Tag Archives: curriculum

Module 3: Post 3- Learning through Culturally Responsive Education

Many of the discussions in Module 3 have focused on the importance for students to learn about and through Indigenous pedagogical beliefs. It is exciting to hear about the research being done and the collaborative planning between researchers, educators, elders and other community members. Culturally responsive education and allowing students different ways to share their learning needs to take place not just in the Elementary years but continue through high school and university through the First Nations values of respect, relevance, reciprocity, and responsibility. One example that I just read about in my nephew’s Queen’s Faculty of Education Convocation Program is the Aboriginal Blanket Ceremony, a tradition established of presenting Aboriginal graduates with The Creation Turtle Pendleton Blanket in recognition of the barriers and challenges faced at post secondary institutions and to acknowledge their potential in being role models for the Aboriginal youth of their communities.

Here are some resources as a starting point to use in elementary classrooms in the development of a culturally responsive curriculum through a transdisciplinary approach across subject areas.

Aboriginal Head Start Association of BC- http://www.ahsabc.com/index.php/resources/other-resources

This website- http://www.ahsabc.com/images/other_resources/aboriginal-childrens-books_janhare.pdf includes a link to is an extensive list of books for and about young Aboriginal children. This list was compiled by Dr. Jan Hare PhD, Associate Professor of Indigenous Education in the Department of Language and Literacy Education (UBC). Canadian First Nations, Métis and Inuit cultures are represented. Early literacy and numeracy titles are also listed.

Dr. Marker suggested the Alaska Native Knowledge Network as a valuable place to find educational resources. Here are some links from their website (http://www.ankn.uaf.edu/)

Guidelines for Respecting Cultural Knowledge http://ankn.uaf.edu/publications/knowledge.html

Culturally Responsive Units/Lessons http://ankn.uaf.edu/Curriculum/Units/

Online Resources- http://ankn.uaf.edu/curriculum/resources.html

Handbook for Culturally Responsive Science Curriculum http://ankn.uaf.edu/publications/handbook/index.html

First Nations of Canada– http://ankn.uaf.edu/IEW/firstnat.html

Module 3 Post 3: Canadian Teacher’s Federation – Aboriginal Education

The Canadian Teacher’s Federation includes on their website this page about Aboriginal Education, that includes a number of links, resources, and news releases about Aboriginal Education initiatives. It appears to be regularly updated – one recent post from June 19th describes an “educational toolkit” that the CTF will develop alongside Indigenous groups about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which will be launched at the upcoming (July 17th) CTF Annual General Meeting. The site is relatively small, but I look forward to exploring it and checking out any resources provided regarding the toolkit.

Module 3 Post 2: Project of Heart

Project of Heart

I have seen the project in a couple of different videos or spots around the web, and here is the website for the project! I deeply wish I had taken advantage of this last term, when I was teaching Grade 10 Canadian History here in Ontario. The website introduce the project as:
“Project of Heart” is an inquiry based, hands-on, collaborative, inter-generational, artistic journey of seeking truth about the history of Aboriginal people in Canada. Its purpose is to:

Examine the history and legacy of Indian Residential Schools in Canada and to seek the truth about that history, leading to the acknowledgement of the extent of loss to former students, their families and communities
Commemorate the lives of the thousands of Indigenous children who died as a result of the residential school experience.
Call Canadians to action, through social justice endeavors, to change our present and future history collectively”

The site also includes teaching resources, blog posts showcasing work done by schools nation-wide, and social justice actions that can be taken (although it appears some of those haven’t been updated in a while). I definitely plan on returning to this project and including it in my course resources in the future.

Module 2 | Post 4 History of residential schools ignored in Canadian curriculum

This is a story that is playing on the CBC radio 1 in The Current with Anna Maria Tremonti as I write this blog post. Great interview with Charlene Bearhead, an education coordinator with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that talks about this opportunity to add this discussion to the Canadian curriculum and the value of doing so for students and for the future of Canada. If there is a transformational change in the curriculum and in our awareness of the history of residential schools and first nation reality, then this report, the process that created the report and the stories that were painfully shared, then this is a commodity that can be leveraged to change the importance, relevance and priority of this history and its inclusion in our education and dialogue as we move forward in our negotiations and discussions.

http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-june-10-2015-1.3107341/history-of-residential-schools-ignored-in-canadian-curriculum-1.3107389

Module 1 Post 5: Walking Together and Talking Together

Walking Together is an interactive website that was created to promote First Nation, Metis and Inuit (FNMI) content and perspectives in Alberta curriculum. It contains many personal perspectives from various members of Alberta’s FNMI communities and is intended for teacher, administrator and adult stakeholder use, not classroom use or student instruction. Three of the project’s goals are:

increase teachers’ understanding of the expertise and knowledge held within the rich and diverse FNMI cultures in Alberta
strengthen teachers’ confidence to include and infuse FNMI content and perspectives in their daily instruction
encourage teachers to explore teaching and learning from an Indigenous perspective.

Talking Together is a discussion guide that accompanies Walking Together. It provides sample workshops and activities that are designed to promote dialogue among teachers, administrators, school board members, school council members, parents and community members.