conference summary · web viewtrish rosborough, director of the aboriginal education enhancements...

Conference Summary

13th Annual Provincial Conference on Aboriginal EducationAboriginal Perspectives in Teaching and Learning

The Westin Bayshore, Vancouver, November 22-24, 2007

Each year, the First Nations Education Steering Committee (FNESC) and the British Columbia Ministry of Education, along with their partners – this year the United Native Nations Society and the Métis BC Nation – deliver a provincial Aboriginal education conference that showcases effective and inspiring practices in Aboriginal education. 2007 marked the 13th year of the conference and it was one of the most successful of the provincial conferences so far.

Registration reached 830 participants this year, and participation would have been even higher if the hotel facilities could have accommodated more people. The popularity of the conference is a testament to the event’s reputation as a forum for networking and information sharing in the Aboriginal education field. The attendees included large numbers of teachers and education administrators from the public and First Nations school systems, plus First Nations leadership, education professionals, and federal and provincial government representatives. Participation from out-of-province participants has been steadily increasing.

“Aboriginal Perspectives in Teaching and Learning” was the conference theme this year. It was chosen to raise awareness about how education that integrates Aboriginal perspectives results in better academic performance of Aboriginal students and is enriching to all students. Several workshops and panels spoke directly to this theme – notably the panel on the Aboriginal Integration Curriculum Project and the panel on the new high school course, English 12: First Peoples.

One of the new features to the conference this year included a lounge for the comfort of the Elders, which provided a quiet area to socialize and enjoy refreshments.

An outline of the conference proceedings follows.

CONFERENCE SUMMARY – 13CONFERENCE SUMMARY – 13thth ANNUAL PROVINCIAL CONFERENCE ON ABORIGINAL EDUCATION, NOV. 2007 ANNUAL PROVINCIAL CONFERENCE ON ABORIGINAL EDUCATION, NOV. 2007 1

CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGSNovember 22, 2007

A Movie Night with Raven TalesThe opening night of the conference featured early registration followed by a Movie Night, showcasing the animated productions of Simon James, co-creator and director of the award-winning Raven Tales series. Simon first spoke of the process of creating Raven Tales and then showcased two new episodes in the series: Child of Tears and Love and War.

Both of the productions are retellings of traditional Northwest Coast First Nations tales using computer animation, and the series has been recognized worldwide for its success in bringing traditional stories to a younger generation. As the Raven Tales series develops and new episodes are added, Simon and his team have plans to bring more language learning and curriculum components to the episodes, so that Raven Tales will be in every BC classroom as a learning tool.


Trish Rosborough, Director of the Aboriginal Education Enhancements Branch, BC Ministry of EducationTrish Rosborough opened the conference proceedings on the first day. She acknowledged that we were honoured to be meeting in the territory of the Coast Salish peoples and she invited Musqueam Elder, Mary Charles to speak.

Mary Charles led a prayer and welcomed the participants.

Trish Rosborough welcomed the conference participants and spoke of the conference theme and the schedule of activities.

“This is the one place where all around the room I see people that I meet in my journeys around the province that are committed to making education work for Aboriginal students. And indeed make education work for all students, as we integrate Aboriginal perspectives into the school system.”

Trish Rosborough

Aboriginal Curriculum Integration ProjectPanelists: Ted Cadwallader, Project Director and District Principal of Aboriginal Education for School District #79, and Norm Thorne and Grant Mellemstrand, Project Coordinators

The panelists introduced a unique online project designed to raise the profile of Aboriginal people in the school curriculum, particularly in the core subjects. A website they have developed http://www.sd79.bc.ca/programs/abed/ACIP/acip_intropage.html includes sample lesson plans and in some cases downloadable video clips in a variety of core subject areas including English, Socials,


http://www.sd79.bc.ca/programs/abed/ACIP/acip_intropage.html

Science, Physical Education, and Math as well as content relating to the North American Indigenous Games happening in Cowichan First Nation territory in 2008.

They spoke of the project’s efforts to develop resources that reflect the diverse nature of the Aboriginal people of B.C. and embed in each lesson an opportunity for students to share and further their understanding.

“I’d extend an invitation to all of you, in whatever role you’re in - in your school districts, schools or communities - to add to this project. In the end what we really want to see is our students go through our school systems and really understand the great gift that Aboriginal people have given to everybody in this province and continue to give by sharing their knowledge. Our role as teachers is to be able to connect that with the curriculum that we’re teaching.”

Ted Cadwallader

The website resources were very well received and evaluation after the conference showed the extent to which people were interested in the concept and content of the project.

Minister Shirley Bond, Deputy Premier, Minister of Education and Minister Responsible for Early Learning and LiteracyMinister Bond spoke about the education jurisdiction provisions in the provincial First Nations Education Act, which had just passed into law in the BC legislature and its significance for Aboriginal student success and relationships within the province. She also spoke about continuing to work to understand the barriers to Aboriginal student success and building our partnerships to meet those challenges.

“We have to take the words off the paper [of the First Nations Education Act] and make sure that we give it spirit and support and care, because it’s going to be hard work. But I know this, that one of the things that is most important to me in that bill is something that needs to be reflected in a more genuine way across our province is the requirement for us to consult, with you, with FNESC, and with others about changes to educational initiatives that impact your children on First Nations land. The bill will require us to do that. I can only hope that we begin to do that and embrace that in a way that isn’t about laws, regulations and requirements, but it’s out of the sense of how do we make things better for Aboriginal children in our province. …We want each child to be successful. It shouldn’t matter where you live. It shouldn’t matter who your parents are… We owe all children the sense of


urgency to make sure that their needs are being met in credible ways across the province. I believe the First Nations Education Act gives us hope that we can work together. …I continue to be very troubled by the completion results that we have in British Columbia. And the challenge is that it’s not because everyone isn’t trying hard, everyone is working very hard and we all want the same outcomes. But we have to find new ways.”

Minister Shirley Bond

Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, BC’s Representative for Children and YouthMary Ellen Turpel-Lafond spoke both from her perspective as an advocate for youth in care, of which the majority are Aboriginal, as well as her personal experiences as a parent and Aboriginal person. She spoke of research by her office about the education outcomes of children in care and of their graduation rate, which is approximately 20% for children in care and 16% for Aboriginal children in care.

“Some of the mythology that I was presented with when I took on the role was ‘Aboriginal students don’t graduate because they hit puberty and they drop out of high school’ and ‘they just don’t do well, particularly if they’re Indian…’ . Well in fact our study did not demonstrate that. The study demonstrated that the majority of the children stay in school for the full 12 years or longer. They don’t drop out but they still don’t graduate. And that was a concern. Because if they’re in school for that period of time, what is happening that is not allowing them to get to the completion point where they should be?…I’m disappointed with the extent to which in the system poor performance has been normed often for Aboriginal children. Meaning there isn’t an expectation that they should succeed. And I think that is an unacceptable expectation.…Sometimes the thoughtful words of a child can fall on deaf ears in a system that really doesn’t support children adequately. … I think there are a lot of important and positive policies that are out there, but I don’t think they’re good enough. I think there is a substantial amount of work that remains to be done.…


I congratulate FNESC and the work of the people here because you have been able to work the relationships. I realize there is still work to be done – implementing your First Nations education jurisdiction to get your funding formulas in place, to get the jurisdiction model operational, to get your reciprocal tuition agreements to work with respect to the students that are in your schools. All of those pieces of work take time and take effort but you’ve been able to work together and collaborate. …And one of the things I also highly respect about the work you have done in terms of First Nations education in British Columbia is your insistence on the data, your insistence on numbers - knowing how are First Nations children doing? And to not simply rely on ‘Well, I think they’re doing okay’ or, ‘They’re not doing so well’ - but really have an understanding of where are they, how are they doing.”

Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond


Tyrone McNeil – FNESC President Tyrone McNeil welcomed everyone to the second full day of the conference and invited Elder Amy Charlie to open the day’s proceedings. Amy Charlie led a prayer in her traditional language.

Tyrone introduced himself and thanked the Coast Salish people for welcoming us to their territory and gave thanks to the Elders, chiefs and dignitaries in attendance, including BC Assembly of First Nations

Regional Chief Sean Atleo.

“If we continue building this momentum as we have, we’ll continue to thrive on the changes that we all want and we all need – we’ll get there. We make improvements every day and every month and every year. Jurisdiction, for example is a huge step on a very long stairway that we’re all traveling together. We need to continue having forums like this so we can continue to communicate, share information and share best practices - empowering others to develop their own capacities and, most importantly, improve the success of our students whether they are in Band schools, private schools or public schools. It’s all about improving those successes.”

Tyrone McNeil


The Honourable Chuck Strahl, Minister of Indian and Northern AffairsA pre-recorded message was played from the Honourable Chuck Strahl, extending his congratulations to the conference organizers and his commendations to FNESC on the recent accomplishments relating to First Nations jurisdiction over K-12 education on-reserve.

Panel: Stellat’en Fisheries Field Technician Training and Work Experience ProgramPanelists: Neil Heron, Christine Charlie, Rene Lapointe and Finn Donnally and Sharolise Baker

The youth panelists and their program facilitators, Finn Donnally and Sharolise Baker, spoke of this unique program that was designed to recruit Aboriginal youth into the natural resources sector and to give them hands-on opportunities for learning by using the local traditional watershed as the classroom.They aired two short videos telling of the students’ learning experiences on the watershed and the fisheries learning component and spoke of the benefits to the youth in terms of enhancing their problem solving skills, technical skills, and planning skills. The panelists acknowledged the support for the program shown by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada and FNESC through the Youth Work Experience Program.

English 12: First PeoplesPanelists: Karmen Brillon, FNESC, Jo-anne Chrona, a teacher in School District #52, Stephen Larre, Vice Principal of School District #84, and Chelsea Prince, Member of the English 12 First Peoples Curriculum Development Team, with Panel Moderator Nathan Matthew

Nathan Matthew, the panel moderator, explained how English 12 First Peoples was developed during the education jurisdiction negotiations. He noted that English 12 has historically been a challenge to many Aboriginal learners, and part of that challenge is that the English 12 curriculum did not have a lot of content or perspective to which Aboriginal learners could relate. Development of the new course was led by FNESC in coordination with provincial partners and the first pilots of the course units began in BC schools in the fall of 2007. The new course offers students of all backgrounds an introduction to literature from First Peoples and also involves First Nations philosophies in its pedagogical approach. The course meets identical curriculum standards as the traditional English 12 course.

Panelist and FNESC staff member, Karmen Brillon, spoke of the tremendous support expressed by BC communities and schools for the course. Her work involves traveling to schools and discussing and promoting the course province-wide. She related that there is a high degree of interest from teachers and schools in expanding this approach to Math and Science courses next. Currently, 14 schools are formally piloting two units of the course and 14 more using course materials on an informal basis.


The audience posed several questions to the panel including questions about the types of resources and support teachers needed to teach the course, about the vision for the course, and the practical aspects of implementing it.

Grand Chief Ed JohnGrand Chief Ed John spoke of the recent passage of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, a document that has been under development for more than two decades. 144 countries voted to adopt the Declaration, and four countries: Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States, voted against it. The document holds governments to their obligations to ensure the human rights of Indigenous peoples are respected and lays out common standards.

“What is really important about this Declaration is that we helped draft it. It wasn’t drafted in some back room in isolation from Indigenous peoples saying well we’re going to do something good for you. We were there. We fought tooth and nail for every word in that Declaration. For the past 5 or 6 years generally at this time of year I’ve been in Geneva, meeting with ambassadors from all over the world. ……Education is embedded in the Declaration of Indigenous Peoples. The Declaration itself talks about minimum standards. Article 43 of the Declaration talks about the minimum standards for the survival and dignity and well-being of Indigenous peoples of the world. …Article 3 sets out the purpose and minimum standards for our survival, for our dignity, and for our well being - what you’re talking about, what you are distilling and instilling in your children that you have in your schools and communities. The declaration clarifies and confirms Canada’s existing obligation including education. …We were there – it was our Declaration too and we supported it. And so we stand on the rights of that declaration, even though the national government says no.”

Grand Chief Ed John

WORKSHOPS PRESENTEDNovember 23-24, 2007

Aboriginal Circle Program Ditta Cross/Tracy Healy

Aboriginal Education Department SD#36 Astronomy Kit Angus Stuart

Aboriginal Perspectives on Emotions in Learning Lyn Daniels/Dr.Lee Brown

Aboriginal Youth in Industry Training Rodger Hargreaves


Cultural Presentations for Science K-7 Gail Stromquist/Janet Crockford

Enhancement Agreements: Sharing Practices MEd Heather Morin

Experiential Learning: Practices that have been Successful in Teaching Aboriginal StudentsSharon Antoniak/Michelle Canaday

Finding the Stories: Aboriginal Student Data MEd Heather Morin

Framework for Success Madeline Price

Generative Approach to Culturally Relevant Curriculum Monty Palmantier

Healthy Schools Network MEd Heather Morin

How do I Know if a Student Needs Speech and Language Services and What do I do?Kelly Kitchen/Deanne Zeidler

Implementing Halq’eméylem Language and Culture with Multimedia and On-line LearningThelma Wenman/Jared Deck

Implementing Language and Music into the Classroom Gary R George

Inclusion, Caring, Belonging Dianne Herman/Henriette Landry

Integrating Understanding of FASD and Other Brain-Based Conditions into Aboriginal Teaching and LearningDiane Malbin

Learning and Teaching in an Indigenous World Lorna Williams/Gina Robertson

Learning from Place and Comprehending Spirit and Identity Susan Leslie/Gordon Reid

Learning Journey Series Bonnie Vickers

Making Education Work in Manitoba Schools Betty-Ann McIvor

Nala’atsi, a “New Beginning” for Grade 10-12 Aboriginal Students Toresa Crawford

Open School’s BC First Nations Studies 12 Adrian Hill

Sharing the Symbols and Traditions of My Community Liz Barrett

Story Circles – A Student-Centred Approach to Using Literature Circles with Multiple Literary Forms Chelsea Prince

Strategies for Incorporating Aboriginal Culture and Language Within and Outside the School,Wanda Barker/Gloria Barker

Teaching and Learning through Intergenerational Mentorship Aliki Marinakis

Teaching First Nations Studies with Elders and Community Resource People Bruce Allan/Marlene Erickson

Teaching What You’re Not: Non-Aboriginal Teachers Incorporating Aboriginal PerspectivesRachel Mason

We Learn From Our Land: Outdoor Cross-Culture Science Camp CurriculumRenal Mitchell/George Morris

Weaving Aboriginal Cultural & Learnings Within the Curricular Areas at the Elementary LevelLaura Rudland

What I Learned in Class Today: Aboriginal Issues in the Classroom Karrmen Crey/Amy Perreault

Working Together in the Fight Against Racism Eric Wong

Xaad Kil Gwaaygangee – Haida Language Family Jusquan Amanda Bedard/Stephen Brown


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