We need to nurture a sense of the common good. Cherie Harder, policy advisor, and think tank leader asserts “vital to such renewal will be the reinvigoration of what might seem a modest practice: the extension of intellectual hospitality”(2021). She recommends nine ways forward to increase trust which leaders wisely adopt: Read widely, Understand that..
Township councillor David Davis and acting mayor Blair Whitmarsh lay a wreath. (Langley Advance Times files) At the Fort Langley Remembrance Day ceremony this morning it struck me, much more than other years, that I witnessed an act of reconciliation. The Kwantlen First Nation Elders and Drummers gave an honour song for: “those heroic men and..
https://www.dropbox.com/s/n13o63cb7wnlkrt/Indigenization%20Through%20Story.mp4?dl=0 Click on the link above to listen and view a recent presentation I gave with friend and colleague Diane Jubinville, District Vice-Principal of Indigenous Education in the Delta school district. The conference was for educators from the Heritage Christian Online School – RenewED Conference August 27, 2019 in Kelowna
It has come to my attention that this article which appeared in the Canadian Journal for Teacher Research: “A call to personal research: Indigenizing your curriculum” (2017, v.5.28) is no longer online. So I’m reposting it here at the request of a university librarian from Queens who informed me it is used in their graduate courses…
Today, with my friend and colleague, the District Principal for Aboriginal Education in Delta, I had the opportunity to work with a group of thirty teachers who teach in a Christian Independent school in British Columbia. In addition to teaching about the timeline of history through an experiential ‘beaded timeline’ and working with Indigenous ways..
“In Canada, half of all First Nations children live in poverty, the life expectancy of First Nations people is five to seven years less than that of other Canadians, and the practice of placing Indigenous children in foster care remains a significant issue. Secondary school graduation rates for First Nations youth living on reserve are..
The Indigenization of the British Columbia curriculum requires new constructs for leadership, Indigenous pedagogical practices, perspectives and content, and a vision for changing paradigms. A process such as Halbert and Kaser’s (2013) spirals of inquiry can help educators realize that learning is not linear but recursive. With respect to Indigenization, they suggest consideration of..
“…ongoing awareness practice, ongoing commitment to sustainability and people and ongoing engagement with the possible/potential”. As peace leaders we are meant to confront the reality of ordinary life by inquiring and seeking to understand what lies beyond ourselves in a spiritual quest for wisdom. This better equips us to engage daily challenges and inform..
On its website the Justice Institute recommends the following 10 ways to indigenize the curriculum: Acknowledge the local First Nations traditional territory Use experiential, and lifelong learning approaches Work with Elders and infuse culture into curriculum Visit Indigenous communities for field trips, events, and feasts Use the oral tradition, telling stories, with guest speakers such..
The mandate to integrate Indigenous principles and ways of knowing into the curriculum is a call to personal research; an ongoing learning journey requiring persistence and patience. We are all going to be works in progress in this! I have found it to be an emotional learning journey. I recall vividly the woman who stood..