Sunday 28 August 2011

Learning About Walking in Beauty: Placing Aboriginal Perspectives in Canadian Classrooms


This is kind of a cool report.  Check it out at http://www.crr.ca/content/view/252/538/lang,english/

Below is the Report Highlights cut and paste from the start page.

Learning About Walking in Beauty: Placing Aboriginal Perspectives in Canadian Classrooms comes from the Coalition for the Advancement of Aboriginal Studies (CAAS) with funding support from the Canadian Race Relations Foundation (CRRF). Walking in Beauty is a term that speaks of conducting oneself in harmony with all of the living world, and is respectfully borrowed from the Navajo People.

In 2000-2001, the CAAS conducted a national Student Awareness Survey, measuring awareness, attitudes and knowledge of facts about Aboriginal Peoples' histories, cultures, worldviews and current concerns. Five hundred and nineteen young adults (460 Canadian, 35 Aboriginal and 24 Newcomer students in first year university and college courses across Canada) responded to this 12-page survey. The survey questionnaire was developed and administered by Aboriginal and Canadian educators, scholars, traditional Elders and advocates within the 300-member CAAS network.
The Learning About Walking in Beauty report includes the findings from this survey, together with pedagogical, social and historical analyses. The report offers a pedagogical framework and proposals for learning about "walking in beauty" together.


Friday 19 August 2011

Foundational Reading in Aboriginal Education

Starleigh Grass is a teacher, blogger, and mother from the Tsilhqot'in Nation who currently works in St'at'imc territory.  This article is reposted from her blog Twinkle's Happy Place, where she connects teachers to research and resources for integrating Aboriginal curriculum and pedagogy into their classrooms.  I encourage you to check it out, it is an excellent blog.  You can also follow her on Twitter at @starleigh_grass.
@SheeKhaTe on Twitter is preparing for her graduate studies in the fall and is also spending the summer preparing for her studies by doing some reading before classes started. She was wondering which readings I found especially powerful.

I'm glad she asked because one of the things on my mind is how to indigenize my studies. I'm a little bit worried that my courses won't have a lot of Aboriginal content. UBC is pretty good, and I've noticed that since I did my undergrad at UBC Okanagan they've worked really hard at increasing Aboriginal student support and content. 

Still, though, it is a mainstream course and I doubt there will be enough Aboriginal content to satisfy my appetite.

I have been doing my reading journal, but I also wanted to spend some time reflecting on which texts shaped my perspective during my undergraduate studies and brief time in the classroom so that I could use them as foundational texts during my research. I've also been thinking, if I were to design a course on Aboriginal education for pre-service teachers, which texts would I use?

Anyhow, here's a portion of the email I sent her. Perhaps you might find it useful, too :)
Online articles/reports
I went through my old blog posts using the research tag and found some articles online which you might find useful. I've attached the blog links which contain links to the full article because the blog posts provide brief summaries:

  • http://twinkleshappyplace.blogspot.com/2010/05/some-thoughts-on-qallunaat-teacher.html This article focuses on Nunavut but its lessons are broader than that. I really appreciated how it focused on how teachers have to tailor instruction and content to Indigenous students and go against the mainstream in order to best serve their students and how difficult this is to with limited resources and support. I feel like it's a very realistic portrayal of many teaching situations.

Academic Books

In terms of book books, like, things you hold in your hand, here are some books that have shaped the way that I look at education. Hopefully you can find them in your university's library, and if you can't find them librarians are usually happy to order things or to borrow a copy from another library -

  • CCPA's The Gifts Within - Our Schools Ourselves is a periodical and this issue focused on Aboriginal education. The articles are written from a variety of Aboriginal educator's perspectives from pre-school to post secondary.
  • The Circle Game: Shadows and Substance in the Indian Residential School System in Canada . This is a frequently cited report. It is absolutely a must read! You can find this full text online but if you can get a hard copy it'll be much easier to readhttp://www.nativestudies.org/native_pdf/circlegame.pdf If you have to read it online definitely read the recommendations
  • Volume 3 - Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples - the section on Aboriginal education can be found here http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/webarchives/20071124125456/http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ch/rcap/sg/sim5_e.html This is a document of historical significance because it was one of the first government publications to address underlying issues in Aboriginal education and propose progressive reform. Many of its recommendations have not been implemented despite the fact that they are bang on. This document is frequently cited in academic writing by and about Aboriginal people. Your library should definitely have a hard copy.
  • The Dispossessed: Life and Death in Native Canada by Geoffrey York - The education chapter is excellent. If you choose to read the book be warned that you'll cry a lot. The chapter on suicide is worthwhile. It's a good book, it's just really hard to read emotionally. You'll want to burn something down when you're done.
  • Wasase by Taiaiaike Alfred - this focuses less on education and more on how to break free from the chains of colonialism. I'm almost done it and am really enjoying it.

Fiction Books
  • In Search of April Raintree by Beatrice Cullen
  • Halfbreed by Maria Campbell
  • Will's Garden by Lee Maracle
  • Keeper N'Me by Richard Wagamese   
As a habit I look for ministry publications on Aboriginal education in my province and district documents. It's also useful to look on websites like the AFN or the Ontario Federation of Indian Friendship Centres to see what kind of publications they have that might align with what you're researching.

You might also want to poke around in your public libraries, K-12 school libraries, and university libraries to see what's there locally. I found a 1985 report by the Lillooet Tribal Council that totally shaped the way that I worked in that community by just poking around in the public library. Just pick stuff up, read the table of contents, the back of the book, the first and last paragraph of the introduction, and then decide if it's worth your time.

I think that a lot of Aboriginal students in different fields are in the same position. They are in a mainstream course but they want Aboriginal content so they have to be pro-active and tailor the course to their own needs. This usually has a ripple effect because in the course of doing this they educate their professors and peers about Aboriginal education. If you have readings in your field that are useful for people who want to learn about Aboriginal perspectives I encourage you to share your list of "must reads" too! We are like a village and we have to share with each other in order to survive and if we get into the habit of doing this we will all be stronger at the end of the day.

If you think that there are texts that should be considered foundational readings in Aboriginal education, feel free to share! I am almost done Wasase and will be looking for something new soon so any advice would be much appreciated!

Wellness and Our Environment Conference

October 21, 2011 Fort Langley, BC AEA (Aboriginal Education Association) "Wellness and Our Environment." Keynote speaker: Dr. Jan Hare, Associate Dean of Indigenous Education, UBC. Fabulous workshops including, protocol and ceremony, mask making, rattles, blankets, anti-racism, cedar pouches, enhancement agreements, environmental learning and experience framework and more. Langley Elementary, 8877 Bartlett Street, Fort Langley, BC. More information will be posted here shortly,  or contact Gail Stromquist at 604-888-4819, ext. 232 or gjstrom@hotmail.com.

Thursday 18 August 2011

Aboriginal Teachers Face Racism, Need Allies

Special thanks to Larry Kuehn, Director of Research and Technology at the BCTF

"Aboriginal Teachers' Professional Knowledge and Experience in Canadian Schools" was a research project undertaken by Verna St. Denis for the Canadian Teachers' Federation.  Excerpts from the Executive Summary are included here.

 Eager and willing to teach Aboriginal content and perspectives, Aboriginal teachers in this study
wanted to share what they knew and sought each other out to learn more. They described their
culturally grounded teaching practices and how these practices positively influenced both non-
Aboriginal and Aboriginal students.

 Many described how they began their teaching of Aboriginal content and perspectives by talking about their own lives and identities as Aboriginal persons. The Aboriginal teachers in this study emphasized that the integration of Aboriginal content and perspectives into public education must happen every day, for all students, in all subject areas.

 But Aboriginal teachers in this study suggested that there is still a lot more that can be done to ensure that Aboriginal content and perspectives are being taught in a meaningful way to all students. The often implicit hierarchy of school knowledge and subjects within a school system typically places a low valuation on Aboriginal subject matter, and this had negative implications on how others received both the Aboriginal teachers and the Aboriginal content and perspectives they taught in schools.

 Many Aboriginal teachers in the study still encountered attitudes and behaviors that suggested they do not belong in the profession, such as a questioning of their teacher education, qualifications or capabilities. This questioning occurred even as these teachers performed a number of services, such as developing Aboriginal curriculum and supporting their colleagues to teach Aboriginal content and perspectives; services that they often did willingly, and usually without compensation.

 The participants in the study identified ways to support the integration of Aboriginal curriculum:
meet the on-going need for schools to acquire Aboriginal curriculum and materials; adequately support Aboriginal teachers and non-Aboriginal teachers to teach Aboriginal content and perspectives; find supportive and understanding administrators and develop policies that come from the top down; accept Aboriginal teachers as fellow professionals; and hire more Aboriginal teachers and professionals.

 Feeling that racism in education was typically denied, ignored and trivialized, Aboriginal teachers in this study described various ways in which they experienced racism. They reported a disregard for their qualifications and capabilities, and for Aboriginal content and perspectives; a lowering of expectations of Aboriginal students; and a discounting of the effects of colonization and oppression on Aboriginal people. Institutional responses to racism were often seen as inadequate, leaving the burden for addressing racism on Aboriginal teachers.

 Aboriginal teachers in the present study interpreted the idea of who is an ally of Aboriginal teachers and Aboriginal education broadly, including themselves, their families and communities, in addition to non-Aboriginal colleagues, as potential allies. They identified non-Aboriginal colleagues who were allies as being genuine, honest and trustworthy; good listeners; and persons who remained positive
and open minded despite facing many challenges in education. Those non-Aboriginal colleagues
who were allies also were said to show respect and support for Aboriginal people by learning to
use community resources. Aboriginal teachers in the study stressed that allies seek to be a part of the local Aboriginal community without taking over; that allies avoid becoming experts about,
or saviours of Aboriginal people and culture.
The entire report is available on the CTF web site at


Wednesday 17 August 2011

Holistic Lifelong Learning Websites

This is an interesting group of websites.  Check them out.


The Canadian Council on Learning offers three online Holistic Lifelong Learning websites: First Nations, Métis and Inuit.

Each of these consists of an interactive Flash program that allows for navigating the roots, trunk and branches of the model. Each includes definitions and descriptions of elements of the model and underlying indicators and information.

In each case, a visual model is used to reflect appropriate cultural context.

CCL has a Facebook page for people to discuss the models and share experience using them. They invite discussion of teacher training, community planning, curriculum development, measurement purposes or "simply personal reflections."

To "like" the page, go to Facebook and enter " Aboriginal-Learning-in-Canada-CCL" in the search box.
First Nations Holistic Lifelong Learning website
Métis Holistic Lifelong Learning website
Inuit Holistic Lifelong Learning website

Thanks to Larry Kuehn for bringing this to my attention.

An Interesting Resource


Assessing Students' Ways of Knowing

Edited by Dr. Rick Sawa

Published by the Saskatchewan office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

Articles include:

Standardized Testing and Its Victims   by Alfie Kohn

Assessing First Nations Students in Math  by Dr. Rick Hesch

Performance Measurement and Monitoring Strategies (Indicators) by Gerry Hurton

Targeted Funds and Standardized Tests in British Columbia by Christine Stewart

Performance Assessment by Cheryl Erlandson

Cooperation:  It's an Attitude  by Dr. Sheryl Mills

Portfolios by Cheryl Erlandson

And more....

The book may be purchased for $25 from the CCPA Saskatchewan office:

http://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/reports/assessing-students-ways-knowing

Thanks to Larry Kuehn for bringing this to my attention.