School Name: Charles Hays Secondary School

School District: SD#52 Prince Rupert

Inquiry Team Members: Anna Ashley: anna.ashley@sd52.bc.ca,
Lori Burger: Lori.burger@sd52.bc.ca,
Coretta O’Brien: coretta.obrien@sd52.bc.ca,
Amber Mossini: amber.mossini@sd52.bc.ca,
Carla Rourke: Carla.rourke@sd52.bc.ca,
Raegan Sawka: raegan.sawka@sd52.bc.ca

Inquiry Team Contact Email: Carla.rourke@sd52.bc.ca

II. Inquiry Project Information

Grade Levels Addressed Through Inquiry: Secondary (8-12)

Curricular Areas Addressed: Career Education, Language Arts – Literacy, Language Arts – Oral Language, Language Arts – Reading, Language Arts – Writing, Science, Social Studies

Focus Addressed: Indigenous understandings (for example, Traditional Knowledge, oral history, reconciliation), Community-based learning, First Peoples Principles of Learning, Growth mindset, Land, Nature or Place-based learning, Social and emotional learning, Universal design for learning

In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? To use a supported cohort model to increase the transitions rate by providing a greater sense of belonging and connection.

III. Spirals of Inquiry Details

Scanning: Early in our scanning process we noticed a group of learners in their grade 9 year who expressed not feeling connected to the school community. They couldn’t name adults who believed in them, they were not attending school consistently, they were not fully engaged in their learning. The school team (administrators, Indigenous mentor, educational assistants, teachers and counsellors) flagged these students as requiring a more intentional focus into building connections to feel a sense of belonging at school and positive sense of themselves as learners. We’d recently had success of a four-year supported cohort model, so the school principal, Carla, approached the educational team of Anna, Raegan, and Coretta to consider launching a three-year cohort for grades 10-12. Central to our scanning process was; How could we build a supportive, cross-curricular experience around the First Peoples Principles of Learning?

Focus: We hoped to create an educational environment for two cohorts of learners that offered a real sense of community, support, and authentic engagement into place-based curriculum. The goal is for students to get to know each other and the educational team over three school years, focusing each year on four core academic courses needed for graduation. We envisioned this model lending itself more readily to land-based, community-based learning opportunities. The team could better understand learner strengths, interests, and needs in order to design universal supports so each individual can reach their full potential. With the multi-year model we could also provide continuous learning, taking into account the patience and time many students need at this point in their education.

Hunch: We wondered at the reasons why these students were finding less success and connection in grade 9. Of course, the pandemic was a factor, but that didn’t account for everything. We had a hunch that while this group had various needs/interests that one thing they missed was connection. The duration of each course at the secondary level can be a limiting factor to relationship building and creates constraints on field trips and community involvement. Our hunch was by providing more time to get to know our learners across the grades and through multiple courses, that we could better understand what they needed from their educational team. We could go deeper into project-based, cross-curricular learning that met their interests.

New Professional Learning:
– Each member of the team found professional conversations and the sharing of our knowledge and expertise immensely helpful. The two teachers, Indigenous mentor, and educational assistant have a collective 100 years of educational experience. We have
backgrounds in Indigenous education, FPPoL, inclusive education, English, and science.
– Together we attended workshops, resource development committees, read literature from Indigenous authors, and even hosted our own workshops for colleagues on what we were learning from the inquiry project.

Taking Action:
– The school team built the supported cohort, two classes of 20-25 grade 10 learners. Each class worked with two team members in the morning (Teacher/Indigenous mentor), (Teacher/EA) and switched groups for the afternoon. Our school is on a quarter system with two classes a day. Each team member brings a variety of strengths and perspectives. Coretta, is an Indigenous mentor at the school, who has responsibility for connecting with students beyond our cohort model. She brings a wealth of experience and expertise in making connection. Her role is to specifically address equity gaps tied to graduation. Amber, is an educational assistant, who also works with students in courses outside of the cohort. Her role comes from the learning services
department, but her support is offered universally.
– The team regularly co-planned projects and field trip experiences. The cohorts came together for activities at least once a week. Each member of the educational team had their unique relationships with the learners. We communicated seamlessly if concerns came up as each of us had a piece of the puzzle and perspective on what was happening for learners. The learning activities were all designed with universal supports in mind.
– We ensured each learner had an entry point and access to the tools they needed to engage with the curricular content and explore their interests within it. Students help portfolios of learning and we provide formative assessment. Communicating student learning with parents/families was regular and seamless. At the end of the year not every student passed all four courses, but because they are moving to grade 11 with the same teachers that curriculum can be addressed.

Checking:
– We had some base-line data of student attendance and performance from the previous school year and during the courses they were not in the cohort from this school year. We had anecdotal data from learning services teachers, parents, and counsellors. Our learners provided insights through multiple points of data collection (questionnaires, writing reflections, and using the four questions) on how they felt the supported cohort worked for them.
– We were incredibly pleased with the outcomes of the first year of the inquiry. Learners all reported they had multiple adults that believed in them, they could go to for help, and encouraged them. Many reported feeling more success this year than in the past several years of school. They felt expectations were high, but they wanted to meet them because they knew the adults were counting on them to be there. Parents/families reported an enthusiasm in their child they hadn’t seen for a while. Their child would come home talking about what they were learning, how they were achieving in school, and seemed genuinely excited about school. It was no longer a fight to get them to attend. The parents expressed wanting to see more cohort models like this. Students were keen to ensure they were enrolled for the following years. The counsellors and LSTs checked in with them individually to see that they wished to continue. They did and more students enrolled because they felt it would be a good fit for them.

Reflections/Advice:
– We are planning to continue with this model at CHSS. There have been school-wide conversations about planning further cohorts as this team moves to grade 11.
– The key advice we have is to allow teacher/EA teams to opt in if they are genuinely interested and feel they have a compatible educational philosophy. This particular team really works well together. They are fast and efficient in planning and communications. They have a shared vision for their work together and are deeply respectful of each other’s opinions. There is a trust to raise any issue and constructive advice is valued. It is a true learning-working collaborative team.

School Name: Shuswap Middle School

School District: SD#83 North Okanagan-Shuswap

Inquiry Team Members: Theresa Johnson tjohnson@sd83.bc.ca
Kaeli Hawrys khawrys@sd83.bc.ca
Mishel Quaal mquaal@sd83.bc.ca

Inquiry Team Contact Email: tjohnson@sd83.bc.ca

II. Inquiry Project Information

Grade Levels Addressed Through Inquiry: Intermediate (4-7)

Curricular Areas Addressed: Physical & Health Education

Focus Addressed: Indigenous understandings (for example, Traditional Knowledge, oral history, reconciliation), Community-based learning, Core competencies (for example, critical thinking, communication, problem solving), Experiential learning, Flexible learning, Inquiry-based learning, Land, Nature or Place-based learning, Social and emotional learning, Transitions

In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? To build social, emotional and cultural connections for priority students in Grade 6 to foster a sense of belonging and community within the school.

III. Spirals of Inquiry Details

Scanning: We had discussions/check-ins with students during their first few months at middle school. We noticed a need to increase social and emotional connections for these students. We considered the first people’s principles of learning through experience to build these relationships. We included support staff of certain students to participate in these activities to encourage learning in the process and when the students return to their classes.

Focus: We noticed that many of our past Indigenous students took a few years in some cases to feel a sense of belonging at school. We thought if we were able to offer social, outdoor/cultural and artistic experiences with their peers this could potentially foster a greater sense of belonging. We were hoping to encourage strong friendships and dependable relationships with staff members that are a daily part of their school life.

Hunch: Learning through experiences and doing activities promotes a stronger connection with the world around you. This is an Indigenous principle of learning. We wanted to explore the idea that our students would build better relationships with staff, one another and connections to the school through these activities. We thought if we focused on a smaller number of kids who needed priority attention, this program could offer them these opportunities.

New Professional Learning: We collaborated with outside agencies in the community: inclusive arts, local hiking trails and significant geographical locations, and businesses that support physical literacy. We referenced the Spiral of Inquiry handbook regularly to stay on track and checked in as a team to debrief after each day out.

Taking Action: We provided feedback to classroom teachers about the day, and they followed-up with students to check-in. This encouraged additional connections. We wanted to include support staff in our activities to build the relationships between our students and the people they work with every day. Prior to each activity, students met in the Indigenous room for a snack and we provided them with a space and time to connect with each other. We mixed up the groups when we transported them to introduce them to other school mates and familiarize everyone with one another in a safe space.

Checking: We noticed that once these series of activities were complete, students checked in with us on a very regular basis and voluntarily. They accessed our programs and resources on a more regular basis. They were also easily engaging with one another because they had made new friends and were familiar with one another and this space.

In a group sharing circle, students shared how much they enjoyed hanging out with us and each other, and how much fun they had during our activities. We even had other students seek us out to see if they could participate in the next one.

Reflections/Advice: We learned that small groups often foster stronger connections. We would like to continue offering these focused groups to our more priority Indigenous students. Our advice is to collaborate! There are many local businesses, resources, and staff willing to think outside the box and offer options to students in need. Just start the student list and schedule a few activities and revise along the way:)

School Name: Burnaby North

School District: SD#41 Burnaby

Inquiry Team Members: Maria Nikolidakis maria.nikolidakis@burnabyschools.ca
Katie Coughlin katie.coughlin@burnabyschools.ca

Inquiry Team Contact Email: maria.nikolidakis@burnabyschools.ca

II. Inquiry Project Information

Grade Levels Addressed Through Inquiry: Secondary (8-12)

Curricular Areas Addressed: Language Arts – Oral Language, Language Arts – Writing, Science, Social Studies

Focus Addressed: Indigenous understandings (for example, Traditional Knowledge, oral history, reconciliation), Core competencies (for example, critical thinking, communication, problem solving), First Peoples Principles of Learning

In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? Cross curricular learning that centers Indigenous land based pedagogy.

III. Spirals of Inquiry Details

Scanning: We mostly relied on the principles of learning and learner responses to design our year. Both through casual conversations in our Indigenous Room and through formal discussions with students, we were able to identify common threads. Our Indigenous students are diverse and have many needs and desires in their learning. Some feel connected to school curriculum, others do not care at all. One thread that consistently came up, however, was a desire to learn more about their culture and connect to the land. They also named goals in university – attending post secondary and studying sciences, humanities, and social-sciences was a major thread in ‘where they are going.’ In collaboration with a Biology 12 class and English 12 class, we designed a cross curricular experience that brought together scientific inquiry, self-reflection, and connectedness to the land. It demonstrated to students that learning does not need to be a silo – we can expand our learning in a multi-literate approach.

Focus: Our focus on a cross-curricular land-based program was a clear choice after reviewing student needs and desires. After 2 years of COVID, they were desperate for a feeling of community and connectedness, but also wanted to maintain an academic focus. This activity allowed us to incorporate core-competencies and curricular competencies while centering First People’s Principles of Learning.

Hunch: First, COVID was, and to many extents still is, the core of what is impacting students in our school. They lost connection and community for over 2 years, resulting in very little buy-in, motivation, and desire to connect to academic life. Despite this, many of our learners still have goals of attending university and taking academic courses like Physics and Biology. COVID also impacted their sense of community in schools and connection to other learners.

Second, there is always a desire for more Indigenous content for Indigenous students. Teachers are trying, and curriculum is attempting to catch up with the needs of students, but Indigenous students want more than just curriculum. They consistently want Indigenous culture tied into their learning.

New Professional Learning: We explored cross curricular learning – learning that incorporated both curricular competencies and core competencies for science, language arts, and Indigenous ways of knowing.

Collaboration time was the most helpful – teachers needed to meet and brainstorm in order to offer students a comprehensive, fun, and engaging experience.

Taking Action: We wanted to focus on being on the land and having fun. We knew that students hadn’t had a chance to go on a field trip in a long time due to COVID, so knew that a land-based experience would be an amazing trip.

We then wanted to collaborate on curriculum – we wanted to demonstrate to students and learning is embedded in everything we do. We went through Biology 11 and 12 competencies and English 10-12 competencies and identified big questions and common themes. Based on these themes, we planned activities that would occur on the land and that would engage the curiosity and reflection of students. This included exploring the shoreline, using all of their senses to ask questions about sea-life, noticing the landscape and how it might have changed since colonization, etc.

As a cross curricular team, we met many times leading up to our days on the land. All of the participating teachers designed their units prior to the day to tie into learning that would occur. For example, in Biology, they were learning about tidal zones and the impact of industry on shell fish.

Checking: This was hopefully one of many cross curricular experiences that we can offer students. It was very successful – we had students fully engaged in the activities, curious and excited to be exploring the land around them and asking questions, reflecting on where they are today and the history of the land they are on. Is it enough, no. Students need activities like this much more than what we can currently offer. However, it did noticeably build community among our students.

Reflections/Advice: We learned that kids really just want to connect and have fun together. We are still learning the extent to which COVID has affected our Indigenous students, but I know that it is much more than what we are seeing on the surface. We also learned that students are capable and wanting Indigenous ways of knowing to be incorporated in a seamless way, not a tokenizing way, into their learning.

School Name: Montecito Elementary

School District: SD#41 Burnaby

Inquiry Team Members: Jessica Vaughan: jessica.vaughan@burnabyschools.ca
Alex Peters: alexandra.peters@burnabyschools.ca
Leslie-Jo Field: leslie-jo.field@burnabyschools.ca

Inquiry Team Contact Email: jessica.vaughan@burnabyschools.ca

II. Inquiry Project Information

Type of Inquiry: NOIIE

Grade Levels Addressed Through Inquiry: Primary (K-3), Intermediate (4-7)

Curricular Areas Addressed: Language Arts – Reading, Language Arts – Writing

Focus Addressed: Indigenous understandings (for example, Traditional Knowledge, oral history, reconciliation), Core competencies (for example, critical thinking, communication, problem solving)

In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? On building students’ understanding of Indigenous worldviews, specifically related to the role of oral language in traditional Indigenous ways of learning.

III. Spirals of Inquiry Details

Scanning: We noticed that our Indigenous students who were also struggling with language arts activities in the classroom were not engaging in oral opportunities to increase their understanding during literature circle meetings. The body language of these students indicated that they were uninterested and/or felt defeated by the structures in place during literature circle meetings. We wanted to honour the BCTF “Indigenous ways of knowing and being” that important teachings emerge through stories.

Focus: We focused on building students’ understanding of Indigenous worldviews specifically related to the role of oral language in traditional Indigenous ways of learning. We wanted to increase our Indigenous students’ belief in themselves that they could participate in literature circle meetings in meaningful ways. We were hopeful this increase in self-belief would lead to an increase in participation during literature circle meetings.

Hunch: The structure most commonly used during literature circle meetings in our intermediate classrooms assumed that all students had read the assigned section of the novel and that they had made connections to the story. This put any student who had not completed the reading assignment at a disadvantage which led them to withdraw from conversations about the themes in the book.

New Professional Learning: We enrolled in an inquiry based workshop series called “Changing Results for Indigenous Learners” through the Burnaby School District. Through this workshop we focused on literacy interventions for all students in our classrooms. We focused on strategies for ensuring struggling learners received multiple opportunities to engage as a group prior to being asked to demonstrate their learning.

Taking Action: The strategies that were used during literature circle time were effective in increasing participation for our Indigenous students. Specifically, using half of the time during the meetings to discuss aspects of the next section of the book increased participation. By activating prior knowledge and discussing possible connections when predicting and hinting at the content in the next few chapters, students’ willingness to participate in discussion and share their thoughts increased.

Checking: The differences we noticed in the students were satisfactory. Most students were not participating in conversations at all (and in some cases, not attending to those conversations). We tallied the number of contributions each student made during literature circle meetings and noted their overall level of attention to the conversations. We found that in small group literature circle meetings, their participation increased (from zero to two or three contributions each meeting).

Reflections/Advice: We learned that it is important to offer opportunity for students to engage orally with the materials they are using in class, especially when front loading students. This strategy worked well for all students in the class.

School Name: Arden Elementary

School District: SD#71 Comox Valley

Inquiry Team Members: Katie.arsenault@sd71.bc.ca, jacquie.anderson@sd71.bc.ca, krista.manson@sd71.bc.ca,
Nicholas.Glomb@sd71.bc.ca (student teacher)

Inquiry Team Contact Email: Katie.arsenault@sd71.bc.ca

II. Inquiry Project Information

Type of Inquiry: NOIIE

Grade Levels Addressed Through Inquiry: Primary (K-3)

Curricular Areas Addressed: Language Arts – Oral Language, Language Arts – Writing

Focus Addressed: Community-based learning, Core competencies (for example, critical thinking, communication, problem solving), Differentiated instruction, Experiential learning, Flexible learning, Inclusion and inclusive instructional strategies, Inquiry-based learning, Self-regulation, Social and emotional learning

In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? To connect students socially and build community, while developing literacy skills through story workshop and writers workshop.

III. Spirals of Inquiry Details

Scanning: We wondered what was going on for our learners? Through observation at story reading time, classroom discussions and book making sessions, students have challenges encouraging one another, actively listening to others share determining parts of a story, and perspective taking. Students were hesitant to share ideas and more hesitant to write.

Focus: We noticed that we needed to build the scaffold for learning with community building, connecting socially, oral language, and perspective taking. We wondered if students we currently work with are socially impacted by Covid-19. Would providing a rich oral language environment and opportunity to socially interact through play and story workshop improve students’ social interactions as well as literacy skills in oracy, reading and writing?

Hunch: Our hunch was that students were limited in socially interacting with others in school and outside of home, that active communication needed to be explicitly modeled for our learners. We wondered if providing an environment created for children to play, build stories together, and communicate with one another would improve relationships, confidence and literacy skills
both orally and with written work. Students were exposed to technology for long periods of time and hesitant to interact in person with others. We thought students would benefit greatly from increased focus and social interactions. Students who currently felt disengaged would find connection through playful learning, while also building literacy and communication skills.

New Professional Learning: We used Story Workshop and the Story Grammar Marker program. Neither of these programs I had used before. We also explored creating stories with the use of loose parts. I enrolled in district professional development sessions about Story Workshop, that took place over a longer period of time. Our Speech and Language pathologist was involved and introduced Story Grammar Marker to our class. Our Early Learning teacher itinerant supported story workshop through 6 sessions of in-class support. It was an opportunity to try something new with support and enthusiasm for both the students and our team.

Taking Action: We decided to start in November. First, as a team, we researched what kind of loose parts were suggested to use. We then created 7 trays to encourage small groups to work together and support one another. We needed to explicitly teach how to manage and take care of our loose parts, and what to do with them. We had our early learning itinerant come visit and model what story workshop with loose parts looked like. The kids were very engaged in listening to the story that was introduced. It was an oral story about a bird in a tree with her nest, and her dogs reaction was represented with loose parts. The kids listened to the story intently and then were encouraged to think of story that they might like to create. I noticed that many came up with their own stories; some students with more delayed language development copied the story, but created a story using different loose parts. Students were able to use a similar story and make it their own.

Each week in place of our usual Response to Instruction/Intervention instruction time, we set aside a non-negotiable time to work on story workshop and build community within our classroom. For the first two weeks we continued to model a story and then have students create a story on their own using loose parts.

In the third week, we introduced the Story Grammar Marker program so that parts of the story could be developed more thoroughly in their story workshop creations. Along with the program, there is a visual braid that breaks a story into parts using visual pieces as visual reminders. Kids were working together in groups of 4 at each loose parts tray. Students would create a story and then share their story with other tray partners. Students referred to the visual while creating their stories.

In week four, we reviewed what are all parts of the story as reviewed by Story Grammar Marker. This week we gave each student a mini braid to check if their partner had all the components of a story. The children were encouraged to work with a partner to tell their story to. Each child would take turns creating and then telling their story. The mini braid was used as a visual checker, and each child loved having the opportunity to check that each story part was covered.

It was at this point where students were starting to confidently share their stories with others. We invited other adults to listen to stories of children. We then had our Indigenous school elder join our group and listen to the stories of the children. Momentum of excitement was growing. One student asked if we could invite the principal to listen to stories too. We asked big buddies to listen to stories, as well as older students in upper elementary, too. They were excited to share their stories with other students and also with adults.

In week five, we worked on creating and telling our stories, but this time we had an 11×17 sheet of paper divided into four parts, to offer to those who wanted to draw their story down. Most students chose to draw the story they created. We took pictures of each story sheet, and throughout the following week we had students who were comfortable sharing their story with the class. A space was created to take risks, make mistakes, and try again.

Our session with our early learning itinerant was only for six weeks, but we had the skills and the excitement to continue. Every Friday we had a 1 hour and 15 minute block set aside for story workshop. The students requested that we offer loose parts as part of our discovery centres. I would often see students choose to work on story workshop, and then story writing, during centre time. As the year progressed we brought in our knowledge of letters and sounds and began to develop written stories. I would give students a choice – they could create their story and then represent in a variety of ways. The students started creating books. We would place them in duotangs and kids would enjoy the pictures and stories created. We used our Heggerty understanding to help with word development.

Checking: At first we started our session with about 45 mins. We gradually increased our time for story workshop creation to 1:15. I was surprised they could attend to a task and be cooperative for such a stretch of time. All the students were engaged in the process. I noticed with two particular students that story workshop was so impactful for. One student showed incredible artistic talent; his creativity evolved and was made obvious when they had loose parts to work with. They discovered their love of art from story workshop loose parts play. Another student who has regulation challenges was able to attend to a task for an extended period of time. They shared orally, using loose parts, on paper with a graphic organizer, or using book making. This process of sharing provided more people who took interest in them. When asked at the end of the year, in our end of the year interview, students felt connected not only to myself but to a variety of adults and kids within our school community. They would often list two to four people in our school who cared about them. Students were able to explain to others what we were learning and why. Students were able to provide constructive feedback about story writing and were often thinking what will be my next step (or story).

Reflections/Advice: I was impressed at the learning that developed! The students created relationships, used playful learning, and improved their communication and literacy skills. I think the freedom to choose what loose parts, how to create, and having a visual reminder about parts of a story made a huge difference for our learners. Having structure within a flexible learning environment allowed for success with all abilities in my classroom. All seemed engaged and excited to be creative. I am excited to implement this with my next class and see where their learning takes us.

School Name: Hugh Boyd Secondary

School District: SD#38 Richmond

Inquiry Team Members: Jane Leung: jleung@sd38.bc.ca, Leanne McColl: lmccoll@sd38.bc.ca, Michelle Korber: mkorber@sd38.bc.ca

Inquiry Team Contact Email: jleung@sd38.bc.ca

II. Inquiry Project Information

Type of Inquiry: NOIIE

Grade Levels Addressed Through Inquiry: Secondary (8-12)

Curricular Areas Addressed: Language Arts – Literacy, Social Studies

Focus Addressed: Differentiated instruction, First Peoples Principles of Learning, Flexible learning

In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? Our focus was to encourage students of all reading levels and backgrounds to read authentic texts with diverse perspectives.

III. Spirals of Inquiry Details

Scanning: We wanted to instill confidence in all students, of all abilities, that they could participate successfully in the activity to read diverse books. We wanted students to know that there would be many adults – classroom teachers, the Teacher-Librarian, Education Assistants, Resource teachers, etc. – who believe they could be successful. We also were very explicit with why we wanted them to read books from diverse perspectives -to be open minded, to value diverse experiences and stories, and to learn from those stories. We were able to see how students were doing in their learning with the feedback they gave us with each book read, and what they were reading and learning. We noticed that our learners were reading new books on different and diverse perspectives that they had not learned before, through their feedback. We also noticed that students of all abilities participated -students with special needs, ELL Learners, Honours students – everyone. We used the OECD principles of learning to guide the development of our actions – that students are at the centre and get to choose what and how they learn, that students’ individual differences and learning styles were recognized when any genre and type of print counted, and all students were challenged in their abilities according to their own level. The First Peoples Principles of Learning guided our activities throughout, as the length of our activity incorporated the principles that learning involves patience and time, the exploration of diverse perspectives requires an exploration of one’s identity, learning is embedded in memory, history, and story, and learning is holistic, reflexive, reflective, experiential, and relational.

Focus: We focused on Differentiated Instruction because we have a very diverse population with different cultural backgrounds, and different reading abilities. We wanted to focus on the First Peoples Principles of Learning because we had so many resources, texts, and books with Indigenous perspectives that we wanted to get into the hands of students. We wanted learning to be flexible – they could choose their own books to read, they could read in class or on their own, they could choose whatever text that was of interest to them. We were hoping that they, 1) would read books from different perspectives they had not read before, 2) they obtain ownership over their own reading and learning, and 3) they gain new knowledge from Indigenous and other BIPOC perspectives.

Hunch: Our English bookrooms are still filled with books from a European perspective. Students were not necessarily encouraged to read for pleasure or read books with diverse perspectives. I was concerned that despite our district’s diversity audit and focus on equity, diversity, and inclusion, it wasn’t actually translating into what was happening in schools, and what teachers and students valued. I knew this because I can see the circulation numbers at the library, and the diverse books that had increased in quantity were still not circulated well by staff or students. I felt the lack of awareness and knowledge was contributing to the dismal circulation of diverse books.

New Professional Learning: Being on the ProD committee at our school, I encouraged school proD sessions with our Indigenous Education consultant focusing on the First Peoples Principles of Learning. I attended many district ProD sessions focusing on diversity and Indigenous Education. I also joined a monthly book club on Anti Racism, reading Me and White Supremacy, as well as the Indigenous Book Club, reading Lee Maracle’s Conversations with Canadians. I found the Indigenous Book Club was the most helpful in terms of getting ideas from like-minded colleagues from around the district, led by our Indigenous Education Teacher Consultant. It made us feel engaged and ready to take on the work. We put in the parameters of why were were running a Diversity Book Challenge, and linked it back to our ProD learning on how to put what we learned into practice.

Taking Action:
1. We started with ProD – the staff started the year at the UBC Museum of Anthropology to learn about Indigenous history in the local context and the First Peoples Principles of Learning. We continued the learning in subsequent ProD days throughout the year.

2. We debriefed some data as a team – diverse titles added to the library collection, the titles in bookrooms, our district diversity audit results of school secondary as a whole and our numbers as a school, and the circulation numbers of newly added titles. We decided that as a district and as a school, it was important to encourage students and teachers to value reading diverse titles to foster community and empathy by reading different stories.

3. We came up with ideas on how to promote diverse titles. We knew we wanted as many students as we could to participate, so we decided that we would run a school wide reading contest of diverse titles and authors over the course of most of the school year. We had to decide what counted as a diverse title, and what kind of book. We decided that students could read anything – novels, nonfiction, memoirs, graphic novels, etc. Any format counted. We also stayed within the parameters of our diversity audit, and that we would only count titles that were “authentic” texts – the author was of the same background as the protagonists. We included different cultures, religions, sexual identities, and different markers that were included in our audit.

4. We labelled all the books in the library that were authentic texts of diverse authors. We created contest parameters – prizes for most books read with their Block C classes, the first and second semester deadlines, and created marketing materials like posters and flyers. We created a ballot that students could fill out which included a personal reflection on what they learned and why they liked the book or not.

5. We let staff know at staff meetings well before the contest started, so everyone knew why and how we were running the contest. We put in announcements, put up posters, advertised on the school and library websites and parent newsletters, and we booked in the classes to explain the contest for the teachers.

6. We ended up splitting up two pizza parties for the winning class, as some classes had almost 30 students and some classes had a few number of students but the majority participated. So we had a class party for classes under 15 students who read the most diverse titles and one for classes over 15 students. We also added up the top 3 winners for most books read by individual students.

7. We tried to keep up the momentum in both semesters by enlisting the help of student council members posting on their social media.

Checking: We had over 300 ballots and significantly higher circulation of Indigenous and BIPOC titles. I was satisfied because books that previously had not been taken out by students before were taken out multiple times. We had entire classes do the reading contest as a class activity and incorporated it into their curricular learning. Reading student thoughts about the books were heartwarming and insightful. Even the students who didn’t like certain books had interesting and valid reasons. We had resource teachers taking their classes into the library to take out books that were at each students’ reading level, and one of the classes were ecstatic to win a pizza party in the second term. Their resource teacher and EA’s mentioned how welcoming the contest rules were for all students.

Reflections/Advice: I would say – get started with the ProD. Without the ProD based on Indigenous Ways of Knowing and Learning, we might have had less of a buy in from teachers. Get the teachers on board first, and show them how they can incorporate diverse perspectives into their classroom teaching. It helps to conduct an audit of your library beforehand. While we labelled all books in our library, if it takes too long for a school librarian to do that, they can focus on one section of the collection first (i.e. graphic novels, or non-fiction, or fiction novels, etc.) so it is not so daunting. I learned that once word gets out that there are books that represent their own identities, they will read. I also realized that I have to keep pushing, that change can be hard, a little tiring, and can feel a little lonely, but the rewards of seeing students reading previous unchecked books and reflecting on their learning was incredible.

As for what is next – I plan to approach classroom teachers to use the books in their classrooms on a regular basis, work with them on how to incorporate Indigenous and diverse perspectives into all their courses, and continue with the book challenge every other year to keep things fresh. I also plan to keep track of my purchasing of diverse books using an Excel spreadsheet, so I am aware of which perspectives I am buying the most, and keeping a balance.

School Name: Southlands

School District: SD#39 Vancouver

Inquiry Team Members: Margaret Paxton mpaxton@vsb.bc.ca
Joanna Wood jmwood@vsb.bc.ca
Alexandra De Montigny ademontigny@vsb.bc.ca
Wendy Phung wphung@vsb.bc.ca

Inquiry Team Contact Email: mpaxton@vsb.bc.ca

II. Inquiry Project Information

Type of Inquiry: NOIIE

Grade Levels Addressed Through Inquiry: Primary (K-3), Intermediate (4-7)

Curricular Areas Addressed: Not applicable

Focus Addressed: Indigenous understandings (for example, Traditional Knowledge, oral history, reconciliation), Core competencies (for example, critical thinking, communication, problem solving), First Peoples Principles of Learning, Indigenous pedagogy, Social and emotional learning

In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? Our focus shifted from trying to bring in Indigenous language and culture to how to help our students feel more welcome and comfortable at school. How can we make school a more hospitable place for Indigenous (and all) students?

III. Spirals of Inquiry Details

Scanning: Our scanning told us that our students enjoyed being part of experiences that reflect their culture. Our scanning also told us that some Indigenous students (typically intermediates) did not feel connected to staff members, including teachers.

Focus: As it became challenging to always seek support/cultural experiences/speakers from outside the school, we asked ourselves what can we do, what do we have within us? Mid-year, we shifted the focus to be on relationships with individuals, to build trust and comfortability. We used the 2 x 10 strategy, empathy interviews, tea with the teachers, beading club, and pizza with the principal, for some examples, as ways to build relationships and increase the sense of belonging.

Hunch: Our hunch was that if students truly felt seen and cared for, that they would feel more comfortable at school and more able to take risks in their learning. We saw that when learning became more challenging, students shut down and did not have the confidence to persevere. We thought that if they felt more safe and supported, they could take more risks.

New Professional Learning: We attended the meetings of the VSB NOIIE teams and learned from each other. We read books such as The Listening Leader by Shane Safir. We accessed the staff of the Indigenous Department at VSB and learned about making drums and drumming protocols. We also attended the Indigenous Allies and Leads meetings to learn more about resources, opportunities and initiatives.

Taking Action:

• Small group “Tea with the Teacher”, in 2 classes weekly
• “Pizza with the Principal”, several times during the school year
• Empathy Interviews with 2 – 3 students/intermediate class
• 2 x 10 (2 minute conversation with a student 10 days in an row) with 1 – 2 students/class
• We learned the names of students’ pets
• We made phone calls and arranged face to face meetings with parents/guardians
• We submitted a Southlands Student Profile and photograph to the Musqueam Newsletter every other week
• In two classes we had weekly lessons on Mindfulness, Brain Science, the Science of Stress, Happy Hormones and How to Hack Them, circle games and community building activities
• In one class we had daily lessons in Self-Regulation (Shanker) and Emotional Literacy

Picture Description: Musqueam Strong (left), Kindness Matters Most (middle), Students with Musqueam Flag (right)

Checking: When we spoke about certain individual students, we noted increased eye contact with adults, smiles, verbal greetings reciprocated, sharing about home and family, and some improvement in academic engagement.

Reflections/Advice: We felt that the “lens to mirror” pivot made sense for our school: Looking to what we had control of and what capacities we had already, rather than looking for experts from outside the school to come in and educate us. We will continue this work, one student at a time.

In 2022 – 2023 we will read about and practice the other pivots as described by Shawn Ginwright: transactional to transformational relationships, problem fixing to possibility seeking, and hustle to flow.

School Name: Cedar Elementary School

School District: SD#68 Nanaimo-Ladysmith

Inquiry Team Members: Katie Loos: kloos01@sd68.bc.ca, Joanne Allair: joanne.allair@sd68.bc.ca, Aimee Blow: aimeeblow@sd68.bc.ca, Marisol Chatton: Marisol.Chatton@sd68.bc.ca

Inquiry Team Contact Email: kloos01@sd68.bc.ca

II. Inquiry Project Information

Type of Inquiry: NOIIE

Grade Levels Addressed Through Inquiry: Primary (K-3)

Curricular Areas Addressed: Applied Design, skills & Technology, Arts Education, Language Arts – Oral Language

Focus Addressed: Community-based learning, Core competencies (for example, critical thinking, communication, problem solving), Experiential learning, Inclusion and inclusive instructional strategies

In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? How can we link children’s play to the curriculum and discover how to communicate these links to a variety of members in our school community.

III. Spirals of Inquiry Details

Scanning: Throughout the beginning of the school year, there were a variety of members of our school community questioning the how’s and why’s of the play-based and outdoor focus of our early primary classes. We began scanning more deeply into these questions and discovered the need for more knowledge in our community, but also a desire from each of us to more deeply and transparently connect our student’s play with the curriculum.

We used the second and third of the four key questions, specifically, as reflective prompts for ourselves as educators. We recognize that our comfort and curricular knowledge directly relates to the learning of the students. In a play-based context, we need to be able to see and name the learning that is happening – for ourselves, for students, for our school community, and to communicate this to families.

To see ‘what is going on for our learners’ we engaged in a ‘pedagogy of listening’ (BC ELF). Through our listening we noticed that our students are most successful and joyful in social relationships, curiosity, problem-solving, focus & engagement while they are in free play – they are thriving in play and extending their thinking. These observations were important to our team as we all agreed on the importance of play and our desire to share this information with our communities.

Focus: As a group of educators who are passionate about play-based and outdoor learning, we wanted to share our experiences and knowledge with other members of our school community. This community includes staff, students, and families. We perceive that play-based learning is not well understood, and would like to explore how play and the learning in play can be communicated and valued by others outside of our classrooms.

We are hoping to improve our understanding of the benefits of play for our students, so we can provide our students with motivating, enjoyable and powerful learning experiences. We want to provide open-ended play experiences that build confidence and allow students to grow an understanding of concepts at a level appropriate for them, including considerations of their prior knowledge.

Hunch: Our hunch is that as early primary educators, we have been working somewhat in isolation the last few years. During this time, our early primary team has been moving more deeply into play-based outdoor learning, but we haven’t effectively shared our knowledge with our school community. We tend to stick with our own age groups for school activities, and while navigating through Covid-19 our school communities have been distanced.

New Professional Learning: We frequently referred to the BC Early Learning Framework, Play Today Handbook, the works of Gordon Neufeld, the Innovative Learning Environments Project (https://www.oecd.org/education/ceri/50300814.pdf), and our BC Curriculum documents.

Taking Action: Our team chose several different methods to share our actions. Each staff member diligently shared photos and play experiences through FreshGrade. We ensured that many of our FreshGrade posts included pedagogical narration (stories) from teacher observations. These comments also would include reference to a curricular area.

As a team, we chose to complete several Ongoing Communications of Student Learning that were based on students’ play experiences. This allowed us to show families a connection between play and curriculum.

In partnership with our student leadership team and several other staff members, we hosted a whole school art show. The art exhibited from our students was created through play, and each teacher created a pedagogical narration to go along with the exhibit. In our written stories we used student quotes to link together play, outdoor learning, and curriculum. Through these exhibits our community was able to see the play process of each student’s art and “hear” (through the quotes) the students confidence, joy, and pride in their work.

Checking: We feel that through deepening our own curricular knowledge, sharing more detailed writing and visual observations of the students’ play, and inviting the community into the school with our art show, we were able to create some understanding around the importance of play in the early years classrooms.

We also observed that parents/guardians of our students were interacting with us (teachers) and asking more questions about their child’s play and outdoor learning experiences at school. Overall, we feel that we made some progress into making the links between play and curriculum more transparent for our classroom families.

Reflections/Advice: We confirmed our beliefs that play and outdoor education opportunities are important and integral to student learning.

We continue to raise questions and discuss ways for school staff and systems to support play-based learning through human resources, material resources, and time and planning. We are also continuing to explore ways to share about the learning in play,  including methods, with families and the school community through reporting and communication, in a movement towards becoming a place of well-being and joy that values and protects play as meaningful learning for children that nurtures the vision of BC’s Early Learning Framework.

We would encourage other schools to jump in and start building blocks of free play time into their class timetables. Don’t be afraid to take your class outside and let them explore.

School Name: Lakewood Elementary

School District: SD#62 Sooke

Inquiry Team Members: Kerry Arnot: karnot@sd62.bc.ca
Lisa Stuart: lstuart@sd62.bc.ca
Chelsea Marle: cmarle@sd62.bc.ca
Tiffany Adams: tadams@sd62.bc.ca

Inquiry Team Contact Email: karnot@sd62.bc.ca

II. Inquiry Project Information

Grade Levels Addressed Through Inquiry: Intermediate (4-7)

Curricular Areas Addressed: Applied Design, skills & Technology, Arts Education, Language Arts – Literacy, Language Arts – Oral Language, Language Arts – Reading, Language Arts – Writing, Mathematics / Numeracy, Physical & Health Education, Science, Social Studies

Focus Addressed: Indigenous understandings (for example, Traditional Knowledge, oral history, reconciliation), Community-based learning, Core competencies (for example, critical thinking, communication, problem solving), Differentiated instruction, Experiential learning, First Peoples Principles of Learning, Flexible learning, Growth mindset, Inclusion and inclusive instructional strategies, Indigenous pedagogy, Inquiry-based learning, Land, Nature or Place-based learning, Self-regulation, Social and emotional learning, Transitions

In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? We investigated the gaps that could be filled in order for teachers to increase time spent on land-based, experiential learning activities for their students.

III. Spirals of Inquiry Details

Scanning: We paid attention to which teachers were taking the students outdoors to learn and which ones were hesitant. We listened to general comments made by teachers during meetings, etc., as to why or why not they were moving to experiential learning. We observed what teachers’ general knowledge of place was mainly in relation to flora, fauna and local Indigenous communities. We kept the following FPPOL’s in mind as we observed teacher’s comfort levels with taking kids outdoors and with their knowledge of place:

• Learning is holistic, reflexive, reflective, experiential, and relational (focused on connectedness, on reciprocal relationships, and a sense of place).
• Learning involves generational roles and responsibilities.
• Learning recognizes the role of Indigenous knowledge.
• Learning involves patience and time.

We referred to the OECD’s while exploring our observations. It was particularly important to us to consider individual differences, the role of emotions in learning and student-centered learning during the scanning phase.

Focus: We have decided to focus on providing teachers with a resource to support them in either starting to use place-based, experiential learning (PBEL) as part of their teaching program or expanding their use of it if it is something they are already doing. We feel that PBEL is a powerful way to connect students to place, create compassionate and engaged learners, and provide an inclusive learning environment/style for all students. Our hope is to empower teachers to try, or to develop, their PBEL programs, while incorporating Indigenous knowledge authentically. The benefits will be passed directly on to students.

Hunch: It is our hunch that teachers are not feeling prepared to take on PBEL. Although there are many, many great resources available to guide teachers to take the learning outdoors and to incorporate the FPPOLs and Indigenous content, the time it takes to find these resources can be daunting and it takes time and energy that teachers may not have. Additional barriers might be that administrators may have reservations about teachers taking students off site, so teachers don’t feel supported; or there are few resources/materials/activities readily available for teachers to use outdoors; or additional adults to help supervise may not be available.

New Professional Learning: One of our team members did some professional development on Personal Inquiry provided by Kath Murdoch and NOIIE which was truly informative and practical. Another team member was inspired by all that she learned at the NOIIE symposium. All our team members have incorporated the First Peoples’ Principles of Learning into our teaching practices for several years now. Along the way, we have amassed many resources and contacts. As part of professional learning this year, we have been reviewing these resources to find ones that best fit our plans to create professional learning opportunities for our colleagues. This will be ongoing.

Taking Action: Taking action will be our main focus in the 2022-2023 school year. We will need to finish gathering data from our colleagues and students via “The Four Questions” and some further scanning. Next steps will include choosing a format for our professional learning resource and selecting the topics we want to cover. We have brainstormed a good list of possible formats and topics, so the task will be to select a format that we are all comfortable with and to whittle down the list of topics so that it is manageable for us and impactful for our intended audience. Once we have decided on a format, we can hopefully connect with local experts to assist and guide us, which is quite exciting.

Checking: Not yet at this stage.

Reflections/Advice: Our inquiry is ongoing at this point, but so far we have learned that an authentic and easy to use resource or professional development series may help fill the gaps and remove barriers that are preventing teachers from taking part in PBEL.