Loose Parts and Indigenous Perspectives
https://www.gowriensw.com.au/thought-leadership/loose-parts-play
Sustainability is a huge part of Indigenous culture and many communities focus on only using the materials you need. Even when I go to Indigenous feasts we are always asked to bring our own dishes. I think this is a practice that would be vital for many school communities to adopt. I believe this is valuable because many times when we have students building projects in our classrooms it leads to many wasteful materials. Imagine if students and all teachers considered their impact on Mother Earth. I think loose parts play is a way for students to design with purpose in a makerspace. It is a great way for all people be considerate of the materials we use. Many loose parts play also incorporates material from the outdoors. Students can consider micro habits and look at how they can reuse materials for additional projects.
Loose Parts play is a beneficial way to bring land-based learning into the classroom/makerspace.
One of my favourite ways to approach Indigenous education in the curriculum is through the lens of sustainability. It provides a really nice natural break to get outside with your students, get hands on, think about our connection to earth and notice the small things.
I find that students now lack a deep connection to the environment and often find just being in it difficult without some sort of immediate stimulus. I am lucky that my school is i a forested area and five minute walk to the waterfront by using a wooded trail. One of my favourite art activities is to take students on the walk, they all have to find a quiet spot and they are tasked to draw what they see. Some kiddos do a big zoom out landscape and some zoom directly into a little bug on a leaf. At the end, I always find it so interesting to see what they notice and focus on.
Thanks Paula for the wonderful resource and the connection to loose parts in the makerspace. I certainly appreciate the workshops available in the second link as an opportunity for students across Canada to work towards reconciliation.