85 Archives - Promising Practices in Indigenous Education Website

Issue #85
December, 2016

What Matters in Indigenous Education: Implementing a Vision Committed to Holism, Diversity and Engagement

http://peopleforeducation.ca/measuring-what-matters/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/P4E-MWM-What-Matters-in-Indigenous-Education.pdf

Source: Pamela Rose Toulouse Ph. D (A People for Education Project)

Summary: Indigenous peoples’ experience with education in Canada has been a contentious one. The focus from the outset of imposed, colonial-based education has centred on assimilation and/or segregation of Indigenous peoples from their communities and worldviews. This report from People for Education explores an Indigenous approach to quality learning environments and relevant competencies/skills. It focuses on select work from People for Education and draws out the research, concepts and themes that align with Indigenous determinants of educational success. This paper also expands on this work by offering perspectives and insights that are Indigenous and authentic in nature.

Professional Development

Listening Stones: The First Nations, Métis and Inuit–Focused Collaborative Inquiry 2014-2015

http://www.ontariodirectors.ca/downloads/Listening_Stone/Code_Report%20_%20Listening_Stone-Year_2-2014_15.pdf

Source: SD Dion Consulting – Indigenous Research & Education

Summary: This research report titled Listening Stone Year Two: Deliberate Inquiry, Complex Questions, Deep Learning provides documentation, assessment and analysis of and recommendations for year two of the First Nations, Métis and Inuit Focused Collaborative Inquiry Initiative (FNMI CI). The report is informed by the voices of FNMI community members and Indigenous and non-Indigenous educators who participated in the initiative.

Building on year one of the FNMI CI, year two of the inquiry expanded from fifteen to include twenty-two District School Boards (DSBs). The primary goal of the inquiry is to improve First Nation, Métis and Inuit (FNMI) student achievement and well-being. The Leadership and Implementation, Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat, Student Achievement Division, of the Ontario Ministry of Education provided direction and support to the 22 DSBs that participated in the Initiative. Boards were asked to invite the participation of Collaborative Inquiry (CI) Teams from schools where there are high numbers of self-identified First Nation, Métis and/or Inuit students who are facing academic and/or engagement challenges. Inquiry designs were grounded in local contexts, CI teams were established, and local FNMI community partners were invited to participate. Each participating DSB identified a Board Lead and school communities to participate in the initiative. Working in collaboration, educators and FNMI community members composed inquiry questions to guide their work.

Multimedia

Tales from the Science Buffalo

http://www.wisest.ualberta.ca/Programs/TalesfromtheScienceBuffalo.aspx

Source: University of Alberta
Focus: Junior students

Summary: A series of interactive classroom presentations with engaging science activities that honour Aboriginal Ways of Knowing and introduce careers in the Sciences.

Inspired by the saying “Education is the new buffalo” (as supported by University of Manitoba professor, Blair Stonechild’s book The New Buffalo). Each of our visits is a chapter in a book of tales that engages students in the interface between Indigenous Ways of Knowing and Western Science and gives them an opportunity to explore their gifts in the sciences.

Community Engagement

Supporting Aboriginal Parents: Teachings for the Future

http://ccnsa.ca/docs/child%20and%20youth/NCCAH-supportingaboriginalparents-web-april2009.pdf

Source: National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health. Prepared by Kathryn Irvine for ‘Messages from the Heart’: A Showcase on Aboriginal Childrearing – Caring for our Children and Families
Focus: Parents and caregivers

Summary: The teaching of the prophecy of the Seven Fires reminds us of our responsibility in working to ensure the health and well-being of this young generation. In our work, we have sought to capture an overall understanding of the contemporary realities facing Aboriginal parents, as well as the forces of the past that continue to impact the ability of Aboriginal parents to access meaningful programs, resources and services.

In our effort to inform the practice of those working with Aboriginal parents, we have drawn attention to areas that work to provide a critical strengths-based analysis of the foundational knowledge needed to inform meaningful programming, resource development and service delivery.

Classroom Practice: Secondary

Tebatchimowin: Promoting the History and Legacy of the Indian Residential School System. Activity Guide

http://staging.legacyofhope.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Tebatchomowin_Guide_2014_web.pdf

Source: Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health and the Legacy of Hope Foundation (LHF)

Focus: Senior students and communities

Summary: For over a century, beginning in the mid-1800s and continuing into the late 1990s, Aboriginal children in Canada were taken from their homes and communities, and were placed in institutions called residential schools. These schools were run by religious orders in collaboration with the federal government and were attended by children as young as four years of age.

This guide was developed under the auspices of a joint Indian residential school commemoration project of the Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health and the Legacy of Hope Foundation (LHF). The information and activities contained herein will give both facilitators and participants the resources they need to examine the history of the Residential School System and to recognize the impact it has had, and continues to have, on generations of Aboriginal peoples in Canada. This resource consists of six activities, each of which examines an aspect of the history or legacy of the Residential School System.

The Residential School System, as defined by the federal government, is limited to 139 schools that operated across Canada between 1831 and 1996. This definition is controversial and excludes provincially-administered schools, as well as hostels and day schools. Residential schools existed in almost all provinces and territories, and in the North also took the form of hostels and tent camps. The earliest recognized and longest-running Indian Residential School was the Mohawk Institute, in Brantford, Ontario, which operated from 1831 to 1962. The last federally-run Indian Residential School, Gordon’s School in Punnichy, Saskatchewan, closed in 1996, and was subsequently demolished, marking the end of the residential school era.

Classroom Practice: Elementary

Aboriginal Legends Coast to Coast K-6

http://canadashistory.ca/Education/Lesson-Plans/Lesson-Plans/Elementary/Aboriginal-Legends-Coast-to-Coast-to-Coast

Source: Canada’s History, Jessica Greig, 2015 Governor General’s Award finalist

Focus: Grades K-6. Language Arts & Social Studies

Summary: Instructional Objectives:

To understand that the first people in Canada honoured, respected and lived in harmony with Canada’s beautiful diverse land, plants, water and animals. These Aboriginal people and their stories are the foundation of Canada and it is our job to honour and pass along their importance.
To recognize how stories of people and events provide multiple perspectives on past and present events.
To recognize oral traditions, narratives and stories as valid sources of knowledge about the land, culture and history.
To recognize the presence and influence of diverse Aboriginal peoples as inherent to Canada’s culture and identity.

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Issue #85December, 2016

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Issue #85
December, 2016