Day 1:

Objective 1: Identify and discuss issues concerning Aboriginal content and begin to develop an ability to hold this type of discussion in a classroom;

Initial Activity: Create a Concept Map using CMAP regarding the key pieces of information that you know about Aboriginal Education in BC. Include any facts that you know, history, culture etc. Maintain this concept map as your journey through this lesson and submit it via email to your instructor when you have completed all the activities.

Pre-Reading: Please read Battiste, M. (2009). Cognitive Assimilation, Culturalism, and Diversity: Evolving Educational Discourses for First Nations Students. In J. Lupart, A. McKeough, M. Porath, L. Phillips, & V. Timmons (Eds.), The challenges of student diversity in Canadian schools: Essays on building a better future for exceptional children (pp. 189-222). Markham, ON: Fitzhenry and Whiteside.

Personal Reflection: What issues did this essay raise for you? What assumptions did it challenge for you? Did you learn something that you didn’t already know?

Day 2:

Activity 1: Please watch the Online Video Presentation by clicking the link below and then clicking on the “Edited Video: Student’s Speak” icon to the left:

What I learned in Class Today: Aboriginal Issues in the Classroom

Activity 2: Individual Reflection in the Online Discussion (10 Minutes)

The issues raised in the online video are sensitive and you may find it difficult to process your thoughts immediately after watching it. This activity is comprised of a free-writing exercise as a way for you to reflect on what you have watched and to work through your thoughts. Your thoughts and reflections on this video will serve as an effective method of moving into the discussion.

Day 3:

Objective 2: Preparing for effective classroom discussions;

Activity 3: Setting the Ground Rules for the Course Discussion (10 Minutes)

It is never easy or “comfortable” talking about racism or ignorance. Because this lesson is about culturally sensitive material it is important that we create a space that is conducive to shared learning and one in which you feel that you can take part in the discussion. In order to do this, it is useful for us to develop ground-rules for our online discussion through a collaborative process.

Please review this website on the use of ground-rules for class discussions. To help you with this exercise some examples of ground-rules are as follows:

Speak from your own position or experience.

Not speaking from your own experience can lead to situations where students speak from misinformed positions with problematic assumptions.
This ground-rule helps students share with the group what they do know from their own experience, reducing tendencies to reiterate problematic assumptions.

Don’t get hung up on terminology.

Some students have expressed that they are concerned about using “correct” terminology, and as a result, they often feel that they shouldn’t speak or participate in discussion.
Acknowledging that terminology can be confusing can help to engage students in a discussion of terminology that may be more appropriate for the subject matter.
“Aboriginal” and “First Nations” tend to be broadly accepted in Canada, but there are cultural, social, and political nuances to these terms as well that sometimes make them exclusive of other indigenous groups, such as the Métis and the Inuit.
Terminology is rarely without contention, and this is an area to be conscious of when engaging with Aboriginal subject matter.

Acknowledge that there will be discomfort.

Talking about difficult cross-cultural issues is never easy, but acknowledging discomfort may help workshop participants to feel that they can speak through their discomfort, rather than remain silent because of it.

More ground-rules will be added based on our class discussion. Your instructor will monitor the online discussion and compile the list of ground rules. Please do not continue past this activity until the ground rules have been set.

Objective 3: Map out assumptions that we hold and maintain regarding “what we think we know vs. what questions we need to ask”;

Activity 4: Theme Building Exercise (from free-writes) using Online Course Discussion Forum (20 Minutes)

Your instructor will keep track of key words brought up in the free-writes. Themes will be created that will include as many of the key words as possible. Once the themes have been identified, they will be added to our online discussion forum for activity #4 as a new discussion thread titled “Themes from Free-Writes”. Please do not continue past this activity until the Themes have been identified and communicated back to you via the discussion thread.

For example, the following theme was prepared with key words from the video that was watched in activity #1.

THEME
Racist comments Alienation No intervention Impact on students	“Dealing with incidents in peer discussions”

Activity 5: Revisiting Themes from the Video (20 Minutes)

You have identified very important issues in your stories and reflections from Activity #4. This activity gives you the opportunity to revisit specific situations and comments (from the video) in order to personally reflect on the dynamics that went into making that situation occur.

In order to go deeper into situations raised in the video, you can revisit clips such as those that have been identified in the example below.

For this activity please make notes of your thinking and reactions to the video for use in the next activity.

For example if you are using the theme “dealing with incidents in peer discussion” from the theme building exercise above, you might do the following:Workshop Playlist: Video Clips: 8.3 and 8.4 (Vicki George)

In these clips, the student speaks about an incident that happened in one of her classes where she was challenged for questioning another student about racist assumptions about Aboriginal people. In this situation the instructor’s response was considered inadequate.

Revisit Video Clips 8.2, 8.3 and 8.4 (Vicki George). Post your response to the questions posed below to the discussion forum located here: Activity 5: Discussion Questions A

What about this situation made this student uncomfortable?
What was the impact of this situation on this student in this clip?
List the consequences experienced by the student as a result of this situation.

Revisit Video Clip 8.15 (Vicki George). Post your response to the questions posed below to the discussion forum located here: Activity 5: Discussion Questions B

In this clip the student discusses her instructor’s reaction to the situation by posing the question, “Is there anybody who wants to respond to this?”

Why do you think the instructor asked the class this?
Can you think of other ways the instructor could have reacted to this situation?

Revisit this clip 8.12 (Vicki George). Post your response to the questions posed below to the discussion forum located here: Activity 5: Discussion Questions C

How might this situation impact others involved in the situation:

Other students? How might they have perceived this situation?
The instructor and the student’s relationship to the instructor? (see video clip 8.12 (Vicki George))

Objective 4: Develop a sense of “ease” with asking questions that have no “easy answers”;

Activity 6: Flowchart and Best Practices (20 Minutes)

After an incident takes place in class, students frequently discuss experiencing a significant amount of anxiety, and often find it difficult to return to the class after a racist comment was made or a situation was not handled appropriately. The student in the video comments on what she went through as a result of this situation.

The objective of this activity is to examine how an incident, when not addressed, can develop and how the negative outcomes can be exacerbated the longer that it goes unaddressed. This is also a good opportunity to formulate questions and as a group develop some possible answers to address them.

Using a Word document create a flow chart of this class incident from the video. In a different colored pen circle points where interjection into the situation might be possible, and note the party or parties who are responsible for initiating the interjection. Detail what these interjections might be, and explain their effectiveness. Below your flowchart list questions that arise for you from this type of discussion.

Post your flowchart for your peers to reflect and comment on. Please comment on three of your classmates flowcharts. Please post your flowchart to the online discussion forum located here: Online Flowchart Activity:

Objective 5: Develop a list of suggestions for best practices in the classroom when having discussions that involve Aboriginal context;

Activity 7: Best Practices (5-10 MINUTES)

Please create a list of best practices for embracing such truly beneficial learning environments in your classroom. What are some of the elements of class discussion that you’ll want to include? What are some cultural components that you’ll want to include? What are some ways that you can handle comments from students that could appear to be racist?

Post your Best Practice suggestions to the class online form located here: Online Form for Best Practices

Objective 6: Consider the many reasons why Aboriginal students may not be prospering in the BC public school system and what can be done to better support their success.

Day 4:

Activity 8: Please make final changes to your concept map and send to your instructor via email. Be sure to add information from online forum discussions, reflections and the concluding comments below.

Concluding Comments:

All available research confirms what is already known and reflected in the collective wisdom of the Aboriginal community and of school district personnel. That is, that those districts that most closely adhere to what is described in the literature as good educational practice are the districts that appear to have the most success in the education of Aboriginal students and the lowest rate of behavioural problems (and over representation in special education categories).

These school districts tend to:

have open relationships with the Aboriginal community
encourage staff to reach out to the Aboriginal community
have expectations for Aboriginal students that are in keeping with all other students in the system
recognize cultural diversity in the school culture and traditions
use creative and pro-active methods for staffing to include Aboriginal people
emphasize the role of Aboriginal support workers in providing academic and behavioural support as part of the school-based team
create a welcoming environment for parents and children in the school
keep parents informed and involved
identify problem behaviours earlier
conduct careful and thorough assessment of student strengths and needs using a combination of classroom-based criterion-referenced assessment, functional assessment and standardized assessment
have a high degree of precision in describing problem behaviours and developing strategies to address them
develop careful individual plans, review them regularly, and systematically monitor progress
use a team approach to problem-solving
network with community agencies and pro-actively include them in planning for the child

Reference: The information above has been re-worked from the work of Crey, K. & Perreault, A. (2008). What I Learned in Class Today: Aboriginal Issues in the Classroom. First Nations Studies Program, UBC.

Activities