School District 27 is one of five school districts in B.C. selected to help develop a new Ministry of Education provincial curriculum guide for First Nations students.
More than 80 representatives from School District 27 board and staff, First Nation leaders, Cariboo Regional District, Williams Lake City Council, RCMP, Ministry of Education and others participated in a conference toward that goal held at the Signal Point convention centre, Monday.
During the afternoon portion of the convention, facilitator Kaleb Child asked the group to focus on positive actions that could be implemented to improve education for First Nations and all students.
Child is the School District 85 District Principal First Nations Programs and is facilitating the five provincial conferences on behalf of the Ministry of Education.
The first conference was held in Tsaxis (Fort Rupert) on Feb. 4.
The others will be held in Burnaby, Cranbrook, and Kelowna.
He said the vision for the conferences is to further define Aboriginal perspectives and world-views in the classroom, strategize further engagement opportunities for all learners and to explore regional examples of excellence.
In addition to raising the profile of the changes coming to the BC curriculum, Child said one of the primary outcomes of the five sessions will be to produce a comprehensive teacher’s guide that will identify common themes for educational practice.
He said the publication will also build on the relationships between communities and schools to ensure teachers are well equipped to respond to the expectation of incorporating local First Nations perspectives into classrooms for all students.
He said School District 27 was chosen for participation in this review process because it has already adopted a number of innovative programs to inspire and encourage First Nation students in learning.
