Tag Archives: education

First Nations Pedagogy site

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http://firstnationspedagogy.ca/

This site offers an extensive resource for Aboriginal education. Created by two university students, the site provides “best practices and support for online learning initiatives that are intended for aboriginal students, elders, educators, curriculum developers, and educational leaders.”
The site also offers an extensive list of articles relating to Aboriginal Education under “documents” and by clicking on the “sitemap” link you will see a breakdown of pedagogical topics from culture to literacy to storytelling. There are resource links for: multimedia, learning objectives, and so much more.
Great Resource!

‘We Want 2 b Heard’ Aboriginal Youth Perspectives on Homelessness (Video + Study)

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[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5FxYWw0fhM[/youtube]

This video is a simulation that dramatizes some of the perspectives and experiences of homeless and street involved Aboriginal Youth.

In 2006, the McCreary Centre Society surveyed 764 street involved youth in communities across British Columbia.  A remarkable 54% of the street youths surveyed were Aboriginal.

Interesting quotes from the video:

“Most kids on the street today see themselves in the future with a job.”

“Forty percent of street youths were either living in Foster Homes or Group Homes before they ended up on the streets.  One out of three of these youths are still attending school, even though they don’t have a home to stay in.”

“I don’t want to die here [on the streets] but probably will without help.”

Many of these youths are runaways.  Obtaining food and basic necessities is a daily struggle.  Some of the youth on the street are very young.  Youth reported an urgent need for affordable housing.  More than 1 in 4 reported a disability or debilitating health condition.  These youths urgently need job training (47% wanted this).

Some key findings from the full McCreary Centre report entitled: Aboriginal Marginalized and Street Involved Youth available here:

• A large number of the youth reported leaving home before entering their teen years. 40% of males and 47% of females had first run away at age 12 or younger, and one in three had been kicked out by age 12

• Lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth (LGB) were highly over-represented, especially among female participants.

• 47% had gone hungry because they or their parents didn’t have money for food

• Violence was a significant issue for most of the youth. 63% reported having witnessed family violence, and almost 60% having been physically abused.

• 1 in 3 youth had been pregnant or had caused a pregnancy

Only 10% of the street youth interviewed reported having lived on a reserve.  A majority of the youths expressed agreement with the notion that living on a reserve would increase the connection they had Aboriginal culture.

There is so much in this report that is of use to educators.  The fact that kids such as the ones documented in the video are attending school and doing whatever they can to get by is both shocking and tragic.  These marginalized youth come from the most horrific of circumstances and their stories are a compelling reason for reform in social services, education, government policy, and simple everyday human compassion.

One Laptop Per Child Canada

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http://www.olpccanada.com/home.php

The OLPC has come to Canada.  While touting itself as a highly successful and well-embraced initiative, this controversial pilot program is set to distribute up to 5,000 XO (next generation) laptops to children aged six to twelve in Aboriginal communities across Canada.  The funding comes from major corporate sponsors (Air Canada, Vale, BMO Financial), the Belinda Stronach Foundation, and the government of Ontario.

The slogan of OLPC programs around the world is “it’s not a laptop project, it’s an education project.”  Youth participating in this program will be accessing “culturally relevant” programming with their new netbooks.   The program mentions that Aboriginal youth are the “fastest growing population in Canada,” and have been underserviced through traditional education opportunities.   OLPC has 30 different programs and 8 of them are customized for Aboriginal youth:

  • Owl Vision (Literacy)
  • Swift Feet (Physical Fitness)
  • Healthy Heart (Food & Nutrition)
  • Ekominiville (Financial Literacy)
  • The Meeting Place (Mental Health, Substance Use & Well Being)
  • Calm Waters (Water Safety)
  • Future Generation (Virtual Library)
  • Drum Beats (Science of Sound)

The idea is that children will use the laptops and the culturally designed curriculum above to become more connected with the world, each-other, their culture, and traditions.  Ultimately, this will allow them to be more engaged learners and brighten the future for everyone.

Many of the schools participating in the pilot phase that is set to begin soon are rural schools and spread throughout Canada (13 schools in 7 provinces).   I think the aims of this project are laudable, and some of the books, tutorials, reading links presented in the curriculum are excellent (view here).

I am leery about this pilot because of the history of failure that has marked many 1:1 laptop programs.  The Kelowna school district ran into significant problems when it implemented a 1:1 laptop pilot.  OLPC Canada will have to address all of the concerns (tech support, finances, training) that have plagued past projects plus meet the challenges of being culturally sensitive…that is a tall order for anyone.

híwus First Nations Cultural Program at Grouse Mountain

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híwus First Nations Cultural Program

http://www.grousemountain.com/Winter/adventures/hiwus-first-nations-program.asp

I have taken three groups of students, including Aboriginal youths, to this Education program that is available at Grouse Mountain for a fee.  At the feasthouse (Longhouse) up at Grouse that has been built for this experience, students hear legends, learn some Squamish words, sing songs with Squamish sayings, and of course dance.  The highlight of the day for the students is watching their teachers dance in characters such as Killer Whales and Wolves.  There are videos of our staff doing these dances that make the Elaine dance on Seinfeld look downright respectable.

The elder, Kwel-a-a-nexw (goes by Eddy as I recall) does a great job of orienting students to the ways of the Squamish.  The experience feels authentic, but overly rehearsed. After having experienced it three times, I now know what to expect.  What’s interesting is the time spent recounting the history and practices of the Squamish and other First Nations tribes that occupied the West Coast.

The walk to the feasthouse is done on snowshoes in the winter and this adds to the excitement of students.  Unfortunately, the snowshoes are made of aluminum, so the snowshoeing experience is not exactly true to the original.

In the full day experience, Aboriginal cuisine is served and some craftwork is done.  My students have only visited for the one hour tour, as part of a trip to the mountain, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

The website for this program contains tons of useful information and links to British Columbia Prescribed Learning Outcomes (PLO’s).

I am not sure what to make of this experience.  As you can see from the website, the program is exceptionally well organized and planned down to the finest detail.  I am just not sure if Aboriginal ancestors intended for Longhouse experiences to be so orchestrated.  For some, the site may be useful as evidence of the commodification of First Nations culture.

Urban Native Youth Association

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Urban Native Youth Association 

UNYA is a non-profit society that operates out of 1618 East Hastings Street in Vancouver.  It is one of the few organizations dedicated to servicing urban aboriginal youth.

The organization was founded in 1988 when it became evident that many young Aboriginals were leaving reserves and setting out for life in the big city with few job skills, training, education, or insights as how to seek help.

Like other sources, this organization is quick to mention the rapidly growing impact of Aboriginal youth on Canadian demographics.  They state that “approximately 60% of the Native population lives in urban settings, and 60% of the overall Native population is under the age of 25.”

The challenges of youth who may be detached from their traditional language, spirituality, guidance, support structures, and practices is significant.  UNYA helps Aboriginal youth living in metro Vancouver to maintain some of these connections in a variety of ways and helps young people address some of the really harmful practices that teens can get themselves into.

Here are a few UNYA programs and initiiatives:

  • Cedar Walk – an alternative educational day program
  • Mentorship program to provide youth with positive social, educational, cultural, and recreation opportunities
  • Native Youth Learning Centre: life management skills, assisted computer applications, job search skills, and career development
  • Personal counseling (including wellness, mediation, and drug & alchohol intervention)
  • Residential programs for at-risk youth (Safehouse, Ravens Lodge, Young Bears Lodge, Young Wolves Lodge)
  • Recreation programs (canoeing, reading tepee, Sun Run etc…)
  • Fundraising to build a state0-of-the-art Native Youth Centre in East Vancouver
  • K’wam K’wum Q’ulumuy’ (Strong Young Women) – a 10 minute educational anti-violence video made by 5 young women in cooperation with UNYA.
  • Cree language instruction is available  (partnership with UBC)

As we all know, Native youth are over-represented in areas such as school dropout, incarceration, and suicide.  UNYA is helping to curb these devastating trends and provide positive options for Urban Native youth who otherwise may have nowhere to turn.

Forests & Oceans for the Future – Lesson Plans

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Forests & Oceans for the Future is a research group based at UBC that collaborates with North Coast BC communities to conduct ecological research. One of their key activities is to design educational materials suitable for use in BC K-12 classrooms and give curricular alignments, they appear to be well suited for high school classes. There are seven detailed and informative unit plans that cover topics of TEK and Western science comparison, traditional plant knowledge, resource use, forestry, regional identity, and climate change. (This is also the research group that produced the ‘Return to Gitzaala’ video)

http://www.ecoknow.ca/curriculum.html

The Challenge to Improve First Nations’ Education

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I found this article April 15th from the Vancouver Sun regarding economic development as key to retaining culture and heritage.  I lived and taught in Osoyoos for a year so Chief Clarence Louie has interested me for several years.  I especially found his quote “You’re going to lose your language and culture faster in poverty than you will in economic development,” especially interesting.  On their lands they have built 2 golf courses, a winery (with a great Riesling), a resort, and a beautiful cultural centre (well worth the visit).  The most amazing story of this band is the fact that the majority of their members graduate from high school.  Overall an interesting read and take on improving grad rates in aboriginal students.

Aboriginal Canada Portal – Education

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Aboriginal Canada Portal is a Government of Canada website focussing on all aspects of Aboriginal life in Canada.  The education section includes various resources.  Students are able to find information on financial assistance, teachers can access Aboriginal education resources, and parents can find Aboriginal schools from all across Canada.

Module 1: UBC Vancouver Aboriginal Portal

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The recently-launched UBC Vancouver Aboriginal Portal is a way to connect students, scholars, and the public with issues relating to higher education, Aboriginality and inquiry at UBC. I believe the Portal is coordinated by the UBC’s First Nations House of Learning. With a heavy focus on video, the Portal respects the tradition of orality and the “Feature Stories” provide relevant information through digital storytelling. The Portal contains information for for current and prospective Aboriginal students of UBC, links to the myriad of programs at UBC relating specifically to Aboriginal issues, an overview research and initiatives across the university relating to Aboriginal issues, and an overview of the university’s First Nation’s community and youth programs.

You can also follow UBC’s First Nations Longhouse on Facebook 🙂

Module 1: Aboriginal Education, Literacy, and Libraries

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Indigenous tribes in Canada have a long history of oral tradition and most often did not have a traditional written language. Considering our discussions this week about the goals of Aboriginal Education versus the euro-centric mainstream and the struggles of Aboriginal children to relate to westernized instruction methods, perhaps it is no surprise that Aboriginal literacy rates in Canada are often lower than non-Aboriginal literacy rates. Compounding struggles for literacy is the fact that neither provincial nor federal library funding extends to Aboriginal reserve lands. Realizing the importance of literacy, First Nations in BC have begun to found private libraries on Reserve land. The first on-reserve library in British Columbia was opened in 2007 on Haida Gwaii, and more recently the Thistalalh Memorial Library opened it’s doors to the coastal community of Bella Bella. As a place for stories, oral traditions, games, family time and more, Libraries may become a more common feature of Reserve communities.