As I reflect on my web log entries, I see how much I wanted to try to find the key to connect Outdoor Education and Native Education of our youth. I had a personal experience when I was 16 year old in Outward Bound that shaped me for my whole life. I personally learned the impact of spending time in the wilderness. In my 20’s, I discovered a program called Rediscovery that combined the benefits of Outward Bound and Native Culture. I wanted to see how to utilize some of these ideals and implement them into the classroom; and help teachers see the value of this approach. I discovered the connection between place based learning and Traditional Aboriginal knowledge that was the thread that ran through much of my research. In order to narrow my topic and make it feasible for my own practice, I chose to take the approach of place based learning into the classroom. Though the impact of learning in the out-of-doors would not be as great on single day journeys (field trips) as it would be on multi day immersion in the outdoors, I found that starting with this approach was a positive step.

Web log #4

Entry 5

The British Columbia Teachers Federation has put together an Aboriginal Education Program (2012) that has some good resources and contacts for Aboriginal Teaching and Learning in B.C.

Web log #4

Entry 4

This paper, Traditional Ecological Knowledge of Aboriginal People in British Columbia is by Nancy Turner, an Ethnobotanist out of UBC. She looks at three main themes of Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Wisdom (TEKW), sustainability, world view and communication of knowledge. She charts plant resources like edible mushrooms, seaweeds, alder and cedar and their harvesting practices. Then she takes a couple of specific examples (yellow avalanche lily and balsamroot) and traces the use, knowledge and history of the plant. It gives a non-native a food sense of the scope of knowledge held by Aboriginal Peoples.

Web log #4

Entry 3

The Aboriginal Enhancement Agreement is a five year (2011-2016) agreement made between schools, teachers, parents and governing bodies to meet the needs of students of Aborginal ancestry. It is a partnership between the Skwxwú7mesh Nation, and Tsleil-Waututh Nation and any other aboriginals living on the North shore along with North Vancouver School District and The BC Ministry of Education. It is a commitment by all these interested parties to improve academic achievement of Aboriginal Students.

Web log #4

Entry 2

The National Film Board has an unbelievable treasure of resources to use in the classroom including a vast resource of aboriginal material.  You have to sign up for an account (free) but they have created teachers guides to go with their movies. Here is the link to the National Film Board and a link to one of the Teacher Guides, First Nations A Circle Unbroken.

Web log #4

Entry 1

The Canadian Council  on Learning has a variety of excellent resources. This Summary report, Naturalizing Indigenous Knowledge has been created by the Aboriginal Learning Knowledge Centre and is a rich resource for definition and clarification of Aboriginal Knowledge and Place-based Learning. It examines Aboriginal roots, social conditions, racism among a host of other topics.

1st Post

While doing research for my final paper I spoke with Outward Bound Program director, Julian Norris who, in collaboration with a high school teacher Jeff Horvath from Canmore Collegiate Highschool, has created a specialized program for Indigenous youth from the Nakoda tribe that has run now for 3 consecutive years and is designed in part to help increase the graduation rates among the Nakoda students at the school. The outdoor program has a philosophy that incorporates indigenous leaders and elders but also roots itself in a Framework created by the Search Institute, a youth development initiative. This comprehensive website, though commercially driven, describes their philosophy within a developmental framework based on building positive relationships and caring communities.

2nd Post

This is a website for a wilderness school run out of Hesquiaht, which is about an hour and a half boat ride from Tofino, BC. The program called Hooksum Outdoor School is run by a couple, Karen and Steve Charlson of the Hesquiaht First Nation. They offer programs for schoolchildren and adults with a philosophy based on a strong connection to the land. In an email with the co founder Karen Charlson she explained the following: “our primary aim has always been to  encourage/facilitate a person’s connection to the natural world.  It  is a connection that is the foundation of our daily lives and one that  is prominent in daily living.  Through activities and learning at  Hooksum, we hope to share that sense of connection with others.”  The site includes description of their programs, their philosophies and writings by schoolchildren and other relevant material.

3rd Post

I live in North Vancouver so the Squamish and the Tsleil-Waututh Nation are the groups who have lived here before my family came. Many of the Indigenous students I have taught have come from the Tsleil-Waututh Nation. Their website is a community portal which is used for all major aspect pertaining to their community including a description of their Band School and its philosophy.

4th post

My feeling is that we need to know what is going on in our own educational community. The UBC Aboriginal Portal includes support for students, instructors course navigation but for our purposes it includes teacher, community and faculty research which offers unique perspectives on aboriginal education. There is also a First Nations House of Learning (FNHL) tab which is a great support site for Indigenous Education. The FNH publishes a monthly newsletter “The Talking Stick” which provides documentation of events with relevant resources included.

5th Post

I have included this site in my research weblog, the report from The National Panel on First Nations Elementary and Secondary Education which has spent 19 months traveling the country at the request of the Federal Government and the AFN to assess the needs of First Nations Education on reserves. The panel has recommended that the Federal governments create a First Nations Education Act by 2014 which has created a great deal of controversy as First Nations are not interested in legislation. Beyond the controversy, the website includes the panel’s mandate, information on the authors, news links, a wide variety of First Nations leaders who were consulted, and of course the report itself.

Module #2

Site#5

I have included this book as I have found the authors perspective on global cultural diversity unsurpassed. Author Wade Davis an ethnographer and self described story-teller has travelled widely and shares his experiences of vastly different cultures from a global perspective. He has made his home base in central BC and has gained a respectful reputation among the Tahltan First Nations peoples as he has contributed to the opposition of development in the ‘Sacred Headwaters’ of the Stikine, Nass and Skeena rivers. Davis argues that globalization does not create harmony and integration among all groups. Instead he says, in many places it has wiped away languages, cultures and “visionary wisdom” (p.201)

Davis, W.  (2009) Wayfinders Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World. Toronto, Ontario: House of Anansi Press.

Module #2

Site #4

The BC Ministry of education offers a rich resource for aboriginal education of youth. Found at this site, http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/abed/documents.htm, it includes a First Nations map of BC as well as a First Nations Language map. The site has native content lesson plans for grades 7,8 and 9 in language arts, science and socials math and P.E. and a resource guide for integrating aboriginal content from K-10. Finally, the site includes a framework for questioning resources for indigenous people’s in a respectful manner.

Module #2

Site #3

http://squamishlanguage.com/

The Squamish Nation community has created this website as a revitalization of the Squamish language. Its purpose is to document, share and promote Squamish language. It includes relevant resources for any student in North Vancouver who is studying the First People in their community.