BONNYVILLE - The Lakeland Catholic School Division (LCSD) is continually working to expand indigenous studies throughout its schools.
During the board of trustees May 29 meeting, LCSD indigenous education coordinator Val Hanson outlined what the division has been offering and its plans for the future.
LCSD launched trials of Indigenous Ed Kits toward the end of January. The kits were available for math, science, and social studies and included activities that related back to indigenous teachings and aligned with Alberta's program of studies.
Due to the coronavirus, roughly seven teachers were able to take advantage of the kits before schools closed, but Hanson heard positive feedback from those who filled out a survey about their experience.
Students at Dr. Bernard Brosseau, Light of Christ School, and Holy Cross Elementary School participated in the Indigenous Peoples Map of Canada starting in January. The exercise utilized a large 35- by 26-foot map to assist students and teachers in understanding the past, present, and future of indigenous people within the country.
One activity with the map helped students understand how far back indigenous history goes in Canada. They stood around the outside of the map, with two pylons marking a short distance between each other.
“The distance around the map that the kids were standing on is the time the indigenous people have lived on the land, and the little space that was open is the time since European contact,” Hanson detailed. “It’s really getting to see that we tend to think our history started with the discovery of Canada, where the history of the people is really long for where we live and that we need to learn to honour that.”
LCSD originally planned to have the map in more schools, but the early closure in March postponed that.
“When we look at next year, we have to get that map up and going again and get it into the schools that didn’t get it this year and get it back into the schools that had it this year,” explained Hanson. “I know that staff at the three schools that had it last year would love to have it back and have kids on there. We’ll have to look at the landscape of what we’re allowed to do and what we’re not allowed to do when classes resume.”
Hanson said they’re also hoping to have more teachers use the Indigenous Ed Kits.
Given the current situation of the world regarding COVID-19, Hanson stressed “a huge priority for next year will be trauma-informed practice and collaborative response.”
She continued, “Some of our indigenous kids may have experienced some trauma right now being away from the school. For some of our kids, school is a safe space for them. It’s going to be attempting to help those students when we come back and support families.”
