classroom by the First Nations Education Steering Committee (see below)

First Nations Education Steering Committee http://www.fnesc.ca

  • FNESC is a regional (BC) committee of First Peoples who work “at the provincial level to provide services in the areas of research, communications, information dissemination, advocacy, program administration and networking.” As they work in a multitude of areas in the public sphere, one avenue of information dissemination is through schools in the K-12 education system. As such, they provide a variety of links to curricular resources divided into relevant topic areas.

 

I will keep searching for relevant information and tailor my research interests from here.

Module 1 Weblog- Kirsten O’Coin

I suppose that I have not yet chosen a topic to research yet because my knowledge surrounding Indigenous Education is severely limited. That being said, I did complete my teacher’s diploma in Australia where many of the courses integrated Indigenous perspectives. I am very interested as to how Indigenous perspectives can be integrated and weaved into more of the Ontario education system- specifically pertaining to the Elementary sector. That being said, I have come across some interesting websites that might help my narrow down my topic of research.

PDF Files- Aboriginal Perspectives: A Guide to the Teacher’s Toolkit

http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/aboriginal/toolkit.html

  • This resource is an Ontario educator’s resource with links to the curriculum for each grade as well as actual strategies and lessons that can be utilized. The resource outlines specific expectations that can align nicely with lessons/units on Aboriginal culture ranging from Grades 1-12. Majority of the lessons fall under Social Studies/History and Language.

Website- Teaching for Indigenous Education

http://www.indigenouseducation.educ.ubc.ca/

  • This website is a “digital learning resource” aimed at educators teaching Indigenous/Aboriginal perspectives. Not surprisingly, it is an UBC blog and provides a plethora of information mostly connecting to BC curriculum expectations. It ranges from learning/teaching about relationships to pedagogy and politics. It has a variety of attached resources that one can peruse.

Research Paper– Digital Opportunities Within the Aboriginal Education Program: A Study of Preservice Teachers’ Attitudes and Proficiency in Technology Integration (Dragon, Peacock, Norton, Steinhauer, Snart, Cabonaro & Boechler, 2012)

http://ajer.journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/ajer/article/view/1017

  • This paper examines pre-service teacher’s opinions on the effects technology has had on implementing and gaining access to Aboriginal perspectives. It provides insight into how technology has changed Aboriginal education, while paying special attention to how social media outlets have created cause for concern in the Aboriginal community.

Website- Project of Heart

What is Project of Heart?

  • Project of Heart is a website that aims to educate people on the history of Aboriginal people in Canada, specifically referring to Indian Residential Schools and the harm that this experience caused to the children and their families. The website provides many resources that give detailed information about the history as well as a step-by-step inquiry based guide on how to lead your students through this tough topic by conducting their own investigation.

TedTalk– Transforming the Teacher in Indigenous Education (Chris Garner)

  • An inspirational TedTalk with tips for educators on teaching Indigenous Education. While Garner, a South African, is discussing Australian Aboriginals, this still can be transferred to Canadian Aboriginals. He stresses the importance of potential + effort + relevance to own context= success. If students are able to relate to the information being taught (or the ways in which it is taught) the students has a great chance of success.

Module 1 – Weblog – Tanya Walsh

As mentioned in my introductory post, I am interested in how educational institutions may create spaces and opportunities to honour the spirituality of individuals and communities. Therefore, I am interested in researching how Indigenous people incorporate spirituality into their own educational programs.

The following resources represent my first foray into cyberspace to find out what’s going on out there. (The sites found are listed in alphabetical order by author.)

  • Battiste, M. National Working Group on Education and the Minister of Indian Affairs, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada. (2002, October 31). Indigenous Knowledge and Pedagogy in First Nations Education: A Literature Review with Recommendations. Ottawa, ON: Government of Canada. http://www.afn.ca/uploads/files/education/24._2002_oct_marie_battiste_indigenousknowledgeandpedagogy_lit_review_for_min_working_group.pdf
    • This literature review discusses Indigenous knowledge and recommends an educational framework and steps to improve the educational outcomes of First Nations peoples. It admits that in calling itself a ‘literature review’ it is a attempt to describe Indigenous knowledge through a Eurocentric lens. However one must start somewhere, so this is a review of the existing literature on Indigenous knowledge and pedagogy which the author hopes will, in turn, inform educational reform.
    • Keywords: Indigenous knowledge, pedagogy in First Nations education, epistemology, learning processes, cognitive other

 

  • Bell, N. (2017).  Teaching by the medicine wheel: An Anishinaabe framework for Indigenous education. Canada Education. Retrieved from: http://www.cea-ace.ca/education-canada/article/teaching-medicine-wheel
    • The Medicine Wheel is a symbol used by many Indigenous cultures to represent the importance of the interrelatedness of all things. In this article, Bell explains how the Medicine Wheel may be used as a guide along an educational journey. In fact, she describes how honouring the gifts of each of the four directions may lead us to different learning processes as we move from standard linear models to the spiraling concepts of (a) awareness (East) with the call to envision or ‘seeing it’, (b) understanding (South) with the call for interrelationship over time or to ‘relating to it’, (c) knowledge (West) with the call to reason or to ‘figuring it out’, and finally, (d) wisdom (North) with the call for movement or to ‘doing it’. Bell then goes on to describe how this pedagogy has been used in practice.
    • Keywords: aboriginal, curriculum, educational change, elementary school

 

  • Brandhagen, K. (2017, May 24). Book review. [Review of the book The Knowledge Seeker: Embracing Indigenous Spirituality, by Blair Stonechild. AdvanceSouthwest.com-Arts & Culture. Retrieved from http://www.advancesouthwest.com/knowledge-seeker-embracing-indigenous-spirituality/
    • This is a book review of “The Knowledge Seeker: Embracing Indigenous Spirituality” by Blair Stonechild. The review is helpful because Brandhagen describes its ties to education, specifically to the history of Stonechild’s experience and challenges faced in a post-secondary education environment. It also describes the ‘sacred activity’ of learning and how “creating a new First Nations education system was one of the ways to bring focus back to honouring First Nations culture, community, language, and spirituality after the residential schools had existed for generations for the sole purpose of destroying those very relationships” (Brandhagen, 2017, para. 4). The description of learning as a sacred activity is an important one, as it speaks to the impact of education on individuals and communities. Although written by a Canadian from a Canadian-Indigenous perspective, Stonechild has researched the spirituality of Indigenous cultures from around the world, giving it a relevance beyond our borders.
    • Keywords: Indigenous spirituality, education, oral knowledge, First Nations culture

 

  • McDougall, C. (2017, February 6). Shawane Dagosiwin: Faculty of Education to co-host national Indigenous education reseach forum. UM Today News. Retrieved from http://news.umanitoba.ca/faculty-of-education-to-co-host-national-%E2%80%A8indigenous-education-research-forum/
    • This is a brief announcement from the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba, indicating that they would be co-hosting the Aboriginal Education Research Forum and the Canadian Symposium on Indigenous Teacher Education. It took place April 24th and 25th, 2017. Of interest to me is that this year’s theme was Embedding Spiritual and Sustainable Wisdom in Education and Research as and Act of Reconciliation. The hope is that by honouring “the need to value Indigenous knowledge traditions…will ultimately positively impact educational outcomes” (McDougall, 2017, para. 3). It is my belief that by respecting students as whole beings with spiritual needs and perspectives will support them in achieving their educational goals.
    • Keywords: Shawane Dagosiwin, aboriginal education research, Indigenous education, spiritual wisdom, reconciliation

 

  • McDougall, C. (2017, April 26). Conference showcases spirituality in reconciliation. UM Today News. Retrieved from http://news.umanitoba.ca/conference-showcases-spirituality-in-reconciliation/
    • This is the follow-up story to the above announcement. It describes how the keynote speaker’s (Dr. Chantal Fiola’s) spiritual journey not only shaped her identity but also informed her research and teaching practice. She makes the astute comment, “Many people think that spirituality is important to education. It’s just that for several generations, it was a particular kind of religion that was taught” (McDougall, 2017, April 26, para. 4). This not only refers to the sad history of Canada’s residential school system but can also be said to refer to all parochial schools and colleges with religious affiliations. Therefore, the connection between religion and spirituality is not new, it is just now being allowed to be revived in certain communities. So she asks, “What actions are we taking in our classrooms, and in our school systems to make space for different spiritualties?” (McDougall,2017, April 26, para. 6). It is a good and relevant question.
    • Keywords: Shawane Dagosiwin, spirituality in reconciliation, spirituality in education

 

  • Stonechild, B. (2014, June 12). Bringing spiritual teachings into education. Retrieved from http://www.cea-ace.ca/blog/blair-stonechild/2014/06/4/bringing-spiritual-teachings-education
    • Stonechild has seen the full spectrum of aboriginal education in Canada, from being a residential school survivor to helping develop a First Nation-controlled post-secondary institution. In this article, he summaries his view on the importance of spirituality in education. He explains that aboriginal spirituality is about establishing a health relationship with all things, especially with one’s family, nation, and Nature itself. On this physical journey, learning is a sacred mission. Those who have lost touch with their spiritual roots may forget the importance of maintaining healthy interrelationships and so turn to substance abuse, crime and gang activities. Therefore, researching, writing and teaching about the principles of Aboriginal spirituality is very important at this time.
    • Keywords: aboriginal, educational change, equity, student success, transformation

 

Continue reading →

Module 1 Websites

 

Module 1

Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada- Education

This site outlines the roles and responsibilities that the Canadian government and First Nations have in regards to education of youth in the communities. It’s a comprehensive site that has specific information about K-12 education, bursary programs, infrastructural investments, etc. As this is the government’s official site it exhibits a clear bias towards portraying the educational conditions in First Nations in a positive light.

http://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1100100033601/1100100033605

 

Assembly of First Nations- Education Policy Area

This is the official site for the AFN. They outline many of the funding decisions by the federal government. There are areas that focus on Indigenous language preservation. This site also focusses on specific Indigenous initiatives to support educational excellence, such as literacy intervention.

http://www.afn.ca/en/policy-areas/education

 

Mushkegowuk Council Education Department

I chose to include this site, as it connects directly with the community where I teach. Mushkegowuk Education supports Attawapiskat, Fort Albany, Kashechewan and Moosonee. They focus on literacy, numeracy, student success and cultural teaching. This site shows how all of their varied educational resources support the students along the James Bay Coast.

http://www.mushkegowuk.com/?page_id=2098

 

Ontario Ministry of Education Indigenous Education Strategy

This site has all of the relevant Indigenous education documents and policies of the Ontario government. Included are supports for Indigenous populations in urban areas, curriculum documents, as well as policies and procedures that support First Nation student success.

http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/aboriginal/

 

World Indigenous Peoples Conference on Education

The WIPCE will be held this year in Toronto. This conference brings educators who specialize in Indigenous Education together from across the globe. I think that it would be fascinating to look at the similarities in lived experience for Indigenous communities, and to look at how different countries are supporting Indigenous education.

http://www.wipce2017.com/