Hello all,

This is my first post here on the ETEC 521 weblog. I usually teach secondary math (8-11) but am fortunate enough to have one block of library this semester.

I therefore want to conduct my research on the current state of Library Services for First Nation’s people within the Province of BC.

Within an online search I initially came across an article which commented on the passing of the 1994 Library Service Act in BC, granting First Nations people use of public libraries without a fee to do so.

The link is as follows: 

http://www.bcla.bc.ca/fnig/page/library%20services.aspx

From the BC Library Association website, this article discussed hurdles to access for First Nations in previously accessing library services.

Prior to the Act passing, Reserves were not granted access to library materials without a fee because the laws stated that since tax dollars were not collected from Reserves to help fund non-reserve public libraries. This reasoning was shocking and quite surprising considering the year was 1994 when access was granted. Unbelievable!!!!

This article was obviously an eye-opener into some of the politics that surround library access, and other potential access obstacles to learning for First Nations people.

Thanks.

-Regen

#1 Fisheries and Oceans for the Future

While searching for another link to the video “Return to Gitxaała” I came across the website Forests and Oceans for the Future. This website has a wealth of information about the Gitxaała Nation and their resource management strategies.

The website includes information on how the Gitxaała are combining their TEK with “western science” resource management strategies to meet the needs of their community. The process is undertaken by faculty and students at UBC and community members. They are focussed on resource management strategies in Northern BC with but they include research from parts of America, Western Europe and New Zealand. One of their underlying goals is fostering mutual respect and effective communication between stakeholders.

The focus of the website is on public education, policy research and ecological research with regards to resource management. To this end they include links to publications that are related to research with Indigenous groups, podcasts on the topic, and links to blogs where issues relating to TEK and resource management are being discussed.

In addition, the website provides links to public access lesson plans, which, although they are more suitable to secondary students could be altered for an elementary classroom. I found it to be a very interesting site with a lot of options for further research.

http://www.ecoknow.ca/

Aboriginal Perspectives is a site dedicated to providing teachers with lessons, videos, games and workshops that include Aboriginal content and focus.  Each of the videos is of a First Nations person or persons, from different age groups, and is accompanied by lesson plan suggestions.  This site is a joint venture between the University of Regina and the Saskatchewan Urban Native Teacher Education Program.

Math Catcher:Mathematics Through Aboriginal Storytelling is a site dedicated to introducing math topics via Aboriginal storytelling methods.  There are stories, video clips, background, rationale and links to conferences.  The project this site stemmed from was initiated at a First Nations Math Education Workshop held at the Banff International Research Station (BIRS) for Mathematical Innovation and Discovery.

One of the goals of this project is to promote mathematics for all peoples, but particularly in a way that will allow Aboriginal children to see themselves and their culture connected to mathematics, and to promote Aboriginal traditions amongst non-Aboriginal students.  The stories on the site are available in both English and various Aboriginal languages.

The Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN) site hosts a number of topics, identified as secretariats, including Education and Training.  Within the Education and Training Secretariat, there was a link (amongst many) to a Science, Math and Technology Outreach Program that outlined a number of events, objectives, science fairs and communique’s.  While this page is of special interest to me, there are many other educational objectives listed on the Education and Training page.

The viewpoint of this site is from the First Nation’s perspective and it spoke to a number of the neutrality issues raised in Module 1.  The 5 main goals and objectives of the FSIN are listed on the About FSIN page.

Teaching Mathematics in a First Peoples Context is a document produced by the First Nations Education Steering Committee (FNESC) that provides content, lessons, ideas and rationale for including authentic First Nations content and viewpoints in teaching mathematics.  There are suggestions for contacting local First People communities, as well as many links to websites that provide background and information for the lesson plans outlined in the 157 page document.

The FNESC is an independent society with a vision to provide high-quality, relevant education to First Nations youth.  Their website, www.fnesc.ca, outlines their goals, organization and hosts a wealth of information and links regarding education and First Nations students.  One of the pages on the site, Curriculum & Teacher Resources, is designed for K-12 public educators.  The site states that:

“FNESC, the First Nations Schools Association and the provincial government have been developing new First Peoples curriculum and classroom resources in order to create more inclusive schools and classrooms and better inform all students  about First Nations issues and realities. Curriculum development work is ongoing.” (www.fnesca.ca/curriculum)

Ethno-Math is a site that outlines ethno-mathematics and a related study done at the College of New Caledonia in Prince George, BC.  The study was designed to investigate whether making math content more culturally relevant and reflective of different styles of learning would improve First Nations and aboriginal student success in mathematics.  A synopsis of ethno-mathematics, as found on the site, states:

“Briefly, ethno-mathematics applies a socio-cultural perspective to math allowing a new means to view student success, curriculum content, historical contributions and educational practices. For example, native content is integrated into problems and indigenous people’s contributions to mathematics are acknowleged.”

The site outlines the project that CNC undertook, as well as a pdf file containing the full final report.  The study refers to the idea that many students see math as neutral and outside of culture.  However, while recognizing students’ viewpoints, the study proposes that “there should be a more explicit discussion with students about the contributions of different cultural groups to the history and practice of mathematics: mathematics does exist in a cultural context” (McGregor & MacMillan, 2004).  I felt that the discussion relating to neutrality and the influence of culture on learning mathematics fit well within the overall discussions for Module 1.

Reference:

McGregor, C. & MacMillan, P. (2004).  Program evaluation of Math030 (ethno-math).  Retrieved online at http://www.cnc.bc.ca/__shared/assets/Math030_report_May_20042138.pdf

These weblogs provide information on the collective research conducted by the students in the MET’s ETEC 521 Indigeneity, Technology, and Education. These annotated weblogs describe resources available, links to other sites, and usefulness for research on Indigenous knowledge, media, and community reality.

Only students in the MET course ETEC521 can author postings on this weblog. Please refer to the instructions in the ETEC521 course site for instructions on how to add yourself to this weblog.

You can also look at the archives to find the research journals of students from previous years, going back to 2005. Not all of the postings are still available in these archives, but there is a wealth of information pertaining to potential research resources to be found in the archives.

For each posting you make to the Research Weblog, please assign an appropriate category (e.g., Connection to Research Topic, Module 1, Module 2, Module 3, or Module 4). You are expected to make 5 entries per Module in addition to a description of how your weblog postings will connect to your research topic. By adding the categories, it will be easy for you (and for others in the class), to quickly see any postings relating to the Modules. Also, if you add tags (keywords) to your postings, we will also be able to generate a “tag-cloud” of thematic terms that provide an additional way for people to find resources that might be of interest to them. This tag-cloud will grow as the number of postings made to the weblog grows and will, in time, become an interesting way to explore the material we are creating together.

Please feel free to comment on one another’s postings!