Tag Archives: education

Local Indigenous Knowledge Module 1.3

Have you seen the YouTube video of magnetic putty?  One of them is here if you need a quick look (42 s. pt). To me Indigenous peoples are the magnet and the “new” K-7 curriculum is the magnetic putty. As you see in the video the putty is attracted to the magnet, but eclipses the magnet as it reforms itself over top.

My intent is not to disparage any of those nouns mentioned, however being on the inside I sometimes think it is still up to those in the trenches to communicate the royal commission ideals, and decolonized directives, and shared learning expertise. A great deal of which they don’t know.

My link isn’t the YouTube video, it is, in fact, the K-7 Curricular document.

Arts, Narrative, & Education by Christi Belcourt (Module 4-Post 3)

http://www.helpingourmotherearth.com/

This is how Christi Belcourt used her art for an education setting founded on a First Nation story: Sacred Fisher Story. This mural project is actually a tool guide for educators and students across Ontario based on First Nation teachings and knowledge. Lesson plans are provided, and much more.

 

Chiefs of Ontario Education Portal

Weblog 4.4

http://education.chiefs-of-ontario.org/

It was very interesting looking at the Chiefs of Ontario Education Portal. This seems to be another organizations (under the Chiefs of Ontario) that is dedicated to self-determination of FN in education. The projects they are involved in are similar to those of FNESC in BC.

Posted by Trevor Price

August 4, 2015

Weblog 4.3

Sharing experiences with serious games – the EduGameLab rating tool for parents and teachers

Sharing experiences with serious games

The EduGameLab project developed a rating system to share information with educators and parents. They rate games in to various categories using a metadata scheme. By using this scheme, educators and parents can rate a specific game or set of games.

Module 4 Post 4

Generally I avoid the National Post because I feel it regularly publishes with a conservative bias that doesn’t align with my personal politics.  However, I read the following article with interest, as it shares a letter from a physician in Moose Factory, ON, pleading for increased medical resources to his remote, reserve community.  While the author of the letter does not identify himself as Native or First Nation, he has dedicated his career to serving as a physician in Canada’s far north (near Hudson’s Bay) and has 30+ years of experience dealing with the problems of distant and undeserved communities.

Again, he makes the plea for additional services (provision of medical officers of health, local health integration network teams, drug and alcohol rehab services) but also for education.  The standards of life on his reserve community are below the national standard for building code, water quality, education, health and policing.  Just imagine growing up in a place where it’s unsafe to drink the water, where people burn to death in jail because it accidentally catches on fire and there is no officer to unlock your cell.  These are the realities all Canadians, including our younger learners, should be exposed to so they can better appreciate the injustices regularly and continually faced by Indigenous Canadians.

Module 4 Post 3

One of the ways I’ve been educating myself about the ways in which the Canadian system (both educational and health systems) have mistreated Aboriginal Canadians is by reading.  I recently read the CBC article Racism Against Aboriginal People in the Health-Care System Pervasive: Study which discusses a recent research study indicating broad, systemic problems with the ways Indigenous Canadians are treated by our healthcare system.  As in almost every document I’ve read about the ways white Canadian’s mistreat Aboriginal Canadians, the solution appears to be education.  White healthcare workers need to be better educated as to the reasons why there are an increased number of Aboriginal Canadians using the healthcare system.  They need to be educated about the effects of a culture of poverty, of the effects of residential schools, of lower educational provisions for Aboriginal students.

Module 4 Post 1

The Canadian Cancer Society’s Page on First Nations’s Healing

This website offers Cancer patients information on traditional First Nation’s healing, including topics like the ceremonial use of tobacco and smudging.  I found it particularly useful because the website goes to great paints to speak respectfully whilst still indicating that the use of traditional healing has not been scientifically studied.

I see this as an opportunity for researchers to examine the use of traditional healing methods that look at the whole human (medicine wheel) for treatment, instead of simply treating the body (chemo), and to examine biomarkers of disease or whole health outcomes (e.g. death rates) for those treated using traditional methods plus evidence-based western medicine.  Many traditional healing methods have recently shown themselves successful in clinical trials (e.g. massage therapy & acupuncture), and I suspect that there are likely elements of traditional healing that will hold up to scientific rigor and help to support their use in broader populations.

Module 4 – Post 1: Integrating Aboriginal Perspectives into Curricula

A Resource for Curriculum Developers, Teachers and Administrators

In searching for ways to integrate Aboriginal perspectives in the existing curricula for my project, I happened to stumble upon this excellent resource. The goal of the document is to assist Manitoba’s curriculum developers and instructors in incorporating Aboriginal perspectives, cultural components, historical contributions and achievements in the classroom.

What I liked most about this article is that it touches on many topics such as residential schools, traditional ways of learning (oral tradition, spirituality, Medicine Wheel, and Elders), and ways to include traditional ways of knowing in the current curricula. In addition, it provides an extensive list of learning outcomes for multiple subjects for the different age groups as well as examples of how Aboriginal perspectives have been integrated in schools. One of the examples demonstrates multimedia was used as a means to bring awareness to Type II diabetes in Aboriginal peoples. Finally, the document presents a historical timeline of significant events for the Aboriginal peoples of Manitoba

Module 4, Post 4 – Bioregional Education

One of the themes that has presented itself is the connection to land and environment. This is an important aspect to incorporate for culturally responsive education.

The Salmon Nation has a number of resources for bioregional education, including essays on a number of topics. They also have an extensive section with links to other websites.

http://www.salmonnation.com/index.php

Resources for Rethinking has a variety of resources like lesson plans and units for teachers wanting to teach sustainability.

http://resources4rethinking.ca/

Catherine

Social/Emotional Competencies (Module 3: Post 5)

This is an academic article that deeply examines the how social/emotional competencies combine to create healthy social/emotional learning experiences. This article will serve as a frame in terms of providing peer reviewed information for competencies that can be developed or integrated via technology into classroom curriculum. These competencies are: Self-awareness, Self-management, Social awareness, Relationship management, and Responsible Decision-Making.

 

http://ei.yale.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Transforming-Students%E2%80%99-Lives-with-Social-and-Emotional-Learning.pdf