Indigenous Education
Indigenous education is a core commitment in our work. We believe that Indigenous ways of knowing can make us all better learners and leaders.
The Aboriginal Enhancement Schools Network (AESN) was formed in 2009 “to create an inquiry community where people learn and work together to ensure that every Indigenous learner crosses the stage with dignity, purpose and options, and together we eliminate racism in schools.” For ten years, AESN operated as a branch of the Networks of Inquiry and Innovation (NOII). Today the networks are combined under the umbrella of the Networks of Inquiry and Indigenous Education (NOIIE).
Learn more at the following links:
First Peoples Principles of Learning
We are indebted to the First Nations Education Steering Committee (FNESC) for developing and promoting the First Peoples Principles of Learning. These nine principles remind leaders and learners to become more comfortable with uncertainty, more familiar with the power of story, and more connected with each other and with a sense of place.
Explore the First Peoples Principles of Learning at this blog created by Jo-Anne Chrona.
Inquiry teams should always bear in mind the importance of reaching out to the knowledge keepers in their communities, and to integrating the wisdom teachings that are rooted in their territory.
NOIIE Indigenous Transitions Study
This study explores how collaborative inquiry can help educators to improve transitions for Indigenous students—from grade to grade, school to school, and beyond school. It draws on insights from inquiry teams across British Columbia and from the coaches who were assigned to support their inquiries.
Learn more about the NOIIE Indigenous Transitions Study here
Lifting All Learners: An Impact Assessment of the Aboriginal Enhancement Schools Network (AESN), 2013
This report identifies effective practices of the network and assesses the impacts on students, teachers, principals, vice principals, and communities across British Columbia.
Read the full report here (150+ pages)
Read the executive summary here (25+ pages)
Image credit: First Nations Education Steering Committee (FNESC)
Recommended Indigenous Education Resources
A Walking Curriculum
by Gillian Judson
This resource is an innovative cross-curricular guide for K-12 educators wanting to take learning outdoors and strengthen their students’ connectedness to Place. Based on the principles of Imaginative Ecological Education, these activities encourage curiosity, support self-regulation and increase awareness of the particularities of Place.
Wayi Wah! Indigenous Pedagogies
by Jo Chrona
Grounded in the First Peoples Principles of Learning, this powerful and engaging resource is a guide for non-Indigenous educators who want to learn more about British Columbia’s education system and how to shape anti-racist and equitable education systems for all.