Reflection: My Experience In Aboriginal Education

Learning energizes me. I feel empowered gaining new knowledge, better understanding, and acquiring skills. This is something that radiates from me. My students and colleagues are aware of this. I am always talking about this workshop or that presentation; I share what I have heard about with those around me.

This past year in particular, I have immersed myself in Aboriginal Education. I have attended numerous workshops put on by the First Nations Education Steering Committee and the Surrey School District, looking at Indian Residential Schools, First Peoples Science, Authentic Resources, and First Peoples Perspectives. I have brought back resources and a wealth of knowledge to share with those around me. This fall at Erma Stephenson Elementary, I was lucky enough to be invited to present at a school based non-instructional day. I had the ability to share resources and address many fears that individuals have with bringing these big ideas and content into their classrooms.

Also connected to my passion for bringing in Indigenous ways of knowing, I brought the Aboriginal Enhancement Schools Network/Network of Inquiry and Innovation into Erma Stephenson. We have a team of about eight staff members who are part of our inquiry looking at …show more content…
I again emphasized that we were specifically looking at improving our own skills. We set goals for Volleyball, using the SMART acronym, allowing students to share where they are at now with a particular skill and where they would like to end up. We will reflect on how that experience went at the end. During activities, students could self identify with whether they felt ‘Spicy’, ‘Medium’, or ‘Mild’. We together celebrated successes for all the various groups and many students moved themselves amongst the categorization depending on the day or