Creating Culturally Appropriate Curriculum

Hi Pam very good slide show. I like what you have to say about indigenous pedagogy. I would have to defend our public education system here at keewatin patricia district school board when you take about the spirituality part. In our board we have the grandfather teachings as our character education program. We regularily have ceremonies and bring in elders to share those sacred teaching with all who want to learn. Our elementary school in town presently has classes working on a big drum with an elder. We just recently had a give away ceremony for our birch bark canoe we donated to Brock University(our director of education, administration, students and tecahers were all present) and when we go on the land the students are taught and encouraged to leave gifts if it is their tradition. I believe we are changing and I believe our board is helping lead that change. Cheers

Pam ... A very important and powerful presentation ... thanks for sharing this one!

I think you hit the nail on the head when you write about Indigenous Pedagogy requiring its own teaching and learning environments. I also think Saul Williams' questions about the development of appropriate content fits very nicely into your presentation. As you present so well, it is NOT just about content ...

One big challenge that all First Nation schools and especially provincial boards of education face is the sustainability of these experiences and resources so all the children are able to benefit throughout their entire "school" period of their lives. Too often it might be one local "champion" or resource person who brings these philosophies into their classroom but then they are gone the next year.

Your presentation identifies the challenge of the "teacher education institution" to be able to adequately support and prepare teachers to develop and incorporate these appropriate resources in their classrooms. I often think that as long as their institutions continue to exist within urban environments that we will continue to see teachers who are only able to encourage our children to move to these same types of environments. Hopefully programs like the NNEC teacher training program will be a start to changing some of these experiences.

Along with Indigenous Pedagogy, comes the discussion around Indigenous Knowledge (IK) and its appropriate place in the classrooms. I hope one of the results of incorporating IK in the classroom comes the opportunity to invest in the development of local resource people and experiences (ie. move some of the dollars out of the "brick and mortar" environments and into the communities). Of course, the need to protect, respect and sustain this valuable knowledge becomes an essential component of the effective utilization of these resources.

Brian