The Heartbeat of Na’a: Documenting One School’s Blackfoot Cultural Learning Journey

Auteurs-es

  • Stephanie Bartlett University of Calgary
  • Elder Saa'kokoto (Randy Bottle) Kainai Nation
  • Cindy White Calgary Board of Education

DOI :

https://doi.org/10.25071/1916-4467.40547

Mots-clés :

curriculum, ethnography, Indigenous research, land-based learning, pedagogy, reconciliation studies

Résumé

In June 2019, students at an elementary school presented a Blackfoot/English opera and also wrote, illustrated and published Blackfoot/English books to showcase their 18-month-long Blackfoot learning journey. This collaborative story cannot be told in isolation by the researcher/designer alone. Together with the Elder who guided the work and the school principal, we will share the heart of this journey and the impact that this has had on pedagogy, school culture and relationships. Findings from this ethnographic study (Lassiter, 2005; Rappaport, 2008) within an Indigenous research paradigm (Chilisa, 2012; Donald, 2016; Wilson, 2008) highlight how wisdom and stories that are part of the land and how intentional and nurtured relationships with an Elder, with each other and with the animals led to a deeper appreciation of local place. It also created a stronger sense of engagement and belonging within the school for teachers and students. Within the conventional, privileged space of an opera, we created an open, ethical space that invited all students to thrive and participate (Ermine, 2007). Findings point to increased engagement by marginalized students in the land-based experiences, in the preparations for the opera and the book writing, and also in the opera performance itself. With video clips of the opera and samples of the books to lift our stories, this presentation aims to inspire action in the collective work of education for reconciliation. We see this journey as a gift to share with the world so that educators and leaders can create their own meaningful action across different contexts.

Bibliographies de l'auteur-e

Stephanie Bartlett, University of Calgary

Stephanie Bartlett is a PhD student in Educational Research at the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, where she is also an instructor. Emerging from her experiences in collaborative creativity and human-centred design, her research focuses on education for reconciliation, Indigenous pedagogies, poetic inquiry, and life writing.

Elder Saa'kokoto (Randy Bottle), Kainai Nation

Elder Saa’kokoto (Randy Bottle) is a Kainai Elder from the Blackfoot Confederacy. He shares his wisdom and teaching with students, teachers, and community members in the Calgary area.

Cindy White, Calgary Board of Education

Cindy White is the principal of Tuscany School. She is inspired by the teachers and students with whom she works and enjoys the challenge of creating a welcoming space where all children feel a sense of belonging and want to walk through the door to learn.

Téléchargements

Publié-e

2020-06-27

Comment citer

Bartlett, S., (Randy Bottle), E. S., & White, C. (2020). The Heartbeat of Na’a: Documenting One School’s Blackfoot Cultural Learning Journey. La Revue De l’association Canadienne Pour l’étude De Curriculum , 18(1), 5–7. https://doi.org/10.25071/1916-4467.40547

Numéro

Vol. 18 No. 1 (2020)

Rubrique

Collaborative Learning Journeys

Licence

Creative Commons License
Copyright for work published in JCACS belongs to the authors. All work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.