I. General Information
School Name: BESS
School District: SD#91 Nechako Lakes
Inquiry Team Members: Jesse Kennedy: jkennedyburgoyne@sd91.bc.ca
Jeanette Lapre jlapre@sd91.bc.ca
Deb Koehn : dkoehn@sd91.bc.ca
Inquiry Team Contact Email: jkennedyburgoyne@sd91.bc.ca
II. Inquiry Project Information
Type of Inquiry: NOIIE Case Study
Grade Levels Addressed Through Inquiry: Primary (K-3), Intermediate (4-7), Secondary (8-12)
Curricular Areas Addressed: Applied Design, skills & Technology, Career Education, Mathematics / Numeracy, Social Studies, Other: Language / Culture
Focus Addressed: Local Indigenous Knowledges, Numeracy, Other: Hands-on
In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? Using hands-on Indigenous learning opportunities to increase student engagement in numeracy.
III. Spirals of Inquiry Details
Scanning: At the start of the school year we surveyed all of the students about their trusted adults at school and their learning. 100% of students were able to identify 2+ adults who cared about them/thought they would be successful. Many could even start to describe how they knew. Very few students could identify what they are learning about and even fewer could identify why their learning matters. Observationally, we have observed that the students at BESS are far more engaged when culture is involved and hands-on learning is involved.
Focus: We selected hands-on Indigenous numeracy for a few reasons. First, culture is the main hook at BESS. Kids are their true selves when cultural opportunities are available here. Secondly, hands-on learning is far superior for the bulk of our students. Lastly, our numeracy skills have been behind; the group has shown improvements in literacy, but their numeracy has stayed stationary.
Hunch: We felt very confident that students would be more engaged, but we were very curious about how students would see the connections between our classroom lessons and these engaging hands-on sessions. Would the curricular ties be clear?
New Professional Learning: We collaborated with each other and local knowledge keepers for some of the projects. We also consulted UBC’s Indigenous Math Resources page.
These were wonderful sources to gain ideas and move towards actions.
Taking Action: We held monthly math days where each class took on projects. For example, in December the senior class did a geometry study of our school drum sets, combining our classroom knowledge with the intricate designs of the instrument the kids use every day. The elementary classroom finished their patterning unit by beading the rhythm to one of the school songs into jewellery.
Checking: We have started to make a difference in the students’ numeracy engagement. Throughout the year we have surveyed students’ on how they felt about the hands-on projects and they were very positive. They could also start to describe the math concepts in greater detail. Overall we are still working towards stronger math skills, but view this as an improvement.
Reflections/Advice: We would advice other schools to engage with local experts and to collaborate often. We plan to continue this project next year and to weave this type of learning into more daily practice in the school.