Author: pattyh

Categories
Organizational Development

Becoming Good Relatives – Connecting Land/Spirit/Heart Learning to the Outcomes of Mind Learning Practices

The foundation for this organizational development plan is the Indigenous concept of All My Relations – the interrelatedness of all things, human and non-human. The historical and contemporary challenges and issues of how to become “a good relative” are outlined and the steps taken to build good relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples are acknowledged while focusing on Education. In the team building process for the main stakeholders of the Aboriginal Focus School, a series of workshops are proposed for the teachers, principal, administrative staff, School Board, parents and community members. These workshops will incorporate Indigenous epistemology and pedagogy, that is experiential learning of how to connect land, spirit and heart to mind learning outcomes.

Becoming Good Relatives

View more presentations from UBC-edst591.

Dorothy Christian

Categories
Introduction

Welcome!

Welcome to the Educational Studies (EDST) 591 blog for our “Hands Back, Hands Forward” Service Learning Project. This blog introduces some of the work of our graduate (Master’s and PhD candidates) class at the University of British Columbia (UBC) from Spring 2012.

As members of this class and students at UBC, we would like to acknowledge the Musqueam people and their Ancestors and thank them for allowing us to study in one of the most beautiful places in the world, where eagles fly, salmonberries and blackberries grow in the bushes, and cedar trees reach up to the sky. On this traditional Musqueam, unceded territory, we acknowledge our privilege to be guests in this territory. Kw’as hoy.

In our class, we explored Indigenous epistemology and curriculum as it applies to the new Aboriginal Focus School in Vancouver, BC, Canada. In the top menu, you will find a link to some of the literature reviews completed by class members.  The blog itself has several posts related to a variety of topics including building a healthy school, decolonizing pedagogies and more; as well, there are introductions and supporting materials  for the projects we worked on such as handbooks, training materials and other practical applications of what we learned in our review of previous research and thought on a variety of topics.

Feel free to share and comment as you explore our blog. We hope that you find this blog useful in your work.

Creative Commons Licence
Hands Back – Hands Forward Blog by UBC EDST 591 Class is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Categories
Pedagogy Practical Projects

Language Immersion & Performative Arts

This project explores ideas for designing a curriculum for the instruction of more than one Indigenous languages, and one or more foreign languages at the Vancouver School Board Aboriginal Focus School. I will advocate for language immersion as a model of instruction. I will describe how that traditional instruction in Aboriginal performative arts – including theatre, music, dance, and oration – can serve as a framework for teaching Indigenous languages.

Language Immersion & Performative Arts: Recommendations to the Vancouver School Board for approaching an Indigenous languages curriculum
Aurelia Kinslow
To cite this work please use:
Kinslow, A. A. (2012). Language Immersion & Performative Arts: Recommendations to the Vancouver School Board for approaching an Indigenous languages curriculum [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from https://blogs.ubc.ca/edst591/
Categories
Governance Practical Projects

Governance in Successful Aboriginal Schools

My Discussion Paper on Governance for an Aboriginal Focus School provides a sampling of literature surveyed for the purposes of identifying attributes of governance applied in successful Aboriginal schools which may be suitable for an Aboriginal Focus School.

Drawn from two major studies and additional literature, this review moves from a description of the current Milieu in Aboriginal Education and Models of Governance commonly represented in mainstream circles to specific examples of Governance in Successful Aboriginal schools  which have worked in conjunction with public school districts.  The review concludes with a discussion surrounding Key Success Factors found in the major Society for Advancement of Education studies of 2004 and 2007 and closes with the view that successful governance is a story about Good Relationships and What is Educationally Best.

Slide Presentation

Governance in Successful Aboriginal Schools by Rasunah Marsden

Additional Media: Traditional Governance

In this video, Tom Happynook of Huu-ay-ut First Nation explains how traditional leaders are raised to learn the qualities and values of leadership. He also explains how traditional governance in his community is more democratic than the Canadian election process:

 Learn More: Additional Resources

Rasunah Marsden

Categories
Pedagogy Practical Projects

Decolonizing Pedagogies Teacher Reference Booklet

Decolonizing Pedagogies Teacher Reference Booklet presents:

  • an overview what “decolonizing pedagogies” means;
  • how and why educational scholars and Indigenous educators suggest they be used to support learning in Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal education;
  •  examples of decolonizing pedagogies (especially in history education); and,
  • some challenges identified by educators and scholars in implementing decolonizing pedagogies.

The project is based on a literature review using primarily Canadian sources, research that focuses largely on history education, and with reference to broadly/generally conceived notions of educational needs (rather than place- or community-specific). The booklet does not provide fail-safe formulas, but rather pieces of the puzzle that may help teachers, parents and learning-community members see a more comprehensive picture of connections between decolonizing education and making more space for Indigenous knowledge and pedagogy.

For a specific example of a decolonizing pedagogy, used as part of a grade 10 Social Studies module in Nunavut, see my blog entry “Material Traces & Decolonizing Pedagogies in Nunavut History Education.”

Heather E. McGregor

Categories
Healthy Schools Practical Projects

Seven Principles for a Healthy School

In our literature review entitled “Learning from Shi-shi-etko’s Story: Indigenous Approaches for a Healthy School“, we used the children’s book Shi-shi-etko by Nicola Campbell as an inspiration for exploring Aboriginal  health and healing. Shi-shi-etko has only four days left before she is taken away from her home to attend residential school. “Shi-shi-etko’s people have always lived in North America” and have always understood their relationship as one with nature and their responsibility to the land. In this community, children are loved and raised together by parents, grandparents, aunties, uncles, brothers, sisters and Elders. As the day to leave comes near, Shi-shi-etko’s sense memories of the land, like the smell and texture of wet soil after rain or the sound of her mother’s singing carried by the wind flowing through the valley, high up with the eagles, are all that she will be able to take with her to school.

Shi-shi-etko’s story is about a journey of learning through one’s heart, mind, body and spirit. Using her story as inspiration, we explore the topic of Aboriginal health by providing an overview of relevant literature and Indigenous epistemology and by suggesting principles for making health a priority in an Aboriginal-focused school. In our conclusion, we suggest that considerations for health should be part of all curricula, social and community gatherings, and administrative decision-making. To aid in this goal, we propose the adoption of seven principles for creating a healthy Aboriginal Focus School:

  1. Health is interwoven into all aspects of school life.
  2. Health is addressing the needs of the whole person: spiritual, emotional, physical, and intellectual.
  3. Health is decolonizing the spirit, heart, body and mind.
  4. Health is nurturing The Learning Spirit.
  5. Health is creating a safe and welcoming community for everyone.
  6. Health is embracing one’s relationship and responsibility to nature.
  7. Health is building an extended-family community.

For our project, we have created blog posts which give an overview of each of the seven principles; for each principle, we have provided links to additional resources and examples of principles being enacted in schools and communities.

Gloria Lin and Patty Hambler

Categories
Healthy Schools

Health is Addressing the Needs of the Whole Person

Understanding Medicine Wheel teachings can help us to know the importance of balance, holism, connection and community; however, this is only the beginning of the meaning behind this powerful and oft-times simplified symbol of life and health.

Why is the Medicine Wheel often used to represent health and well-being for Aboriginal people? Is it simply because it offers an intuitive model of whole-person health? Or is there more to learn, reflect upon and understand about this symbol? Elder Mary Lee says “The old people will tell you it is life itself.” Thus, we have chosen the Medicine Wheel as a powerful tool and starting place for considering the health of our children and of our schools. Healthy schools address the needs of the whole person: spritual, emotional, physical and intellectual.

This video, which describes the experiences of participants in Vancouver’s Urban Aboriginal Community Garden Kitchen Project, illustrates the importance of nurturing the whole person. Although the video focuses on adults, the key take-away message – nurturing one’s spiritual, emotional, physical and intellectual needs through community and tradition – is an important concept to consider in the development of Vancouver’s Aboriginal Focus School:

Learn More: Resources

  • Four Directions Teachings.com – A multi-media resource that explores “Indigenous knowledge and philosophy from five diverse First Nations in Canada”. Includes lesson plans for elementary and secondary teachers.
  • The Sacred Tree – An illustrated book that explores Indigenous philosophy based on Canadian First Nations beliefs about The Sacred Tree and the Medicine Wheel.
Categories
Healthy Schools

Health is Embracing One’s Relationship and Responsibility to Nature

Bringing nature into the pedagogy and curriculum of a school is critical for the health of the students and the community as a whole.  There is reciprocity in our relationship with nature. As we nurture, so shall we be nurtured.

One example of bringing nature into the pedagogy and curriculum of a school is through community garden projects that stress regaining food sovereignty and traditional food practices and learning how to nurture nature is one way to “restore a sense of well-being and interconnectedness with the rest of creation” (Waziyatawin, For Indigenous Eyes Only: A Decolonization Handbook, 2005, p. 78).

This video documents an Indigenous community in Peru where the chacras or gardens are at the core of family and community life; the gardens are used in the curriculum and pedagogy of the community school:

Learn More: Resources

  • Indigenous Food Systems Network: “The Indigenous Food Systems Network Website was developed by the WGIFS to allow individuals and groups involved with Indigenous food related action, research, and policy reform to network and share relevant resources and information.”
  • Start a School Food Garden: This comprehensive resource from the BC government provides practical information for a school garden project including possible community partners, policy information, research and success stories.

Spam prevention powered by Akismet