Aboriginal Worldviews and Perspectives in the Classroom

Co-operative Reflection on Practice
It is hoped that this resource and the process leading up
to its creation will inspire educators to move ahead with
transformative practice in relation to Aboriginal education.
Beyond building partnerships and relations with communities
and conducting personal research, useful next steps include
bringing together colleagues (fellow educators, support workers,
administrators) at both the district and school level to ponder
collective action. Staff meetings and/or special-purpose
“mini-gatherings” might advantageously focus on round table
discussions of questions such as the following:
Possible Primary Questions
••
How does our school incorporate local Aboriginal
communities in decisions regarding school programs and
student learning activities?
••
Who from the local Aboriginal community/communities
might we want to consult or include in our planning?
••
What local resource people, places of cultural significance,
and other local First Nations resources are available to
support our school programs and student learning activities?
••
What are we doing to ensure that Aboriginal parents have a
voice in their children’s education at the classroom, school,
and district level?
••
How has my perception of my role in reconciliation changed
as a result of reading this document?
••
What are we already doing well? How do we know? What
concrete, new steps might we take?
••
What professional learning resources have we found that we
consider worth sharing with colleagues, and why?
••
Of all the specific instructional and assessment practices we
have tried, what has proven troublesome for students? What
has proven engaging?
76 Aboriginal Worldviews and Perspectives in the Classroom: Moving Forward