Daphne Yoner

April 4, 2019
Native Issues

Native Issues Final Paper

 Daphne Yoner
April 4, 2019
Native Issues
FNMI Education Framework

There is FNMI education framework in both the policies that were made up in

2002 as well as in the Teaching Quality Standards which is very influential because

teachers us the TQS to guide their teaching so it is very important to have FNMI content

in this particular document so that we can start reconciliation.

FNMI Education Policy Framework

➢ This document was created in 2002 and the aim of it was to provide a

written document that has goals and strategies to help further these goals.

The goals are aimed to give First Nations people the opportunity for

bettered education and provide all Canadian students with the

understanding and appreciation of First Nations histories, cultures and

lifestyles in Canada.The overall vision for this framework is “lifelong

learning aspirations and potential of FNMI individuals and communities

are realized through a responsive and accountable public education

system that is recognized as a provincial leader in aboriginal education”

(page 9, FNMI Education Policy Framework). This framework covers all

the bases that it must cover including long term goals, the specific goals,

the strategies to get to those goals, and the process in which to get to the

long term goals. The framework itself strives for these 5 goals however

there is also over arching long term goals that with this particular
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framework will hopefully be accomplished after all 5 goals are well in

progress/almost to completion. The long term goals are the aim for

improving First Nation Education from early childhood education to post

secondary education, increasing parental involvement in the students

education, also strengthening the relationships between FNMI people and

different systems such as school districts, teachers ect., and lastly

appreciating and understanding different aspects of First Nations history

and way of life. The process has to start with many communications such

as contacts with the FNMI authorities, ministry staff, education

stakeholders, and other Albertans that the framework will influence.

Another part of the process will have to be comparative review of

aboriginal education research and certain initiatives. However this process

will have to be amended over time to focus on different areas in the

framework. There is supposed to be reports on progress for this

framework but so far the only official report was done in 2003 to show

what goals have been worked towards and using which strategies. In that

report they claimed that opportunities for First Nations to go to

post-secondary education was getting better, the attendance of First

Nations students was better, the amount of hired First Nations teachers

was greater, the professional development on FNMI content has

increased and the building relationships has become stronger. The five

different goals that were the main focus of this document was
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1) High quality learning opportunities that are responsive, flexible,

accessible, and affordable, to the learner.

2) Excellence in learner achievement.

3) Learners are well prepared for participation in post-secondary

studies and the labour market.

4) Effective working relationships.

5) Highly responsive and responsible ministry.

These are the main focuses that are covered in this document with many

strategies used to cover these goals.

Teaching Quality Standards

➢ The teaching quality standards are basically guidelines that are

mandatory to follow in some capacity so that students get well

rounded learning. These standards are broken up into six

competencies that teachers must follow in their practice.

1) Fostering effective relationships.

2) Engaging in career-long learning. (Includes things such as

PD days and university).

3) Demonstrating a professional body of knowledge.

4) Establishing inclusive learning environments.

5) Applying foundational knowledge about First Nations , Metis

and Inuits.

6) Adhering to legal frameworks and policies.

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All of these competencies must be covered however the newest

part to the competencies the FNMI content because Canada is starting to

set up reconciliation for the FNMI people and education is the best way to

implement that change. With this change society will be more

knowledgeable about the FNMI people and reconciliation will be easier to

implement.
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April 4, 2019
Native Issues
Western and Northern Canadian Protocol for Collaboration in Basic

Education

This particular document was finished in 2011 and is not very widely spread yet.

Most teachers do not know that this is a resource that is helpful when deciding if a

resource should or should not be presented to a class. This document and a couple of

others is created by the Western and Northern Canadian Protocol and they evaluate

what is acceptable to share with students and propose different frameworks for getting

the FNMI content across to students. The group mainly focuses on the tools for FNMI

content, human resources and infrastructure and the policies in place.

Basic Education

➢ The main idea behind this particular document created by the Western

and Northern Canadian Protocol is that they want to be able to validate

resources for FNMI content so that teachers are more familiar with what

resources are appropriate for the classrooms and which ones might have

conflicts. There are four checklists that a resource has to be approved by

in order to be qualified as a proper resource according to the WNCP. The

first is resource production process, the second is language and imagery,

the third is indigenous knowledge and worldviews and then the fourth

covers the historical and contemporary portrayals of FNMI people. All four

of these areas are important however there is a bit of controversy

regarding if the resource does not qualify as a proper resource if the

students should be sheltered from these resources.

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➢ Checklist one: Resource Production Process. This checklist “asks

questions regarding how the resource was produced, and if it has been

validated by appropriate First Nations, Métis and Inuit representatives.

Resources cannot be validated without adhering to ethical production

processes” (WNCP basic education, page 14). This document also states

that it is a good idea to get consult with other people such as elders to

validify if it should be used in a classroom setting. The idea behind all of

the checklists is that if you say no to any of the questions throughout any

of the checklists then you stop and consider the resource not valid,

however if you say yes then you continue on with the checklists until you

get to the end; in which case it would be valid. This checklists asks

questions such as if it was validated by a FNMI authority figure, if there is

information about the production process, if it has a bibliography

containing good sources, and basically if FNMI individuals had a hand in

creating the resource.

➢ Checklist two: Language and Imagery. This checklist “includes questions,

often with specific examples, designed to ensure text and visuals are

culturally authentic and/or historically accurate in teaching and learning

resources” (WNCP basic education, page 14). This checklist is for

weeding out the resources that use discriminatory terms, resources that

use words that have connotative meanings such as slave or indian, also

being aware of terms and stories that imply history began with the
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April 4, 2019
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europeans. Other concerns are classifying all FNMI people with one term,

and recognize their diversity. This checklists discredits resources that not

fully respectful to the FNMI people and anything that discredits their

cultures; a big one is stereotypes.

➢ Checklist three: Indigenous Knowledge and world views. This checklist

“examines the ideas and information presented in teaching and learning

resources. The questions are designed to ensure the content in teaching

and learning resources represents the diversity of First Nations, Métis and

Inuit peoples’ experiences and knowledge in respectful ways” (WNCP

basic education, page 14). This checklist has concerns about representing

the values and beliefs of the FNMI people, reflects their traditions,

lifestyles, relationships and many more things. The main concern is they

want to be represented fairly by all parties.

➢ Checklist four: Historical and Contemporary Portrayals of FNMI people.

This checklist “asks questions about the cultural appropriateness and

historical accuracy of portrayals of First Nations, Métis and Inuit people

and their experiences in resources” (WNCP basic education, page 14).

This checklist has concerns with accurate accounts of FNMI histories

including things like sites and residential schools, the effects of

colonization on culture and language, and the diversity that FNMI people

have from the rest of Canada. They do not want the information to be
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April 4, 2019
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portrayed lightly in favor of the Europeans they want accurate accounts of

what happened in history and what they had to overcome.

The rest of the document has helpful definitions that make it easier to navigate

the document. Some of the questions are harder to answer then others because they

might require outside resources to answer them. However if a teacher is looking for an

appropriate resource to share with students it is worth the time to check these lists to

make sure it qualifies. Although I do believe that in the older grades(high school) they

should be exposed to the stereotypes so that the students can practice empathy and

understand when they are young why they are not true.
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April 4, 2019
Native Issues
First Nations Community Schools

This article talks about First Nations schools in Northern Ontario and conducts a

study on ten females that went to teach in these northern communities in which this

article highlights the concerns, issues, and hardships of new teachers. This article says

that there is no way to prepare for this particular experience in fly-in communities and

that if you are a teacher seeking a challenge then this would be one of those

experiences. One of the big concerns that this article voiced was how do we prepare

the students in these communities, do we prepare them for life on the reserve such as

the students only knowing how to speak Cree or do teachers prepare the students for

life off of the reserve; for experiences in more urban setting such as higher education or

jobs? There is no one answer to this question because a lot of the students that live on

the reserve, if they leave for education then they generally try to return to the reserve for

jobs there. Another big issue for these new teachers in these communities is the

language barrier, since english is only a second language in most of these communities

and all of the students and parents speak primarily their native language. This makes it

difficult to connect with the students and make long-lasting relationships that are very

important to have in a classroom. This article focused on five themes for this study.

Defining Pedagogical Goals and Purposes

➢ One of the main issues with the goals is the idea of preparing the students

for the reserve life or for life off of the reserve. Some of the students may

never need to know english because they may never leave the reserve so
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April 4, 2019
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it is difficult to set goals for students in these communities. It is hard to find

a balance of promoting their culture when there is little information that

teachers know about these First Nations cultures and people in the

community may not be so willing to get these new teachers to understand

their culture if they believe that they are not going to be around for more

than a couple of years. As well students may be reluctant to learning

english since it was forced upon so many First Nations people in the

residential schools and they may be scared to lose their language once

again. These communities are very isolated and that is what makes it a

challenging teaching experience.

Relationship to the School and Community

➢ The teacher and administrative part of the school was very positive

when it came to relationships, there was a lot of support for the

teachers in this setting. It appears that it was easier to get involved

with the community if you had a family but more difficult if you were

a single teacher that was flown in. Also it was easier for men to feel

like they belonged because they generally get involved with more

sports. Women teachers were not respected as much and seen as

lower on the hierarchy. It is difficult to promote any social change in

such an isolated community especially if you are a female teacher

that is an outsider. Teachers were worried that native teachers

would replace them.

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April 4, 2019
Native Issues
Living in the North

➢ The isolation makes relationships off the reserved very difficult, it is

expensive to travel off the reserve to see family and friends. As well

as they do not get the same ammendies that other teachers do like

drinking tap water. You are cut off from the rest of the world in

these isolated communities. The teachers were also very aware of

their race, these teachers were white and everyone else in the

community were First Nations. There is also a lot of sexism, the

women are seen as below dogs in the hierarchy and they are very

disrespected.

Teaching in the North

➢ Most of these teachers were first year teachers and wanted to

secure a job anywhere that they could. In these classes there is

also a lot of absenteeism. Another issue with these northern

communities is that they primarily speak Cree and sometimes

teacher english as a second language.

Teacher Education

➢ These teachers were overwhelmed and underprepared for these

jobs. One of the primary issues that teachers had to overcome was

classroom management in these schools.

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April 4, 2019
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It is important to have teachers that are willing to go for these challenging

experiences and test the boundaries of two different cultures and types of people.

However this article brings up some good questions for teaching in these communities.
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April 4, 2019
Native Issues
Integrating Aboriginal Perspectives

These two articles reflect on the different aboriginal cultures and how to address

their ways of knowing into teaching practices in all schools. These techniques that

promote aboriginal cultures are not only a way for the aboriginal students to feel

included but also in most cases these teaching styles are very good techniques to

implement in a classroom for all different types of learners even if they are

non-aboriginal.

Our Words,Our Ways

➢ 1. The first part of this article talks about the history and cultural aspects

of First Nations in Canada. This part is important to be aware of so that

teachers can be familiar with the roots of their students and the trauma

that they/ their family may be dealing with. Another part to this is the

Indian Act and the rights it restricted as well as how women and Metis are

treated in the westernized view. It is not only important to understand the

history but also their perspective and how they live. Teachers need to

understand First Nation’s values and ideals.

2. The second part is determining how these students learn with cultural

ties. Aboriginal students have strong ties to family, community, cultural

beliefs, and in some families they highly value preserving their native

language. These students need to be shown that education is good for

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April 4, 2019
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them and that we should value it. It is the teachers job to make these

students feel safe in our schools.

3. The next part is about the value of community learning. To integrate

these aboriginal perspectives we must acknowledge the fact that their

original learning environment is physically different then the more

westernized learning environments so if teachers made their lessons more

sensory this would help with the integration. Infusion of culture and

historical content.

4. This part is very similar to the others; talks about the family, school and

community sharing responsibility. The importance of having elders in the

classroom.

5. Learning strategies for aboriginal students. Most of these strategies

involve the greater classroom community working together to discover the

common goal of the lesson. One of the strategies is using graphic

organizers to decipher knowledge, this can be done individually but also in

groups. Another is using cooperative learning, which is working with small

groups or the collective of the class sharing their ideas and perspectives.

This is a good way to develop new ideas and create social interaction in

the classroom which is especially good for aboriginal students that may

feel like they do not belong. Next is independent study which works well

for all students because then they can look deeper into a concept that they

are interested in and they become self motivated to learn these new
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things. Then service learning is a big one for aboriginal students because

the students work as a collective to complete a common goal in the

community which is one of their values in their culture. Generally students

look at the needs of their community and then think up a way to solve that

problem and work towards that goal (this project generally takes a lot

longer than others).

6. Other chapters include how to effectively assess aboriginal students,

how to effectively teach aboriginal students with disabilities. Then at the

end of this document it also has all the terms present in the document so it

is easy to clarify and fully understand how to integrate aboriginal

perspectives into teaching practices.

➢ Indians Claim Italy by “Right of Discovery”

This document was an article in the New York Times which was a

story about how the chief of the Chippewa tribe tried to claim Italy and

people found this to be ridiculous however they then stated that

Christopher Columbus had done this to their nation and they have

suffered a lot because of this “Right of Discovery” that was a law. The

second part of this was the idea that Columbus really didn’t discover

America because there was already First Nations people living one those

lands. People are asking if these texts are even considered to be valid

since this is what the textbooks are claiming to be true. This gives different

perspectives and insights into history from a different perspective.

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April 4, 2019
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These two articles have shared the reason to why teachers need to integrate

aboriginal perspectives into our teachings, the perspectives are useful in many different

contexts but also will be somewhat mandatory when the TQS is implemented in

September. This allows teachers to branch out and share different cultures in their

teaching and acknowledge the strengths these aboriginal students have. The different

learning strategies that were covered are exactly the type of practices that we should

start integrating into our teaching.

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April 4, 2019
Native Issues
Models of Respectful Pedagogy

These two articles talk about the different ways that culture of aboriginal people

and teaching styles can be implemented into the education system. There are different

techniques that work well when teaching aboriginal students and then that makes the

material they are being taught more relevant to their lives.

Anishinaabe Pedagogy

➢ This is the first of the two articles, in this article it talks strictly about the

Anishinaabe culture and the different things that Rebecca Chartrand (the

author) has come across in her education practice that speaks to their way

of life. These techniques should then be used to integrate this pedagogy.

This article talks to how the Anishinaabe culture has become more

westernized an how to tell the difference between the two. A big topic in

this piece was the controversy over the term of “aboriginal”, because of

the fact that it is such a broad term. The term encompasses so many

different cultures and dialects so it is hard to integrate all aboriginal

perspectives and distinguish which ones you should focus on in your

teaching practice. Although there are similarities with most of these

cultures in that they have similar values, they use real-life experiences to

learn, and most learn from Elders. One example of a teaching that was

implemented but adapted westernized view was the seven teachings

model. This model was originally from the Cree an Anishinaabe culture. It
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April 4, 2019
Native Issues
is difficult to implement these teachings in the traditional way however if

teachers do implement these techniques well then it is very beneficial for

aboriginal students as well as non-aboriginal students. Rebecca also

comes across many different stories in her schooling experience. The first

of the stories talks about the four original laws of the Anishinaabe, he talks

about being on the right path in life. He also uses the idea of a medicine

wheel however in the four quadrants they are labelled; sharing/caring,

faith, honesty and kindness. These four things are the the laws of the

Anishinaabe. The second story was strictly focused on the medicine wheel

itself, and how it relates to First Nations teaching models. The four

quadrants of the original medicine wheel is mental, physical, emotional

and spiritual. These four things are the elements that make up us humans.

This model allows the learner to reflect on themselves. Then the third

story was about the clan system of the Anishinaabe culture. In this story

he talks about the seven point star that reflects the governing system and

how each part of the star contributes to make the whole community work

in harmony. Then the last story was a song that took the listener on a

journey through time and elaborates on the larger history of the

Anishinaabe people. Rebecca then goes on to talk about place-based

learning and place-consciousness which are both big elements in the

Anishinaabe culture. Place-based learning is basically learning through

your own experiences and the curriculum is based on these experiences.

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April 4, 2019
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Then place-consciousness is taking it further than place-based learning

and integrating aboriginal teaching and curriculum into the system. This as

well includes teaching and using the indigenous ways of knowing.

The Journey Begins

➢ This article by Archibald was a First Nations perspective of the First

Nations perspectives and values with teaching. There was three things

that he mentioned that reflect his cultures teaching pedagogy which was

that prayers, oral stories and dreams reflect knowledge in different ways.

The main part of this was focusing on the oral stories, which generally

involved Elders telling stories to the younger generations which lead to the

students drawing answers from the story and using it in their own lives.

One of the main types of stories he addressed in this article was the

trickster stories in which this cultures trickster is a coyote and this coyote

gets into situations and he then has to use rituals or symbolic acts to get

out of the situation. These stories has hidden meanings and the listener is

supposed to analyse and discover how it can apply to their life. He also

talks about how these stories have changed due to colonization, that they

have become more westernized which has lost a lot of the humour in the

stories as well as lost the meaning behind the story. He highlights that we

as teachers must aim to integrate these aboriginal perspectives, pedagogy

and teachings into the schools however try to the original techniques used

and void westernization of these stories.

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April 4, 2019
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These two articles give great insight into how to integrate these perspectives and

aboriginal pedagogy into the classrooms. These techniques are great for students that

are aboriginal so that their learning has more correlations to their culture but these

techniques are good for non-aboriginal students as well because they put the student at

the center of their learning. We must integrate these ideas as part of the TQS, but also

as a way to better out students learning environments.

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April 4, 2019
Native Issues
Citations:

● Alberta government (2002), First Nations, Métis and Inuit Education Policy Framework,
pg 1-42,
https://moodle.uleth.ca/201901/pluginfile.php/57221/mod_resource/content/0/first-nation
s-me%CC%81tis-and-inuit-policy-framework-2002.pdf​ or www.learning.gov.ab.ca
● Alberta government (2013), TEACHING QUALITY STANDARD APPLICABLE TO THE
PROVISION OF BASIC EDUCATION IN ALBERTA, pg 1-4,
https://moodle.uleth.ca/201901/pluginfile.php/57222/mod_resource/content/0/english-tqs
-card-2013_3.pdf​ or www.learning.gov.ab.ca
● Government of Canada, Office of the Auditor General of Canada. (2004, November 23).
Chapter 5-Indian and Northern Affairs Canada-Education Program and Post-Secondary
Student Support. Retrieved April 04, 2019, from
http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/English/parl_oag_200411_05_e_14909.html
● Alberta government (2011), Western and Northern Canadian Protocol for Collaboration
in Basic Education, pg. 1-38,
https://moodle.uleth.ca/201901/pluginfile.php/57223/mod_resource/content/0/wncptool_
%20assessing_validating.pdf
● Harper, Helen (2000), “There is no way to prepare for this”, Canadian Journal of Native
Education, pg. 1-14,
https://moodle.uleth.ca/201901/pluginfile.php/57224/mod_resource/content/0/out.pdf
● Alberta government, (2005), Our Words, Our ways teaching First Nations, Metis, and
Inuit Learners,
https://moodle.uleth.ca/201901/pluginfile.php/57225/mod_resource/content/0/our-words-
our-ways.pdf​ or ​https://education.alberta.ca​.
● Bigelow, B. and Peterson,B. Indians Claim Italy, by “Right of Discovery”, pg. 1-15,
https://moodle.uleth.ca/201901/pluginfile.php/57226/mod_resource/content/0/Bigelow%2
0%20Paterson.pdf
● Chartrand, Rebecca (2010), Anishinaabe Pedagogy: Deconstructing the Notion of
Aboriginal Education by Illuminating Local Anishinaabe Pedagogy, Urban Aboriginal
Economic Development National Network , pg. 1-23,
https://moodle.uleth.ca/201901/pluginfile.php/57227/mod_resource/content/0/Anishinaab
e%20Pedagogy.pdf​ or ​https://www.abdc.bc.ca/uaed
● Archibald, The Journey Begins, pg. 1-12,
https://moodle.uleth.ca/201901/pluginfile.php/57228/mod_resource/content/0/Archibald.p
df