Making Our Ancestors Proud: - Dr. Stirling McDowell Foundation for ...

Action ResearchData about the impact of the heritage projectwas gathered from journals that staff keptthroughout the project, reflection opportunitiesat staff meetings and planning sessions, writers’retreats for staff and parents, student writingand discussions, feedback from communityagencies, and tapes of celebrations, events andmeetings. Analysis of the data revealed fourmajor themes:1. Innovative Teaching/Experiential LearningThe children’s quest for knowledge of thepast, because of hands-on experience, hasincreased dramatically.– Parent commentBased on a curricular framework andobjectives developed for the heritage project,numerous learning activities were developedfor the school and the classroom. Theyincluded painting a mural to form a pictorialtimeline of the area’s history, making a modelof a river lot in the Isbister settlement, sewingperiod clothes for a dress-up trunk, makingbooks that told the stories of the Isbistersettlers, using the “storyline” strategy to helpstudents experience history, and workingwith a drama instructor and students fromthe Saskatchewan Urban Native TeacherEducation Program in a demonstrationproject on contextual drama. Through theproject, valuable lessons were learned aboutthe power of innovative teaching strategiesand the importance of experiential learningfor student engagement.2. Genuine Interest/Engagement in LearningI saw the students wanting to participate,even the shy ones. I saw their true emotionsshowing through as if they were really there.– SUNTEP student commentThe most important and common theme thatemerged from the project was the genuineinterest that students had in learning abouttheir heritage. Teachers, parents andcommunity members recognized that thestudents were engaged in learning, and theirengagement fed the enthusiasm for the project.3. Pride in Seeing Oneself as Part of History/Making HistoryIt was seeing pride and the unspooling of apersonal history, a connection to the pastand to ancestors and a feeling of being morethan just an isolated self.– Teacher commentAs the project continued, pride in theheritage of the community served by theschool began to blossom. Students, staff andparents expressed their pride in being Métis,Cree or a resident of Prince Albert. Theschool’s Métis and Pow Wow dancers were ingreat demand and students were invited tosing the songs they had written in theLegislative Building in Regina. Parentalinvolvement in the project grew to the extentthat it became the most significant aspect ofthe final year.4. ConnectednessI have learned that mostly everyone is familycause in some way we’re all related. Ilearned that people’s cultures are different abit from each other and it doesn’t matter thatwe’re the same culture or different.– Student commentAs the school began to display family treesthat connected students to famous ancestors,a sense of connectedness developed amongfamilies, the school and the community. Anew sense of belonging grew from a sharedhistory.Learning from Practice 5