Tag Archives: Integration

Cyber Traveler: Final Post

After some communication with the instructor I decided to use the plethora of information gathered in this weblog in a paper or slide show rather than a website for teachers. Upon closer examination, I don’t believe a website would do the amount of information justice and I want to make sure it isn’t cluttered. I was also reminded to focus on the cultural aspects and how it is a difficult concept to teach to those who aren’t within the aboriginal culture themselves. Here are my final resources, which I feel are most focused for my final paper.

 

1.Celebrating Canada’s Indigenous Peoples Through Song and Dance

This pdf focuses on how to teach indigenous music and dance. With my general focus being on introducing the culture to my physical education lessons, I wanted to ensure I touched upon every aspect, not only dance, of indigenous cultures. I am also reminded here, that certain dances and music are sacred to specific regions and cannot be presented in others. 

2.First Nations Music in Canada

This link focuses on the history of music in aboriginal peoples. It included quizzes and even an activity. It would be an excellent resource for teachers and students alike. I have yet to include any real music focused resources and since dance is the focus, music should go along with it. This would be an excellent fine arts cross-curricular activity that would allow students to research some of the origins of the music they will be dancing to. 

3. Newswire Article: Strength in Dance

Since my final project is how to meld indigenous dance and technology, I felt it necessary to include video or media that teachers could use to show their students as inspiration. The above is a great motivator for students who may not be interested in the concept of indigenous dance. It focuses on the physical aspects of dance, which may be a great motivator for some older students who may be more interested in sports than dance. It creates a great image of what can be accomplished through dance.

4. Indigenous People in Film

While my audience is mostly elementary school, the following could be used for upper elementary grades and high school students . The idea was to have students record their dances and edit them, essentially doing a short film making type unit. I would like to use this with the elementary school students too and think it could easily be modified. They may not be able to film themselves but I believe a lesson on editing could be easy for the middle elementary grades. The younger grades could use technology in different ways such as viewing music and dances via the internet as opposed to live.

Finally,

5. Participaction

Since the whole concept of my final project is to integrate technology into physical education, it is only fitting I source something that gives resources to do so seamlessly. While this website has many apps and programs that use technology in the gym, several of them would only work for high school classes. However, the one app that would allow this indigenous dance unit to be successful is the Show Me app. This app allows teachers to record their lessons, and upload them. This would be fantastic for sharing dance lessons with other teachers, and even for students to upload their dances for future viewing.

Module 2 Weblog – Anne Coustalin

Module 2 examined stereotypes and the commodification of indigenous social reality. My weblog for this module explores some of those issues but it also continues to represent my search for understanding using the two-eyed seeing approach. This entry contains several examples of online resources that support teachers in growing their understanding of the many complicated issues and understandings involved with the integration of traditional Western and Indigenous approaches to learning.

Math Catcher: Mathematics Through Aboriginal Storytelling

Math Catcher is an initiative launched by various educational institutions and the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in the Mathematical and Computational Sciences. It is based on the belief that it is crucial to engage Aboriginal students in mathematics and science at an early age. The program supports various initiatives including a math camp and a series of film resources for classroom teachers. The films feature a small indigenous boy named Small Number and they explore various mathematics and science concepts through First Nations imagery and storytelling.  The films are made in a variety of First Nations languages and in English. I have personally seen some of these films used in the classroom to great effect.

FNESC (First Nations Education Steering Committee): Science First Peoples

This is a free downloadable online resource for teachers that introduces teachers to the understandings necessary in order to effectively integrate First Nations ways of knowing into their science teaching. FNESC has previously published similar guides for Mathematics and English. The guide details how teachers can use various place-specific themes to explore issues that are relevant to Western and Indigenous cultures. It also provides suggestions for how teachers can develop local resources to support their practice and it provides information on indigenous ways of knowing and worldviews. This resource focuses on how Western and Indigenous understandings of science are complimentary. It does not value one above the other. This approach is helpful to teachers struggling with concerns that Indigenous and Western ways of knowing may be antithetical.

Integrating Western and Aboriginal Sciences: Cross-Cultural Science Teaching

This paper by Glen Aikenhead was published in 2001. It discusses the integration of Western and Aboriginal Sciences in a fascinating way. It views the process of “coming to knowing” of science as a cultural negotiation in which students must experience learning as a cross-cultural event.  “Success at learning the knowledge of nature of another culture depends, in part, on how smoothly one crosses cultural borders. . . In short, a science teacher needs to play the role of tour-guide culture broker”.  The educator makes border crossing explicit and is clear about which culture they are talking in at any given moment. The students could be exploring the culture of Western science in the context of Aboriginal knowledge or vice versa. This article has given me a great deal to think about as it introduces the importance of identifying the colonized and the colonizer and teaching the science of each culture. The article seems to focus primarily on teaching Aboriginal students.

Enabling the Autumn Seed

This paper by Mary Battiste was first published in 1988 but it has been reprinted many times and can be easily found online. In her paper, Battiste rejects the idea that the “add and stir” model of integrating indigenous knowledge and cosmology holds any promise as a means of reconciliation or Aboriginal student success. She contends that in order for education to be meaningful for Aboriginal students, it must include content in the form of language, epistemology and ontology. She emphasizes that Aboriginal language must be embraced and nurtured in education and that language is not simply a series of sounds but rather the socialization of language and knowledge, ways of knowing, and nonverbal and verbal communication.

Assembly of First Nations: Aboriginal Traditional Knowledge and Intellectual Property Right

This discussion paper was published in   It discusses the problems with the concept of Intellectual Property (IP) as it relates to Aboriginal Traditional knowledge. Aboriginal Traditional knowledge (ATK) is explained and discussed, as is the concept of ownership as it exists in the context of ATK. The crux of the argument is that the IP system is not suitable for protecting ATK, because it demands that ATK fully conform to western epistemology and be proven through western empirical methods in order to be considered valid. It claims that using the notion of “academic rigour” to determine validity of ATK is another form of cultural imperialism. Ultimately it urges the reform of IP laws and the creation of a separate legal regime within the IP system in order to provide legal protection to ATK.

Reconnecting to Language and Culture, and the Path to Reconciliation

1. The link below is for the Reconciliation Canada website. The “About Us” section tells its audience that the idea around Reconciliation Canada was “born from the vision of Chief Dr. Robert Joseph, Gwawaenuk Elder.” Reconciliation Canada provides information and resources to help engage individuals, groups, and communities in discussions and experiences related to reconciliation with the purpose of “revitaliz(ing) the relationships among Indigenous peoples and all Canadians.” This website offers “Programs & Initiatives,” suggestions for how to “Get Involved,” “News & Events,” “Resources,” how to “Contact” them, and how to “Donate.” I found the resources section especially helpful from the perspective of an educator because it provides resources to access the topic of reconciliation from a variety of sources and instructional strategies, including videos, impact stories, useful links, shareable documents, and toolkits.

Specifically, one video I felt was very powerful was a TEDxEastVan talk by Chief Dr. Robert Joseph which shared a message of hope for reconciliation and that “we are all one.” Chief Dr. Joseph’s message was clear, that reconciliation is “for all of us,” and he questioned and then discussed what reconciliation would look like in the future. The talk can be found at: http://reconciliationcanada.ca/chief-joseph-speaks-at-tedx-eastvan/

The Reconciliation Canada main website information is:
Reconciliation Canada. (n.d.). Retrieved 18 October, 2016, from: http://reconciliationcanada.ca/about/about-us/

2. The next link is to an article in a chapter of a virtual textbook, AFMC Primer on Population Health. The section discusses the profound impact of colonization, specifically the impact of residential schools, loss of language and culture, and western values and laws forced on Indigenous populations in Canada, and the lasting health effects that are the consequence. In addition to this, the significant differences between Indigenous healing practices and western medicine, as well as the potential for integration of these two is touched on.

Indigenous people’s health in Canada. (n.d.). AFMC Primer on Population Health, The Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada Public Health Educators’ Network. Retrieved 20 October, 2016, from: http://phprimer.afmc.ca/Part1-TheoryThinkingAboutHealth/Chapter3CulturalCompetenceAndCommunication/Indigenouspeople146shealthinCanada
(License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA)

3. The following link is for the National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health (NCCAH) which was established in 2005 by the Government of Canada and is one of six National Collaborating Centres for Public Health in Canada. The NCCAH is hosted by the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) “as part of its dedication to First Nations and Aboriginal programming” and is funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada.

When looking at the site, I focused on the “Setting the Context” section. One link that provided a good overview for anyone interested is “An Overview of Aboriginal Health in Canada” which can be found at: http://www.nccah-ccnsa.ca/Publications/Lists/Publications/Attachments/101/abororiginal_health_web.pdf

This overview is essentially a factsheet which provides a good overview of and statistical representation of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples in Canada. The overview touches on a number of significant issues affecting First Nations populations, and the information referenced in the overview is quite up-to-date with references as recent as 2013.

NCCAH home page:
National Collaboration Centre for Aboriginal Health. (n.d.). Retrieved 28 October, 2016, from: http://www.nccah-ccnsa.ca/en/

4. I found the next link interesting as it appeared to attempt to address the issue of developing early education opportunities for First Nations children, which seemed to connect well with the “Stepping Forward” video that we watched in Module 3 – Week 8. The website states, “the Government of Canada established Aboriginal Head Start to help enhance child development and school readiness of First Nations, Inuit and Métis children…” However, I believe this link could potentially act as an interesting debate piece. While the website asserts that the goal of the program “is to support early child development strategies that are designed and controlled by communities,” I question whether the governing body (in this case, the Government of Canada) will allow that development to be based around First Nations culture and language, or if western education strategies will actually be targeted through development/learning outcomes prescribed by the government. Interestingly, the programming outline lists “education” and “culture and language” as two separate components.

First Nations & Inuit Health: Aboriginal Head Start on Reserve. (2011). Health Canada. Retrieved 28 October, 2016, from: www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fniah-spnia/famil/develop/ahsor-papa_intro-eng.php

5. My final link is to a news article that connects directly to the issues shared on the “Stepping Forward” video watched in Module 3 – Week 8. While the article deals with a current issue and has only been published within the last few days, the issue itself brings the reader back to the days of residential schools. The article reveals that the government of Nunavut is investigating a report of at least one teacher threatening punishment and actually disciplining a student for speaking their language, Inuktitut, in school. The article discusses the fact that there are fewer than 200 Inuit teachers and over 400 non-Inuit teachers currently teaching in Nunavut, which contributes to the lack of language and cultural understanding in the territory.

Sahar Zerehi, S. (2016, Oct. 29). No Inuktitut in school rule evokes painful memories of residential schools. CBC News. Retrieved 30 October, 2016, from: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/no-inuktitut-school-rule-evokes-residential-school-memories-1.3824596

Additional Reference used in above notes:
NunavutEducation. (2012). Alluriarniq – stepping forward: Youth perspectives on high school education in Nunavut . Retrieved 26 October, 2016, from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bh36hsFE8n4

Module 1 Post 4: Two-Eyed Seeing – An integrative approach to education

In Hare’s (2011) Learning from Indigenous knowledge in education, there is an emphasis placed on the importance of incorporating Indigenous knowledge and ways of thinking in today’s educational systems. As such, I was curious to see if there were post-secondary institutions that could serve as an example and I came across the Institute for Integrative Science and Health in Nova Scotia.

The program aims to explore science in a manner that is culturally inclusive using the Two-Eyed Seeing as the guiding principle. The Two-Eyed Seeing refers to learning to see the strengths of Indigenous knowledges using one eye and Western knowledges using the other, and then finding ways to learn, see and understand how to know using both eyes together. This video explains the concept in more details.

The site is extremely well organized and could be beneficial to anyone seeking to research ways in which post-secondary institutions are bringing together Indigenous and Western scientific knowledges. The website offers more information in the forms of videos, articles, activities, etc.

I found the approach of Two-Eyed Seeing really captivating and was able to find a few more sites that are informative on the topic and its inclusion in education:

Two-Eyed Seeing: Building Cultural Bridges for Aboriginal Students

Education Programs: Land-Based Camps

Applying Two-Eyed Seeing to Health