Fred Hawley

CFE Reflection for EDUC 452

I completed my CFE in SD 46 on the Sunshine Coast with Aboriginal Programs and Services.  A large part of my work was assisting with a Shishalh language class.  Students were working on projects based on oral histories gathered from elders in their community.

One of the projects that I contributed to was a mapping project, that compiled GIS information with information about the landscape and resources as gathered from stories.  I was able to contribute by going to the band office and working with a GIS specialist to put together some maps for the student to use as the base for his project.  He is in grade 9 and the scope of this project is a lot for anyone, so it felt very valuable to be able to assist with the parts that he has been struggling with.

On another day, the student and I spoke to two men about their experiences hunting and fishing over the course of their lives.  It was astonishing to hear how much could change in a lifetime.  Sadly, the changes that they noticed were the disappearance of wildlife and resources in the region.  For example, they remembered wading in Porpoise Bay (close to Sechelt), and filling up sacks with crabs.

I spent 2-3 days a week with this group of students, so I was able to make small contributions to several projects.  I helped one student to write a description of her project to be used as part of the Canada 150 Syiyaya.  Her project was to weave blanket using traditional methods and to interview elders about how the process of weaving has changed and its role in their culture.  I also helped two students whose chosen theme was fishing, as they wanted to make a net using traditional methods.

Another way that I was able to contribute was helping students who are doing a program where they get work experience in the morning and work on course work in the afternoons.  They were all working on Apprenticeship & Workplace Math 9 or 10 through a distance education program.  Some were also working on English or Social Studies.  Their academic work was self-directed, which worked well for some students but others were struggling when they got stuck on a problem and didn’t have a teacher to ask for help.  I spent as much time as possible working with these students as they had only minimal teacher support on their academic work.

I also helped the Aboriginal Programs & Services workers as they went to Secondary and Elementary classrooms to deliver lessons.  One of these was in a Textiles 8 class.  Students listened to a Shishalh story about the salmon, learned about the external anatomy of salmon, and then made their own out of felt, stuffing, and buttons.  This was a great opportunity to see how aboriginal content can be integrated into an ADST class.  The teacher had been doing a very similar project – making felt animals.  With support from Aboriginal Programs and Services, it was very straightforward to integrate the story from the Shishalh people into the lesson.

An experience that I will remember was when I went to Pender Harbour Elementary/Secondary where I worked with a carver (Arnie) on a totem pole.  He gave me a short demonstration of basic carving techniques and then I worked on a very small part of the totem pole.  After he left, I continued working on making feathers out of plywood to present as gifts to guests at the pole raising ceremony in June.  He had been asked to make 200 feathers so he appreciated that I was able to take over that part of his work.  The original plan had been for students to make the feathers, but without a technology education teacher they had been unable to do so.  It would have been great to teach students how to use the band saw for this but that was impossible due to the liability risk without a licensed tech. ed. teacher.

Overall, my CFE was a very valuable experience.  It was interesting to widen my lens from being in a classroom to looking at a whole district.  It was also interesting to see things from the perspective of Aboriginal Programs and Services.  So much of the work that they do, that I participated in or witnessed, is vital work.  The history of the people and the region is still far from complete and it was amazing to see generations working together to contribute their stories and knowledge.  Lastly, it was great to fit in some hands-on work at the end.  I have some carving experience, so it was interesting to be introduced to the techniques of a Coastal Salish carver.