Vision of the Future

 How can we create a Library Learning Commons that honors Indigenous culture?

     My geographic location is important to mention when considering my Vision of the Future. I teach in School District 72 in Campbell River. Campbell River is located near the Northern part of Vancouver Island. This area has a rich history of Indigenous culture, fishing, logging, and connection with nature. Those who live here are in constant contact with the ocean, lakes, rivers, mountains, forests, and wildlife that surround us. The immense contributions by First Nations can be seen, heard, and experienced throughout Campbell River. To name a few, there are First Nations totems, carvings, art, exhibits, buildings/structures, Indigenous language signage and a radio station that shares Indigenous language. 

    In my experiences teaching over the last decade, I have found that many teachers, like myself, are enthusiastic and keen to incorporate more Indigenous content and Indigenous ways of knowing into their practice. We are kind, caring and dedicated teachers who want to make sure we do this in a culturally respectful and authentic way. Many teachers are uncertain how to teach Indigenous content and don’t want to make a mistake that could be misunderstood.

     My vision for the LLC is that it becomes a “hub” of sorts for accessing, sharing, and learning about Indigenous content and Indigenous ways of knowing for students and teachers. The LLC could be a place to connect with district Indigenous Education teachers, artists, language teachers, Elders, knowledge keepers, and community members. The LLC could connect teachers with possible field trip experiences, digital resources, artifacts, games, virtual museum tours, language experiences, talking circles, land acknowledgement, digital books, authentic literature, inquiry projects, orange shirt day resources, teaching resources and other Indigenous content learning experiences for students. The LLC would coordinate, curate, and share these resources, thus supporting teachers in their endeavors to teach Indigenous content and Indigenous ways of knowing.

Key Elements for this Vision of the Future

1)    1) Supporting Learners -The LLC would be an inclusive space for all learners, family, community members, and educators. It would aim to make everyone feel welcome, safe, and respected. It would be a space that incorporates the First Peoples Principles of Learning (FNESC, 2008) into every aspect of the library. 

-Indigenous learners would see their culture reflected in the LLC in a respectful way. This could be fostered by the presence of Indigenous language on signs in the LLC, digital recordings of Indigenous language and music, Indigenous language taught by a language teacher, art displays created by local Indigenous artists or student art inspired by local Indigenous artists, artifacts, talking circles, authentic Indigenous literature, pursuit of personal inquiry projects, and guest speakers (Elders, knowledge keepers, artists, community members).

-The physical space would be set up to allow for individual, partner and group work.

-Student choice would be incorporated into assignments, inquiry, and resource selection.

-Students and teachers would work collaboratively.

-Self-reflection and self-assessment would be encouraged, taught, and discussed.

2)     2) Supporting Teachers – The LLC would be a place teachers feel welcome and encouraged to come for resources and support. Hamilton (2011) believes “The strength and relevance of today’s school libraries lie in the relationships and sense of community that school librarians build within the school community”. Teachers would not feel pressured, judged, or overwhelmed. The TL would be available to work collaboratively and cooperatively with teachers. Staenberg and Vanneman say, “Successful collaborations are built on successful professional relationships that are built over time on trust, flexibility, creativity, understanding of best practice, knowledge of curriculum and assessment, good planning, and the willingness to share teaching, decision-making, and professional growth” (2009). Staenberg and Vanneman’s description of “successful collaborations” would be evident throughout the LLC.

3)    3) Inquiry – The TL is in an excellent position to offer opportunities to teachers and students to support their inquiry endeavors. According to the BC Teachers’ Library Association, “The new curriculum demands this too, as personally driven learning, inquiry research models and knowledge creation becomes the norm for B.C. students”. MacKenzie (2019) calls teachers “Your Inquiry Superhero” because they have many skills and access to resources to support inquiry processes. 

      -The LLC could become a place that facilitates inquiry projects into Indigenous innovations and Indigenous culture. The NOIIE website provides case studies where BC schools have incorporated inquiry. The case studies are all related to supporting Indigenous learners and embracing Indigenous culture. Case Studies 2020-2021 – Networks of Inquiry and Indigenous Education (noiie.ca)

 

The Indigenous ways of knowing outlined by Sandford et al. (2012) are an important component of my Vision of the Future. They can be viewed alongside the First Peoples Principles of Learning. Both align well with inquiry-based, student-centered learning. The Indigenous ways of knowing are as follows:

·        Learning is emergent

·        Focus on students and teacher interaction

·        Learning happens in many locations, inside and outside the school; classroom can be noisy

·        Students construct knowledge through gathering and synthesizing information

·        Students work in pairs, groups, or alone depending on the purpose of the activity

·        Assessment is used in context to promote and diagnose learning

·        Learners are guided to find their own solutions and answer their own questions

·        Students evaluate their own learning; teachers also evaluate; teaching and assessing are intertwined

·        Students have multiple opportunities for success and quiet recognition

·        Students have some choice of learning activities and topics

·        Approach is compatible with multi- and inter-disciplinary investigation (figure 1)

 I have considered these and the First Peoples Principles of learning throughout the creation of my digital artifact and this blog post.

 My digital artifact is a Padlet. It is a work in progress and is a document that I will continue to develop over time. I hope to share it with my staff and encourage them to add to it as well. It is intended to be a resource for the library and for all teachers on staff to support them in their endeavors to incorporate more Indigenous content into their teaching. My Padlet includes all the resources I have found so far that I feel are best suited to this task. There is a brief explanation with each resource. Here is the link to my Padlet https://padlet.com/macleoderintana/visionforthefuture.

I am currently a classroom teacher and constantly seek out those who will collaborate with me around incorporating more Indigenous content and Indigenous ways of knowing into my teaching and our school. My Vision of the Future emerged from my passion to find ways to better support Indigenous learners. I intend to share the Padlet I created with staff members who are interested in exploring ways to incorporate more Indigenous content and Indigenous ways of knowing into their practice. It could potentially be shared at a staff meeting with my entire staff if that is an area of staff interest. I want to be respectful of others’ interests and needs. I don’t want to add one more thing to their plate if people are already overwhelmed. I have created a screencast annotation explaining the potential uses of the resources on the Padlet so that if a teacher wants to look at it on their own time, they can do so. 

Here is a link to the screencast explaining my Padlet:

Works Cited

100.7 The Raven. (2021, 3 August). Language and culture. [website: radio station]. https://www.theraven.fm/language-and-culture/

Abbotsford School District. (n.d.). Indigenous education. Cedar | Indigenous Education (abbyschools.ca).

      BC Teacher Librarian's Association & Surrey Teacher's Association.
      (accessed :August 2, 2020). "What can collaboration with a teacher-librarian look like?':          Infographic.

Comox Valley School District. (n.d.). Indigenous education – Grades 4-7 Resources. https://indigenouseducation.comoxvalleyschools.ca/.

     First Nations [Exhibition]. (2021). Campbell River Museum, Campbell River, BC, Canada. First Nations - Campbell River Museum (crmuseum.ca)

 

First Nations Education Steering Committee. (2008). First Peoples’ Principles of Learning. Retrieved from http://www.fnesc.ca/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/PUB-LFP-POSTER-Principles-of-Learning-First-Peoples-poster-11x17.pdf

First Peoples’ Cultural Council. (2021, July 19). FirstVoices. https://www.firstvoices.com/.

Davidson, S. F., Norton, B., & Doherty, L. (n.d.). Indigenous storybooks. https://indigenousstorybooks.ca/#.

Hamilton, B. J. (2011). Creating conversations for learning: School libraries as sites of participatory cultureLinks to an external site.. School Library Monthly 27(8): 41-43.

Harris, C., & Mayer, B. (2010). Child's play. Children and Libraries: The Journal of the Association for the Library Service to Children, 8(3), 47–48. Child's Play.: EBSCOhost

Holloway, P. (1999). Cycle of the cedar. [Board Game]. School District Office Resource Center, Campbell River, BC.

MacKenzie, T. (2019). Classroom inquiry's secret weapon: The teacher librarian. Canadian School Libraries Journal, 3(1). https://journal.canadianschoollibraries.ca/classroom-inquirys-secret-weapon-the-teacher-librarian/.

NOIIE Transitions Video, 2019. Joy Factory Films Retrieved: https://noiie.ca/indigenous/

NOIIE. (2021, August 3). Case studies. Networks of Inquiry and Indigenous Education. [Website]. Case Studies 2020-2021 – Networks of Inquiry and Indigenous Education (noiie.ca)

Sandford, K., Williams, L., Hopper, T. & McGregor, C. (2012). Indigenous principles decolonizing teacher education: What we have learned.  18(2). In ineducation.ca

Staenberg, L. & Vanneman, S. (2009). A collaborative conversation Links to an external site.. School Library Monthly 26(4): 15-17.

Strong Nations. (2021, 3 August). Books published by Strong Nations publishing. [website]. Strong Nations - Indigenous and Native American Books, Aboriginal Kids Books, First Nations Kids Books, Inuit, M�tis - Building Strong Nations Together!

Virtual Museum. (2021, 3 August). U’mista Cultural Society virtual tour. https://umistapotlatch.ca/visite_virtuelle_intro-virtual_tour_intro-eng.php

Wilson, Mulidzas-Curtis. (2017). Mulidzas-Curtis Wilson: TimberWest First Nation cultural art showcase - Identity: art as life. Mulidzas-Curtis Wilson: TimberWest First Nation Cultural Art Showcase - Identity: Art as Life - YouTube.

Wilson, Mulidzas-Curtis. (2021, 3 August). First Nations Canada flag. [image]. Retrieved from https://indigenouspeoplesresources.com/products/canadian-native-flag.