Tag Archives: First Nations

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 4 – ENTRY 4: What Matters in Indigenous Education: Implementing a Vision Committed to Holism, Diversity and Education

This site pertains to what the ongoing issues are for Indigenous students in ourschools. The overriding issues affecting Indigenous student achievement are a lack of awareness among teachers of the particular learning styles of Indigenous students, and a lack of understanding within schools and school boards of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit cultures, histories, and their perspective.  In essence, how can we try to bridge that gap?

Public Domain photo by Shutterstock

Reference:

People for Education. (2021). What Matters in Indigenous Education: Implementing a Vision Committed to Holism, Diversity and Education. Retrieved on July 7, 2021 from https://peopleforeducation.ca/report/what-matters-in-indigenous-education/

Module 2: Post 5 – The Learning Circle

The Learning Circle is a resource full of classroom activities on First Nations in Canada. There are six units in this booklet: storytelling, the seasons, sharing, colours, games, and National Aboriginal Day. All of these units would be an amazing resource to use in  my classroom. However, I want to take a closer look at the Storytelling Unit. Throughout this unit, students will get to understand the importance of Indigenous storytelling. During this unit, there is an activity that focuses on a Cree Story about a big fish who ate a granddaughter.  Then the teachers will have a discussion with their students about what this story taught them, they will get to role-play the story, students will get to gather items from outside to create their own story. Then the last activity focuses on an Ojibway story called the Lilly Root. Educators can then do what they did with the first story through a variety of activities. There are questions provided for a class discussion.

These stories are exactly what I want to use in my classroom. I love how there are activities that go with each story. I would not just stop at the storytelling unit. I would absolutely complete this entire booklet!