Welcome to the blog I used while I was teaching grade 8 and 9. In what follows I want to help guide you towards literature and research that will help you richly explore the specific inquiry question you are taking up.
A. and R.: How can we meaningfully and respectfully take up Aboriginal perspectives in the elementary social studies classroom?
A. and Z.: In what ways can we effectively and successfully engage Aboriginal perspectives in the elementary social studies classroom?
A. and Z.: In what ways can we effectively and successfully engage Aboriginal perspectives in the elementary social studies classroom?
The person who has made the biggest contribution in this area is Dr. Dwayne Donald from the University of Alberta. You already have:
Donald, D. (2007). Aboriginal curriculum perspectives. Unpublished paper, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB.
However, you may also want to check out one of these, which I will warn you advance can be a bit of a tough go, but I will help you through them:
Donald, D. (2009a). Forts, curriculum, and Indigenous Métissage: Imagining decolonization of Aboriginal-Canadian relations in educational contexts. First Nations Perspectives: The Journal of the Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Centre,2(1), 1-24. This one can be found here.
Donald, D. (2009b). The curricular problem of Indigenousness: Colonial frontier logics,
teacher resistances, and the acknowledgment of ethical space. In J. Nahachewsky &
I. Johnston (Eds.), Beyond presentism: Re-imagining the historical, personal, and
social places of curriculum (pp. 23-39). Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense.
(I will give you this one in class).
Additionally, he has a lecture from the University of Lethbridge: "On what terms can we speak? Aboriginal-Canadian relations as a curricular and pedagogical imperative," which can be found here.
Finally, I wrote a piece that can be accessed here that should be of value:
Scott, D. (2013). Teaching multiple perspectives: An investigation into teacher practice amidst curriculum change. Canadian Social Studies, 46(1), 31-43.
As well check out:
Tupper, J., & Cappello, M. (2008). Teaching treaties as (un)usual narratives: Disrupting the curricular commonsense. Curriculum Inquiry, 38(5), 559-578.
Beyond this typing in Aboriginal as search within the LearnAlberta site will give you an additional wealth of resources. This link has a list of resources from Learn Alberta. As well I found this link to a webinar by a teacher (Mr. Henderson in Winnipeg) talking about how to teach Idle No More (although it takes a while for him to get into the topic):
There is a lot going on here. Try to pull out three big ideas that you would want to pass on to other teachers. As well, consider examples of how some of these ideas could be taken up around a topic in the elementary social studies program. I do this at the end of my piece for a grade 10 examination of globalization and sustainability where I explore the claims of the Beaver Lake Cree around resource development on their traditional lands.
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N., K., and L.: What does it mean to teach Francophone perspectives in Alberta and how can we more meaningfully engage these perspectives in the elementary social studies classroom?
Although my piece that can be accessed here mostly takes up Aboriginal perspectives, the introduction, literature review and teacher resistances to teaching Francophone perspectives will all be helpful in framing your piece.
Scott, D. (2013). Teaching multiple perspectives: An investigation into teacher practice amidst curriculum change. Canadian Social Studies, 46(1), 31-43.
The following piece specifically takes up historical perspectives of young Franco-Quebeckors that draws on 'le survivance' (survival) narrative template:
Lévesque, S., Létourneau, J., & Gani, R. (2012). Québec students’ historical consciousness of the nation. Canadian Issues/Thèmes Canadiens, 55-60. This can be accessed here.
Beyond this typing in Francophone as search within the LearnAlberta site will give you an additional wealth of resources. Specifically, this link has a whole list of resources you could draw from.
As I said above, there is a lot going on here so try to pull out three big ideas that you would want to pass on to other teachers. As well, consider examples of how some of these ideas could be taken up around a topic in the elementary social studies program. It will be important to conference with me to further explore this complex terrain.
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A., C., and M.: How can we break down the barriers between our classrooms and the greater community towards connecting students with issues in the world they live in?
This is a good question and I would return to the Susan Gibson piece for your opening as she well documents, with citations that you will want to look at, how social studies is often students least favourite subject. You may want to frame the current situation as in a state of ongoing crisis and disconnect with its core purpose.
As well, you may want to return to the piece I wrote with Laurence Abbott as this is one of the questions our piece was trying to explore.
Scott, D., & Abbot, L. (2012). Trying to make the mission statements of social studies curriculum inhabit my social studies pedagogy and vice versa. One World in Dialogue Journal, 2(1), 8-18. (This can be found on-line and you have a copy).
My mentor Kent den Heyer has also dedicated his work to this subject and an article that explores this topic can be found here.
den Heyer, K. (2005). To what questions are schools answers? And what of our courses? Animating throughline questions to promote students’ questabilities. Canadian Social Studies.
My mentor Kent den Heyer has also dedicated his work to this subject and an article that explores this topic can be found here.
den Heyer, K. (2005). To what questions are schools answers? And what of our courses? Animating throughline questions to promote students’ questabilities. Canadian Social Studies.
I also found this blog interesting: How are you Connecting your students with the world? Skype in the classroom.
In addition, as we will discuss, this is one of the explicit mandates of discipline-based inquiry as outlined by the Galileo network in their inquiry rubric. See the first set of criteria.
Examples of lessons informed by this rubric can be found on the Calgary Science School Connect blog. Some ones that I found really inspiring include:
- Building a personal connection to history project
- Exploring immigration a student perspective
- It's not about school anymore
As well, I was attempting to connect students outside the classroom in my Renaissance unit discussed here:
There is a lot to explore here so try to pull out three big ideas that you would want to pass on to other teachers. As well, consider examples of how some of these ideas could be taken up around a topic in the elementary social studies program. I look forward to conferencing with you on this topic.
_________________________________________________________________________________M., O., and B.: In what ways can we position elementary students to be democratic agents of change if they aren't legally allowed to participate in a democratic society?
This is a really good question and takes up a really important question in social studies. I think many of the articles for A., C., and M's question will be relevant to you. In particular my piece with Laurence Abbott will be helpful:
Scott, D., & Abbot, L. (2012). Trying to make the mission statements of social studies curriculum inhabit my social studies pedagogy and vice versa. One World in Dialogue Journal, 2(1), 8-18. (This can be found on-line and you have a copy).
As well, my mentor Kent den Heyer has also dedicated his work to this subject and an article that explores this topic can be found here.
Examples of lessons that seek to engage students in the democratic process can be found on the Calgary Science School Connect blog. Some ones that I found really inspiring include:
As well, I was attempting to connect students outside the classroom in my Renaissance unit discussed here:
Over all, I think the main thing you need to do is flip the grid in terms of re-defining what we mean by position students as agents of change. Voting and formal processes are only one small fraction of what this can include. Increasingly young people as outlined in the Sears article are finding new avenues for engaging in their communities. An interesting story that may provide a powerful and funny example for you includes the story of Mr. Splashy Pants as outlined in this article andthis video. Of interest many young people became engaged in this campaign which did curtail Japanese hunting of whales at least for a time.
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Z. and A.: I haven't received yours yet; please send on as soon as possible so I can support you in your inquiry due October 16th.
