Author Archives: Stephanie Carr

Module 4 – Post 5 – Residential School Survivors + Beyond 94

This website provides stories from residential school survivors from video interviews: Janet Longclaws, Katherine Thomas, Louise Longclaws, Debra Courchene, Wandbi Wakita, Peter Yellowquill, Louise Hall, Vivian, and Karen. These videos are from the Beyond 94: Truth and Reconciliation in Canada project. All of these videos just break my heart. You can hear the pain and horror in their voice and you can see the trauma they faced by looking at their eyes. These individuals have PTSD and cannot get these flashbacks out of their head. I just can’t even imagine why anyone would do all these horrible things to another human being. It is absolutely appalling and disgusting.

As educators, it is important that we listen to these stories so that we never forget them. The truth cannot be hidden any longer. It is time for healing and the reconciliation process to fully begin. We need to all listen to EVERY story. We need to learn the truth that has been hidden for way too long. The more we know as educators, the more that we can educate our students, colleagues, family members, and our friends.

While I was exploring more on this website, I stumbled upon a teacher guide for Beyond 94: Truth and Reconciliation in Canada. There is a lot of valuable material within this guide. Topics such as education, language and culture, health, justice, reconciliation, child welfare, and activities to do in the classroom, First nation communities support, and residential school resources. The main purpose of this guide is to allow educators and their students to explore and investigate the TRC Calls to Action and the Beyond 94 site. I appreciate how this guide has follow-up questions from the residential school survivor video interviews. This could allow educators to have a class discussion about what they watched and to see if the students understood the content. It may be too challenging to comprehend for Kindergarten students but the questions could be adapted and could work for upper primary to intermediate grades.

The 7 activities that are provided in this guide focus on acknowledging territory, TRC – educating others, language, residential schools, finding evidence of Indigeneity, and language/culture, exploring child welfare, and examining justice.

For more information on residential schools, there are resources on pages 35-37. Explore them all and share with everyone.

Module 4 – Post 4 – Reconciliation Activities for Children

This resource provides reconciliation activities for children that educators can do with their class. This guide starts off with introducing reconciliation, the definition, how to learn from Indigenous people, some protocols for inviting Elders into the classroom, how to communicate with parents, a sample letter for educators to send home to parents, and the activity outline that has five activities.

The five activities that are provided in this resource are the medicine wheel, the blanket exercise, memories, keeping promises, and Shannon’s dream. I like how these activities are laid out with an introduction, objectives, information about the activity and why it is important, what the teacher needs to prepare for the activity, alternatives to the activity and how to do it, and even a handout to send to parents. These would be excellent activities to do with my Kindergarten class as they would be able to learn about reconciliation, residential schools, Indigenous spirituality and culture, the relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, learning about treaties, and about the inequalities in education.

Module 4 – Post 3 – Honouring Indigenous Languages

This is such a great resource for honouring Indigenous languages. In this guide, educators can share some Indigenous languages such as Cree, Inuktitut, Lunaapeew, Michif, Mohawk, Ojibwe, and Oji-Cree. For each language, the guide tells you what the word or phrase is in English, then the Indigenous language, along with the pronunciation. The words and phrases that are taught in these languages are welcome, hello, goodbye, thank you, I’m sorry, how are you?, let’s play, and my name is.

This is such a great resource as it allows educators, such as myself, to help revitalize Indigenous languages that have been lost. We can have a significant role in reconciliation and it can be as simple as teaching our students how to say these words and phrases in Indigenous languages. It would also be very powerful for educators to invite Elders in to speak and share their Indigenous language.

I will definitely be implementing this tool into the classroom in the fall. Below is an example of how we can honour the Cree language.

Module 4 – Post 2 – COPA’s 10 Short Animated Films

COPA’s 10 short animated films are used to help educators start conversations with their students, other educators, and their communities. These films have been modified and adapted from COPA’s A Circle of Caring project with images and content that was guided by Indigenous educators and peoples. They are for educators, schools, and families.

The ten short films focus on a variety of subjects and are titled as cultural pride, equity and diversity in schools and communities, safe/inclusive/accepting schools, nurturing kindness and empathy, positive role modelling, believing in children’s success, a telephone call from school, storytelling and reading with our children, everyday success at home, creating a space for study, working together and learning from each other, parent-teacher meeting, joining school council, supporting and not blaming, listening carefully, problem-solving together, bullying hurts, support for a child who is being bulled, who has witnessed bullying, who is bullying others, and approaching the school.

I really appreciate how these short films are offered in 8 languages (English, Cree, Inuktitut, Michif, Mohawk, Ojibway, Oji-Cree, and Oneida). It would also be powerful to play these films in a language other than English. This would allow students to learn words in one of seven Indigenous languages that are provided. Beside each video, there is a guide for educators to use to help with follow up questions after watching each film.

I absolutely love how this film guide from COPA’s short animated films provides the cast of characters and supplies a short write up about them. Below are screenshots from the guide. I would definitely be using these short films in the classroom with my Kindergarten students. In this guide, there are all the lesson guides that go with each of the short films.

Module 4 – Post 1 – Joining the Circle: Guide for Educators

Joining the Circle is a guide for educators that can used for students and educators of all ages; to increase the “confidence and sensitivity in education practices” to aid in facilitating the growth of Metis, Inuit, and First Nations students; to introduce schools and communities to the languages, history, perspectives, and culture of  Metis, Inuit, and First Nations; and to “support our individual capacity and help create systemic change for safe, strong and free school communities with and for Indigenous students and families” (COPA, 2016, p. 9). This guide discusses the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), the Indigenous Education Strategy, the role as an educator, describes Metis, Inuit, and First Nations peoples, and the terminology that is used throughout this guide.

This guide focuses on the barriers faced by Metis, Inuit, and First Nations. Some barriers that are faced are their culture and identity, spoken language, their spirituality, the contributions they made to Canada (aka: Kanata), land, treaties, relocations, the Indian Act, Residential Schools, intergenerational trauma, racism and discrimination in students’ lives, racism and bullying, suicide, lateral violence, internalized racism, the missing and murdered indigenous women, marginalization, Indigenous youth and children that are in care, students had to study away from their home, working in reserve communities, and children having parents in prison. Yes, there are TONS of barriers faced by Indigenous peoples. It is not only residential schools.

This is such a good read for educators to educate themselves and to also find a starting point for teaching students about the different barriers faced by Indigenous peoples.

Reference

COPA. (2016). Joining the circle: Guide for educators. Retrieved from http://copahabitat.ca/sites/default/files/educatorsguide_en.pdf

Module 3 – Post 5 – Reconciliation Garden

The Reconciliation Garden can help promote and encourage an understanding of the significance of place and connection to this country, alone with knowledge around native plants and bush food. This could be a reconciliation project that the entire school could become apart. Student would be able to understand the value in collaboration in achieving an outcome, like this project. As well, students would get to understand environmental importances, along with the place in shaping stories, histories, and identities. Three inquiry questions that come with this project would be “How can each student help out with completing the reconciliation garden? What can we learn from our reconciliation garden about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures? How can we use the reconciliation garden as a place for ongoing learning once it is built?”

With a project like this, I like how you can do a KWL chart where teachers can see how much the students actually know about reconciliation. First, teachers would check in to see what they know and why reconciliation is important, then how they feel about it and how reconciliation can be part of their story, and finally what they could do to make reconciliation better and how we can get involved.

You can learn more about this project by going to this website, however you will have to sign up to gain access. It is free though! I have to add that it is also from Australia which is still fine as we could try to do something like this in our schools.

If interested, there are tons more projects, learning resources, and lessons that can be found here from early learning all the way up to secondary students.

Module 3 – Post 4 – Residential School Survivor Stories

This website provides stories of those individuals who were survivors in residential schools. These videos would be beneficial to share with your students as they are real stories from their time in these schools. Even though there are storybooks and videos that we can share with our students, having an individual speak about their trauma can have more of an impact, I believe. Even if you believe that your students are not ready to listen to these stories, it would be extremely beneficial for us, as educators, to listen to these real-life stories so that we can have a fuller picture of what exactly happened in these schools. These stories will allow us to understand the trauma that was faced during their time at these school, and to help us educate our students. I am not saying to tell their stories, as they are not our stories to tell, but to have more of an understanding so that we will be able to have deep conversations with our students to allow them to comprehend their Canadian history. Many of these videos were hard to listen to as their feelings are still extremely raw, however, it will be powerful for you to have a listen.

Module 3 – Post 3 – Truth and Reconciliation

I came across this article that focuses on truth and reconciliation from K-12. This article discusses how teachers can become an ally. There were a couple of things that stood out to me. Firstly, I thought it was extremely useful and helpful that there was a complete list of books from K-12 that teachers can use and read in their classrooms to teach students about reconciliation. I appreciate that there are two books for each grade, however I wish there were more than just two. Hopefully in the near future there will be tons more books available that we can use in the classroom. Below are the books for primary classes.

Another section of this article that grabbed my attention was The Sacred Circle. This circle could help educators learn how to become an ally through the spiritual, physical, emotional, and intellectual teaching. According to this article by Dr. Pamela Rose Toulouse (2018),

“The spiritual invites the educator to examine all the opportunities that their lessons, field trips and experiential learning activities offer to link students to each other, their communities and the globe. This aspect of holism in teaching/learning places emphasis on activities that develop deep and meaningful connections with a purpose “greater than the self.”
The physical refers to the classroom space/s where learning takes place and encourages differentiated practices outdoors and in the community. This aspect of holism encourages teaching/learning at sites that make connections to local events, people, places and movements
The emotional concerns the inclusion of Elders, Métis Senators, Cultural Resource People, families and non-human experiences as foundational to the classroom and school year. This aspect of holism values the knowledge that “other teachers” bring to the shared world of education.
The intellectual refers to the provincial/territorial mandated curriculum that the educator is entrusted with delivering to the students. This aspect of holism calls upon the educator to factor in inquiry, curiosity and differentiated evaluation as critical to meaningful student experiences in school” (para. 12).

The more we know, the more we can do. It starts with us, as educators, to have a role to play in this learning process and journey towards truth and reconciliation.

Module 3 – Post 2 – Spirit Bear and Children Make History: Learning Guide

The Spirit Bear and Children Make History: Learning Guide is a guide that focuses on telling the “story of a landmark human rights case for First Nations children at the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal” (para. 1). This guide was written to cater the younger crowd and engage them in learning about human rights and to establish the influential role that younger individuals have in the reconciliation movement. On page 6 of this guide, it points out all the outcomes children will have after reading this book (PDF of this storybook in Cree and in English). I wanted to share these outcomes because even though this guide is geared towards younger students, their learning potential is huge.

It states that students will:

“• have a greater understanding of inequities facing First Nations children, which compromise their health, safety, and well-being,
• develop empathy and critical thinking,
• develop citizenship and life skills such as problem-solving, decision-making, understanding of personal and social responsibility, ethics, courage, self-confidence, creativity, collaboration, and communication skills (be able to express themselves and articulate their ideas),
• be able to describe how children can help implement the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action,
• recognize that their voices and ideas matters and that children have the power to influence the world around them, and
• recognize that true heroes are those who are courageous enough to stand up for what is right and not give up, even when it is hard to be brave” (p. 6).

I like this resource as it provides some school-base activities that you can do with your students to learn about reconciliation through storytelling and engaging activities. This true story book is one that I would like to buy to add to my classroom collection.

Module 3 – Post 1 – The Secret Path

 

Gord Downie’s The Secret Path is an animated film with music that visually describes Chanie Wenjack’s story escaping residential school. Chanie does not make it home as he dies while attempting to walk over 400 miles to his family. Depending on the students in your class, you could show this if you believe it to be suitable. From 2:38 – 46:12 this film can be shown all at once or in chapters depending on the age of the students and their ability to sit still. This film can show students the story and experience of one child who was forced into the residential school system. This film is even beneficial for adults who are unaware of what children faced during their time at residential schools. Lesson plans on The Secret Path film can help to engage students and teachers in Reconciliation.

This website has lesson plans for primary, intermediate, and high school students. For my classroom, I would use the two lesson plans (When We Are Alone and The Best Part of Me) as I usually teach Kindergarten and Grade 1. With these lessons, students do not have to watch the film if  you believe it would not be suitable for them, however, there are pictures that can be viewed instead or you could pause the film at any point to discuss what they see.

As well, in addition or even separate from watching the film, teachers could describe Chanie’s Life Journey through an interactive story map which describes who Chanie was, a short Heritage Minute of Chanie’s story by Historica Canada, an interactive map of where his home and school were, and clips from the The Secret Path film.

Additional information of The Secret Path can be found on this website.