Educational Resources

Source: Vol. 62 No. 1 (2016): Spring   Martha Moon and Paul Berger – Lakehead University.

Focus: Educators and researchers

Summary: What does Indigenous student success look like in public school boards? Seven urban Indigenous educators’ interview responses to this question were interpreted and reported by the lead author, a teacher and researcher of English, Irish, and Scottish heritage – a Settler Canadian. The “Connected Beads Model” is the result of these educator-to-educator interviews. It shows how Indigenous students’ success can be promoted when Settler and Indigenous educators take a “We” stance alongside students, families, and communities through honoring story, relationship, and holism in school. The concepts embedded in the model and its practical applications are explored through participants’’ quotations and considered alongside related literature on Indigenous education.

Source: Brandon University

Summary: Elders, Knowledge Keepers, community members, and Indigenous organizations across Manitoba have ‘pulled together” to work alongside Assiniboine Community College, Brandon University, and Campus Manitoba to adapt the “Pulling Together Foundations Guide” for western Manitoba.

Originally created in British Columbia as part of a larger Indigenization project, the “Pulling Together: Manitoba Foundations Guide (Brandon Edition)” will provide a starting point for those who want to learn more about Indigenous Peoples in the Prairie region of Canada and those who wish to begin their journey of understanding Canada’s colonial legacy.

The “Pulling Together: Manitoba Foundations Guide (Brandon Edition)” is an open educational resource that can be found at http://pressbooks.openedmb.ca/pullingtogethermanitoba/.

Source: Canadian Journal of Education / Revue canadienne de l’éducation 44:3 (2021) www.cje-rce.ca    Danielle Tessaro University of Victoria, Laura Landertinger Hartwick University, Jean-Paul Restoule University of Victoria

Summary: This article seeks to contribute to the knowledge base regarding efforts to increase the supply of employed Indigenous teachers. In addition to supporting the learning and well-being of Indigenous students, increasing Indigenous teachers is critical for remote Indigenous communities with chronically understaffed schools.

This study was conducted as a scoping review of 50 Teacher Education Programs (TEPs) across Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States that have enacted efforts to increase Indigenous teachers. The study found a range of effective strategies, and this article will depict three strategies that can be enacted by TEPs to support Indigenous teacher graduates as they transition to employment. The strategies are: (1) creating employment opportunities, (2) identifying community needs and collaborating over practicum placements, and (3) providing ongoing support. The article concludes with a call for collaboration, funding, and data collection for the continued evaluation and improvement of strategies to increase Indigenous teachers.

Source: University of Alberta

Focus: Classroom teachers and administrators

Summary: Indigenous Canada is a 12-lesson Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) from the Faculty of Native Studies that explores Indigenous histories and contemporary issues in Canada. From an Indigenous perspective, this course explores key issues facing Indigenous Peoples today from a historical and critical perspective highlighting national and local Indigenous-settler relations. Topics for the 12 lessons include the fur trade and other exchange relationships, land claims and environmental impacts, legal systems and rights, political conflicts and alliances, Indigenous political activism, and contemporary Indigenous life, art and its expressions.

Source: ETFO – First Nations, Métis and Inuit Education

Summary: The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) has released a poster (PDF | Word) for member awareness and learning that celebrates 21 First Nations, Métis, and Inuit (FNMI) women for their contribution in arts, education, politics, environmental and human rights. Other posters are also available.

Source: The Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund (DWF)

Focus: Elementary and Secondary teachers

Summary: ReconciliACTIONs

A reconciliACTION is the answer to Gord’s call to “Do Something”. Do something to raise awareness, do something that improves the lives of Indigenous peoples, do something that improves the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Peoples. Students and educators recognize that change starts with every single one of us, and that everybody can make an impact. Here are some examples of reconciliACTIONs from Legacy Schools throughout Canada. We hope these wonderful examples inspire you to “Do Something”!

Source: Created by BUILD. Films and Networked Health, with funding and support from the Canadian Medical Association.

Focus: Teachers, Health Care workers

Summary: Sharing experiences of Inuit, Métis and First Nations peoples at various stages of life, this film was created to raise awareness, incite reflection and spark conversations about how to make meaningful change happen in health care [and education].

The Unforgotten is a five-part anthology. While the film is meant to be watched as a whole, each story can also be watched individually.

Source: ETFO (Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario)

Summary: Colonial practices inflicted on Indigenous Peoples caused a direct and intergenerational disruption in the lives of many children and families. Due to their sensitive nature, learning and teaching about residential schools, the Sixties Scoop and missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG) can be challenging.

This resource combines a learning journey that includes heart-to-heart conversations on healing and moving forward. It also includes three featured educational resources specific to each topic for instructional use, and a self-care approach to learning and teaching about each.

Source: University of Calgary

Summary: You have arrived at an interactive web resource that is designed to assist educators with weaving Indigenous ways of knowing, being, and doing into their teaching and learning, starting with story. Responding to the Calls to Action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada and to current provincial professional standards for education, this resource is intended to help teachers build foundational knowledge and competencies in Indigenous education. You will find a searchable database of Indigenous literary texts, as well as some secondary sources, that might be used within education. Our resource has two primary audiences: instructors in the Bachelor of Education program at the Werklund School of Education at the University of Calgary, and the K-12 teachers in all stages of their professional journeys, from B.Ed. students up to experienced teachers. However, beyond these audiences, we hope that this interactive resource will be useful to anyone interested in exploring Indigenous texts and expanding their engagements with Indigenous communities.

Source: Statistics Canada and Assembly of First Nations

Summary: This is a report produced by Statistics Canada in collaboration with the Assembly of First Nations. It includes a variety of social and economic statistics regarding Status First Nations people living on and off reserve and includes comparisons with the non-Indigenous population.