Aboriginal Worldviews and Perspectives in the Classroom

There are many ways of connecting students with the land. A one-week Grad trip onto the land in
the Grade 12 year would be an easy place to incorporate Aboriginal knowledge and perspectives.
Such trips are very popular, and relationship is very different when outside the classroom. A key
element would be to instill honour and connectedness to the land. At lower grade levels, a gardening
program could provide opportunities for connection with both land and community – from growing
to preparing food. And any ecology-oriented project (e.g., stream restoration) provides further
opportunities. You do not have to go far away up a mountain.
participant, West Kelowna
Why aren’t we using our outdoors to a greater
extent? It is a good place for social, emotional,
and spiritual learning, as well as learning about
ecology, science, and mathematics. It’s grounding.
It’s a great place to teach language, place names,
survival skills. It’s engaging, reflexive and
holistic. It gives people opportunity to show their
skills and shine. What can we do to support this?
How do we work around the timetable, etc. There
needs to be an evolution of budgeting for support
so that we don’t feel limited.
participant, Tsaxis
The way our classrooms and schools
operate is often not conducive to including
Aboriginal voice. They are formal and can
be seen as institutional. Go outside and
sit around a fire. It changes the dynamic,
especially when we are dealing with
contentious issues. Many native people
don’t like coming to formal settings with
a set agenda. There needs to be time and
room to explore, let the conversation flow.
Be patient and trust to the process.
participant, Williams Lake
Aboriginal Worldviews and Perspectives in the Classroom: Moving Forward
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