Author Archives: Ginelle Stutt

Module 2: Post 5 NSW Aboriginal Education and Consultative Group

Similar to my Module 2 Post 4 entry, I am using this site as a source for background reading about traditional values. This is a quote from this site:

“In October 2011 the Department of Education and Communities commenced a consultation process with communities and stakeholder groups to develop a strategy to improve outcomes for children and young people in these schools and communities.”

I find this consultation process to be very interesting considering how educational outcomes can possibly be improved. Again, I’m not sure of the extent to which this site will support my paper, but it is proving to be very useful in understanding how different formalized processes can be used to support social development in indigenous populations such as with aboriginals in New South Wales.

AECG

Module 2: Post 4 Share Our Pride

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This is one site I’m using in my research to deepen my understanding of other indigenous cultures, and value important to these cultures. I’m not sure how heavily this site will factor into my final paper, but I find it quite interesting to read about the history of Aboriginal groups in Australia and to lightly compare with First Nations groups in Canada. Links with dreaming and the natural land are two of these types of connections. At this point, I find the reading to be the most important of this process, and this is one site that is helping me to gain a wider scope of how transmission of knowledge can occur through technological means.

This quote is from the section ‘Culture’: “Culture represents the ways of living that are built up by groups and transmitted from one generation to another,” and this transmission is what is at the core of my research.

Share Our Pride

Module 2: Post 3 First Nations Pedagogy Online

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I’ve been reading this site to learn more about storytelling and the importance of sharing in safe, patient environments. As I prepare for my research paper, I need to learn more about the importance and history of storytelling before I can look at design features related to storytelling in modern technologies and/or platforms. This site allows me to do that, particularly with the section related to ‘Circle talk’.

I find the procedures included on this site to be very helpful in understanding the relationship between storytelling and the individual, and the natural world.

First Nations Pedagogy Online

Module 2: Post 2 First Peoples’ Language Map of BC

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I am posting this for my colleagues who are researching around the topic of language use/preservation – I came across it in my own research and thought it might be useful to those focusing on this topic. It is a colourful visual display of which First Nation languages are spoken in which regions in BC.

First Peoples’ Language Map of BC

Module 2 Post 1: Indigitization

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I find this site, Indigitization, very interesting – here is a snippet from the site:

“UBC Library’s Irving K. Barber Learning Centre has created a new grant for B.C. Aboriginal organizations to convert audio cassette tapes to digital formats for preservation and access. The program will provide equipment, training and funding support for up to six projects per year, with applications accepted twice a year.”

I’m not sure at this point of how much I will use this site for my final paper, but I was drawn to it because it reminds people of the importance of documenting and preserving aspects of First Nation culture, and it’s very current and ongoing.

Using technology for storytelling

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Since beginning this course, one argument that resonated with me in a large way is that internet, in its very nature and form, might not be that compatible with some indigenous groups’ core cultural values related to personal connectedness with each other, and to physical space. Howe (1998) acknowledges this bind by pointing out that internet use is not so much a choice, but a modern necessity (p. 21). I find this difficult to sit with since it appears that indigenous cultures are implicitly being told about ‘how to be’, if they wish to survive (Howe, p. 22). Therefore, I am interested in researching how different technologies can be used to support storytelling, a process that is core to many indigenous cultures’ transmission of values. Weeks ago, I was looking at this site, “The Society for Building a Healthier Kugluktuk” and I realized that part of the site design – a scrolling newsfeed – allowed Kugluktuk people to share experiences and histories with their community – a modern spin on tradition. This is only one example and is just a starting point, but I wanted to include this example because my impetus began here. I have also begun looking at: The First Mile. This site provides updates on how different First Nations groups are using technology to support cultural sharing. I am also reading the articles cited below to obtain a more solid base in the importance of storytelling tradition as a vehicle for maintaining cultural traditions. Essentially, I want to research how indigenous peoples are using various technologies as cultural tools, as opposed to being subject to the technology itself.

Any suggestions are most welcome!

Ginelle

Howe, Craig, “Cyberspace is No Place for Tribalism,” Wicazo Sa Review (Fall, 1998), 19-27.

McKeough, A., Bird, S., Tourigny, E., Romaine, A., Graham, S., Ottmann, J., & Jeary, J. (2008).

Storytelling as a foundation to literacy development for aboriginal children: Culturally and

developmentally appropriate practices. Canadian Psychology, 49(2), 148-154.

Retrieved from:

http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/docview/220806413?accountid=14656

Piquemal, N. (2003). From native North American Oral Traditions to Western Literacy: Storytelling in

education. Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 49(2), 0-n/a.

Retrieved from:

http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/docview/228667524?accountid=14656

Weblog 5: Society for Building a Healthier Kugluktuk

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Hi everyone,

This is directly from the website I will discuss in this weblog post, from the ‘Community’ tab page:

‘Kugluktuk is situated at the at the mouth of the Coppermine River in Coronation Gulf in western Nunavut, about 650 km by air east of Inuvik. The community was formerly known as Coppermine and was located in the Northwest Territories before the creation of Nunavut in 1999.’

I am interested in this website “The Society for Building a Healthier Kugluktuk” as I continue research into what I intend to focus on for my final paper/project. I am drawn to any community that is open about wanting to be healthier as there are so many ways we can all strive to achieve greater forms of emotional, social, physical and mental health. I am also drawn to how the act of storytelling can function in different ways to support healing and psychological health particularly in First Nations peoples. While navigating through this site, I noticed that on the ‘Services’ pages, in the right hand column, there is a newsfeed. I read this feed for awhile and started to realize that this is a technology-based way to incorporate a traditional form of storytelling into a modern community field. This seems highly relevant not just to my interests in this aspect of First Nations culture, but also to how technology can be used to advance cultural understanding. This has inspired me to look elsewhere for how technology can be used to share experience and ways of knowing.

Thanks,

Ginelle

http://www.healthykugluktuk.ca/

Weblog 4: First Nation Literacy

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HI everyone,

I find I am drawn to sites that inspire action. I found this site while I was researching broadly about storytelling in First Nations populations. The First Nation Literacy site offers teacher support materials, guides, lesson plans and other resources all aimed at promoting reading and preserving cultural heritage. What I found particularly interesting was the role of storytelling in the subtopics ‘A digital warrior at home in two worlds’, for example, and in ‘Thank you Mom, Part 2’. I’m interested in how storytelling functions in modern daily life for First Nations people, so I was drawn to this connection.

Thanks,

Ginelle

Weblog 3: ‘Research into Practice’

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Hi everyone,

For my third post to our weblog, I was interested in looking into more focused strategies for how technology can be used to teach aboriginal students. I’ve been fascinated by our discussions so far, but at the same time, I’m eager to know more about concrete strategies class teachers can use to reach students from indigenous populations. So, my research took me to Ontario where this brief resource that has a clear focus: “How can schools support Aboriginal student success?”

This resource also includes “An Aboriginal Model of Self-Esteem” which visualizes for us interconnected aspects of self – a topic that we have been discussing with Brown and Marker’s work. There is also a structure for ‘Honoring Aboriginal Student Learning Styles’ which looks (briefly) at HOW to adjust classes to accommodate for learning.

I find this really interesting – I hope you do too!

Ginelle

http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/inspire/research/Toulouse.pdf

Weblog 1: Cultural Survival

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Hi everyone,

I was speaking to my mother this week and she was asking about the course I’m studying right now, so I was sharing a bit about our start in ETEC 521. She started talking about this site: Cultural Survival, and I find it to be very useful as an informational base about on-going work done to try to advocate for environmental protection and protection of rights. For those interested in language, there is a tab for ‘Endangered Languages’ under the ‘Programs’ tab. There is also a tab for ‘News & Articles’ which provides an interesting look at how issues around indigenous populations are current in the media.

Here is a portion from the site’s history:

‘We publicize Indigenous Peoples’ issues through our award-winning publications; we mount letter-writing campaigns and other advocacy efforts to stop environmental destruction and abuses of Native Peoples’ rights; and we work on the ground in Indigenous communities, always at their invitation.’