Category — Module 4

One laptop per child (OLPC) is an organization dedicated in creating educational opportunities for children by providing them “with a rugged, low-cost, low-power, connected laptop”. In 2010 OLPC was brought to Canada to assist in improving the quality of Aboriginal Canadians’ education. In addition to the traditional programs offered on OLPC, OLPC Canada designed specific programs for Aboriginal Youth.

The C.D. Howe Institute’s goal is to raise Canadian living standards by fostering economically sound public policies. A research report by the C.D. Howe Institute looks at “Understanding the Aboriginal/Non-Aboriginal Gap in Student Performance”. They examine the differences between aboriginal students in different school districts and try to determine why some aboriginal students perform well and others do not.  The successful school districts “emphasize Aboriginal education success as a long-term priority, involve Aboriginal leaders and the broader community, use objective data on Aboriginal student performance in design of policy and follow through on policy implementation.”

Nicola Valley Institute of Technology (NVIT) is an aboriginal public post-secondary institute in British Columbia, located in Vancouver and Merritt.  NVIT believes that exploring knowledge from an aboriginal perspective provides the educational strength and leadership to enhance their communities.  Their goal is to provide a rich educational and cultural campus through quality education, while upholding aboriginal cultures and traditions. Almost all courses offered at NVIT contain aboriginal values, beliefs and culture.

The First Nations Education Steering Committee (FNESC) was developed in 1992 and is led by representatives of First Nations across the province of British Columbia. This independent society aim is to improve education for all First Nations learners throughout the province. They provide a verity of programs from school programs, Special Education programs and community programs.

The Canadian Council on Learning (CCL) looks at current and effective approaches to learning in various settings throughout Canada. One report developed by the CCL in 2009 was “The State of Aboriginal Learning in Canada: A holistic approach to measuring success“. This report is the first comprehensive framework in Canada for measuring aboriginal learning. In in it experts across Canada who specialized in aboriginal learning determined three main components of a holistic lifelong learning (1) Sources and Domains of Knowledge, (2) The Lifelong Learning Journey and (3) Community Well-being. This new approach does not just look at an aboriginal student’s success in school but also reflects the holistic lifelong learning that take places through early childhood education, participation in the community, learning about aboriginal languages and traditions and culture.

The Australian Flexible Learning Framework seeks to reach Aboriginal students in Wales who are often excluded from traditional (Western) educational opportunities.  The organization has designed and executed various elearning programs to help students earn Level I and II Land Conservation certification.  The rationale for the project seems very mainstream, and could be the rationale for any elearning program:  to reach students who are geographically separated from the learning institution.  Although the organization has many experienced teachers involved with the project, there is no mention of Elders or even tribes members in the decision-making process.  Neither is there much discussion of the teaching methodologies used, aside from mentioning that the courses use a great deal of storytelling.  A report on the project states that students were engaged by having them design learning objects that could be used by future students.  The quality of the students’ work, however, made it unsuitable for future learners.

The project seems to have several issues.  It does not use the expertise of Elders from the tribes, and we are not sure if the teachers use a place-based method of teaching that takes an holistic approach to land conservation.  We can’t be sure, for instance, whether the students’ prior knowledge about places and natural phenomenon is validated or whether it is ignored for a Western concept of place.  One cannot be too sure whether the organization relies heavily on storytelling.  Storytelling might be a dominant way of transmitting knowledge, but it isn’t the only way within Indigenous communities.  If the organization is indeed relying heavily on storytelling, then this could be a Western stereotype at work in an educational context.  I mention this site because it contrasts with what we’ve been learning about Indigenous knowledge and ways of knowing.

http://www.flexiblelearning.net.au/content/el024

This site provides a lesson plan for teaching students how to make a traditional Alutiiq drum.  The really neat thing about this lesson plan is that it draws in many aspects of drum-making from an indigenous perspective.  For example, the student must learn about the various trees and animals that inhabit the area where these drums are traditionally made and used.  This is necessary if they are to select the best wood and skins for their instrument.  Students must also learn and utilize knowledge from western disciplines to construct their drum.  They must, for example, have some mathematical skill in order to make accurate measurements for the drum’s frame; they must also understand the science behind what makes drum skins shrink and stretch.

The lesson plan encapsulates place-based learning and constructivism very well.  It illustrates an holistic approach to learning, characteristic of Indigenous learning,  where students must pull information from diverse disciplines.  They must also test their knowledge by actually constructing a usable object.  The project develops metacognition and critical thinking skills because students can write about their experience constructing the drum, and can explore questions such as, “how did Indigenous peoples construct drums without the use of metal tools?”

http://ankn.uaf.edu/curriculum/units/Drum/index.html#improvise

1) Dr. Emily Faries is a First Nations person of Cree Nation from Moose Factory, ON.  She has four university degrees, including a Ph.D (1991).  She offers community-based aboriginal-specific services.

Closing the Gap for Aboriginal Students – a paper which provides a historical snapshot of education for FN in Ontario which includes residential schools. Dr. Faries writes that meeting the education needs of aboriginal students requires a deep understanding of their culture, worldview and historical experience.    She points out that the dire need of educational resources which contain accurate and relevant content about Aboriginal people, their history and culture is identified as a a  major challenge in all FN schools in Ontario.    Three areas of improvement are indicated for Aboriginal students to succeed academically: parental encouragement, positive role models and Aboriginal content.

2) The main objective of the Chiefs of Ontario office is to facilitate the discussion, planning, implementation and evaluation of all local, regional and national matters affecting the First Nations people of Ontario. The intention of basing the central office in Toronto is to maintain a presence for First Nations in Ontario that is non-government and non-political in order to communicate with government officials on an urgency basis.  It was on this site where I first learned about The New Agenda:  A Manifesto for First Nations Education in Ontario which includes reports and findings on numerous FN education topics.

3)  Students Tell Chiefs They Want Language Back Nov. 24, 2011 Wawatay News Online.    Five Aboriginal students recently had a chance to be heard by the Chiefs of Ontario at an education conference in Thunder Bay Oct. 26-27 that featured a student discussion.  The students indicated that  language restoration and retention were the most important aspects to strengthening First Nations education.    This article illustrates their FN student voice.   Key comments from the students:

– FN content in high school is lacking.  “There’s not enough language and there’s not enough Aboriginal people in administrative positions.”

– “the language is losing us”

– not having the language nor having a strong understanding about the history of their Aboriginal roots is confusing to students making the transition from high school on a reservation to university in a city.

– students can feel lost and overwhelmed because they don’t have a strong foundation about who they are

– “We want our language back. The young people want to be able to speak the language. The chiefs need to put into place whatever policies are needed to do it”

– More opportunities are needed to figure out what student  passions are.  “Not just force them to go to school right away just because it’s the norm. If you let them figure it out first, they will do better and get better grades.”

4) First Nations Women and Postsecondary Education in Canada: Snapshots from Census

“Postsecondary education holds widely-recognized benefits for both the individual as well as society. Research has shown that attainment of postsecondary education increases employment and income opportunities and provides a stronger base for communities for economic and other forms of community development. These relationships hold for Aboriginal peoples, just as they do for the population as a whole.

This article explores the postsecondary educational attainment of First Nations women in Canada. While many do not complete high school, there is evidence that Aboriginal peoples return to school later in life and as such, have different pathways to postsecondary education than individuals in the overall Canadian population. This article provides information regarding these and other topics related to postsecondary educationnal attainment for First Nations women.

The article presents data based on the 2001 and 2006 censuses regarding the postsecondary educational attainment of First Nations women aged 25 to 64, including comparisons between First Nations women and men, as well as between First Nations women and women in the total Canadian population. Variations in First Nations women’s postsecondary educational attainment are explored across a number of socio-demographic characteristics such as age, geography, and area of residence (on- versus off-reserve; urban versus rural areas). Also examined are the fields of study most common for First Nations women and the relationship between postsecondary education and employment.”

5) A Profile of Aboriginal Peoples in Ontario, by Noelle Spotton     This background paper provides the reader with a general demographic of Aboriginal peoples in Ontario. It is an overview of some key population, cultural, social and economic characteristics of Aboriginal peoples, based largely on data from the 2001 Canada census.

This page from the ANKN website features a set of guidelines for educators, elders, teachers, researchers, writers and illustrators.  The guidelines were compiled after meetings and workshops with participants such as members of the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative, and the final document was ratified by representatives from the Native Educator Organizations.  The guide encourages educators and curriculum designers to incorporate indigenous knowledge into the classroom in ways that are beneficial to all, constructive, and respectful.

Significantly, ANKN recognizes Elders as authorities on cultural matters; yet, the guidelines are also geared to them.  Aside from the sharing of knowledge appropriate to the place, Elders have a responsibility to review contracts, release forms, and research transcripts, including papers that are to be made public.   They must also secure copyright for all cultural information that is documented.  These are important aspects of the Elders’ job description.  Not only does it ensure that accurate and appropriate information is shared, it protects this knowledge from commodification and misuse.

Guidelines for illustrators and writers specify that traditional names for places and objects must be retained as much as possible and authorship must be shared with individuals in the community who contributed to the creative work.  They must also ensure that sensitive information be made accessible as dictated by Elders.

This site is useful for research on place-based learning because it helps educators evaluate the source of the knowledge that they may acquire for their classes.  It is also enables them to recognize and validate prior knowledge that students bring to the learning environment.

http://www.ankn.uaf.edu/Publications/knowledge.html

http://www.aboriginalcanada.gc.ca/acp/site.nsf/eng/ao35224.html
A comprehensive list of research publications dealing with Aboriginal issues specific to Canada. It is organized by themes ranging from education to governance to justice and policing. Being able to get a cross-section of research in one place is useful, as we can begin to see the interconnections between issues – for example, how are educational challenges related to housing issues? A site such as this one helps us to take a step back from our focused research areas to see a larger picture context of how topics may be connected. By jumping from this ‘research’ section to the ‘statistics and maps’ section, we can find information such as community profiles, children’s survey and language maps.

Emily