I. General Information
School Name: École Salish Secondary
School District: SD#36 Surrey
Inquiry Team Members: Helen Rogan: rogan_h@surreyschools.ca, Rhiannon Smith: smith_rhiannon@surreyschools.ca, Natasha Pekurel: pekurel_n@surreyschools.ca
Inquiry Team Contact Email: compton_l@surreyschools.ca
II. Inquiry Project Information
Type of Inquiry: NOIIE Case Study
Grade Levels Addressed Through Inquiry: Secondary (8-12)
Curricular Areas Addressed: Not applicable, Other:
Focus Addressed: Social and emotional learning, Other: Identity, Cultural Resurgence
In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? The focus of our inquiry was around sense of belonging and whether our Indigenous learners feel represented in their learning, and in their school community.
III. Spirals of Inquiry Details
Scanning: Our school has been working on diversity and inclusion of marginalized students, so the team wanted to explore this with Indigenous learners. We asked students the scanning questions and added some of our own. The students we selected to participate in the inquiry were students who have shown interest in getting to know more about their Indigenous cultures and were interested in sharing their knowledge with students in the school. The First Peoples Principles of Learning that we leaned into were, ‘Learning ultimately supports the well-being of the self, the family, the community, the land, the spirits, and the ancestors’, ‘Learning recognizes the role of Indigenous knowledge’, ‘Learning is embedded in memory, history, and story’, ‘Learning requires exploration of one‘s identity’, ‘Learning involves recognizing that some knowledge is sacred and only shared with permission and/or in certain situations’.
Focus: We selected a focus on sense of belonging for Indigenous learners because some of our students have been feeling a lack of representation in their school community. Through the inquiry we were hoping to develop opportunities for students to feel a stronger sense of pride and belonging.
Hunch: The staff at our school have spent many years working towards reconciliation and the 94 Calls to Action (in Education). However, a lot of the teaching focuses on the history of Canada and the mis-treatment of Indigenous Peoples in history and present day. Our students identified that sometimes they felt that these teachings were always negatively focused. They identified the desire to have more positive focus on cultural resurgence, celebration, and Indigenous excellence.
New Professional Learning: We explored more student centered and student lead initiatives in the school that allowed students to showcase some of the beauty of their Indigenous cultures. We had a few guests come and teach our students how to bead. Our students then took their new learnings and taught students how to make beaded keychains during a few lunch time and class time sessions. We were also able to focus our First Peoples in Residence Week on cultural resurgence and Indigenous excellence, with games like Slahal. Our colleagues were very receptive to our inquiry and were interested in having their students participate in the little activities and events we put on for the school. They supported us and provided student reflections for us to use.
Taking Action: We had a big shift during our experience. Originally we wanted to focus our work with classroom teachers, but it wasn’t what the students wanted. We had to let go of what we thought was right, and stop and listen to what our Indigenous learners wanted. It was an important part of the process for us. We shared this with our teachers and they were very receptive to this approach. We used student reflections to provide feedback and help us design further activities/events. Teachers got involved and showed interest and participation.
Checking: We gave students the opportunity to have a voice in the process and experience. They showed passion and interest in their own personal learning. They had the opportunity to be leaders in the school, which they loved. Most of the students thoroughly enjoyed leading sessions with other students. We feel satisfied with the experience and the differences that we were able to make, but we are really excited about our plan moving forward (see next section). The students were all able to identify at least two caring adults in the building, towards the end of the inquiry.
Reflections/Advice: The process was very rewarding and has led us to the creation of an Indigenous Student Council for next school year. In September 2024, our Indigenous Student Council will be created. These students will have a significant role in our school community and will be supported by myself (Indigenous Graduation Advocate), our Indigenous Youth Care Worker, and our school principal. The focus for the student council will be Indigenous Cultural Resurgence and Excellence. The council will be open to all Indigenous students at our school from grades 8-12. The students who participated in the inquiry, and the lead teachers, came up with the idea to continue this work. The students from the inquiry will be the leaders in the council and will help engage with others to join and get it up and running. We have a meeting during our last week of school to identify our goals and purpose.