I. General Information

School Name: SD 91

School District: SD#91 Nechako Lakes

Inquiry Team Members:Mia Moutray: mmoutray@sd91.bc.ca, Michelle Miller-Gauthier: mmgauthier@sd91.bc.ca, Steph
Sedgwick: ssedgwick@sd91.bc.ca, Lorn Kennedy: lkennedy@sd91.bc.ca, Nicole Arnold: narnold@sd91.bc.ca, Amy Dash: adash@sd91.bc.ca, Karen Boucher: kboucher@sd91.bc.ca, Ash Kennedy: akennedy@sd91.bc.ca, Roberta Toth: rtoth@sd91.bc.ca

Inquiry Team Contact Email: lkennedy@sd91.bc.ca

II. Inquiry Project Information

Type of Inquiry: NOIIE Transitions Study

Grade Levels Addressed Through Inquiry: Intermediate (4-7), Secondary (8-12)

Curricular Areas Addressed: Other: Whole community

Focus Addressed: Core competencies (for example, critical thinking, communication, problem solving), First Peoples Principles of Learning, Inclusion and inclusive instructional strategies, Transitions

In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? Cultivating safe learning environments for Indigenous learners through exploring Indigenous pedagogies & engaging in community action.

III. Spirals of Inquiry Details

Scanning: We reviewed the district equity scan conducted in 2018. Link to data: https://www.sd91indigenouseducation.com/equityscan (A follow-up Equity Scan was recently conducted in June 2024)

-Disproportionate racist experiences of Indigenous learners
-Racial tension and contentions the Honouring Diversity 8 course elicited in some schools and towns
-Interviewing Indigenous learners directly about adults who believe in them
-Recognition that there is a need to support educators to continue to learn to embed Indigenous ways of learning and to decolonize practices that are barriers to learning for Indigenous students, as well as learners in other marginalized groups
-The FPPL that has guided our three years has been “Learning ultimately supports the well-being of the self, the family and the community” (FPPL, FNESC)
-37 responses: 3-4 responses were from self-identifying Indigenous learners earlier in the year. At the end we had 3 responses – none from Indigenous learners. This gave us a limited look into the learners’ experiences.

Focus: This scanning across the district has led us to understand that to have a deep and sustainable impact on creating safer school environments for Indigenous learners, we need to go beyond our school district and into the community with our learning and actions. Learning ultimately supports the well-being of the self, the family and the community (FPPL, FNESC). Indigenous
and non-Indigenous learners are impacted by their community cultures and social climates, and schools are a microcosm of the larger surrounding communities. By working to further our circles of influence in schools and communities, learners will begin to have safer experiences/environments at school.

Hunch: Previous scanning of what is going on for our learners included the district Equity Scan (which highlighted racist experiences and lateral violence for Indigenous learners, a lack of parental involvement or contact with the schools, low expectations, and a general sense that Indigenous knowledge and ways of knowing are not visible in some schools. In reading the report summaries, one can see how and why ongoing support for educators in their journeys to embed Indigenous ways of learning and decolonize their practices is so important. Eliminating barriers to learning for Indigenous students as well as learners in other marginalized groups needs to be a focus of all staff.

The negative push-back from some community members and parents when Honouring Diversity 8 was first established in the high schools in the 2020 school year contributed to negative experiences and racial tension in many of our schools.

Link to Equity Scan data from 2018: https://www.sd91indigenouseducation.com/equityscan (A follow-up Equity Scan was recently conducted in June 2024)

New Professional Learning: The 5th annual Indigenous education conference, which occurs every September throughout the district, starts off our school year in a good way. This year, the conference weaved Indigenous ways of knowing and being with keynote speakers Monique Gray Smith and Robin Wall Kimmerer, in a discussion about the recently released Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults book, with storytelling from Richard Van Camp.

In addition, educators were invited to continue to “Gather” and explore how storytelling can enrich our classrooms by joining Richard Van Camp throughout the school year (4 virtual sessions) in which many DELSA members took part.

A number of DELSA members completed Year 2 of the 9-month online course, 4 Seasons of Indigenous Learning, featuring self-paced learning modules to accompany the monthly speakers. From the course page: “this course serves to support participants in deepening their understanding of Indigenous knowledge and perspectives while strengthening connections with the local Land and supporting more respectful, reciprocal relationships.” (https://outdoorlearningstore.com/4-seasons/)

Members also took part in the Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity (SOGI) Institute and the BCTELA – 3 part series: SOGI connections with curriculum SOGI 123 webinars.

Members took The Ripple Effect of Resilience: An Indigenous Perspective, which is an online course created by Monique Gray Smith. Front course page: “You work with or support those who work with Indigenous children, youth and families, for example, as an educator, social worker, law enforcement officer, or clinician. You want to develop your understanding of colonialism and how it impacts you and the people you work with. You want to start or deepen a personal journey of decolonization in a gentle and inspiring way.” (https://www.moniquegraysmith.com/online-learning)

We collaborated with the Vanderhoof Good Neighbours Committee to bring an Active Witnessing trainer to the district-wide Professional Development Day in May as the keynote. Aisha Kiani, founder of I Dream Library, also provided a workshop for teachers, as well as a lunchtime workshop to the Vanderhoof Chamber of Commerce. Many members had also attended Aisha’s workshops in March that were held at a community level.

Several members attended workshops and conferences and reported back to share their learning. These included:
– AntiRacist Summit
– Indspire National Gathering – Montreal 2023
– Better Together (NOIIE)
– Richard Van camp “Gather” (webinar series)
– The Ripple Effect (online course)
– NOIEE Symposium 2024
– BC Federation of Labour de-escalation techniques and self-defence training
– Public Education Conference
– Active Witnessing (workshop)
– FNESC training for English First Peoples teachers (workshop)
– GNC QMunity Workshop (2SLGBTQIA+)
– Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity (SOGI) Institute
– BCTELA – 3-part series: SOGi connections with curriculum SOGI 123 webinars

In addition, many folks have used non-fiction reading and tv/film to further expand their own understandings of a decolonized approach to teaching.

Taking Action: A big part of our Inquiry is the creation of the Diversity Education Local Specialist Association (DELSA) where we coordinate our efforts and meet monthly. Regular engagement with the community, specialists, and even just one another has given us the confidence to tackle hard things and reaffirms that the work we are doing is important and needed.

Here is a link to our website we have created to help facilitate our work: https://www.diversityeducationlsa.com/

-SD91 Board meeting attendance to enhance the visibility of the supporters of diversity and to support the marginalized groups. Being knowledgeable about the different motions being made and offering feedback, and supporting others to do the same.
-Several DELSA members have joined the Vanderhoof Good Neighbours Committee, which is focused on anti-racism work and creating a more inclusive and welcoming community.
-Members were interviewed for the GNC podcasts
-We helped organize our district’s Share the Love Day
-Members attended the NOIIE Symposium and networked with people from all over the world and experienced diverse perspectives, affirmation for our work and gained ideas from many passionate international educators.
-Pride event attendance: Some members helped with hosting and organizing in various communities.
-Several members are the SOGI reps for the schools
-Several DELSA members participated in a community MMIWG event and the Moosehide Day, where Indigenous women-led songs, drumming and a community march to acknowledge in a public way the tragedy of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada.
-Booking Aisha Kiani as the keynote and presenter for the district pro-d day in May
-Booking BCTF pro-d sessions on social justice topics

Richard Van Camp challenged us to connect Indigenous youth artists with Indigenous authors or illustrators so they might see themselves in that kind of work in the future. One member started working with the Careers and Training Coordinator and the beginnings of “Project Illustrator” for the coming school year are in the works. We will contract with at least one illustrator to provide 1 or 2 in-person workshops for youth artists across the district. Simon Fraser University will offer virtual illustrator clubs for high school art classes as well as extracurricular clubs if there is interest. We will enlist the help of the Indigenous Advocates and Art Teachers at each high school to bring Indigenous youth artists to these events and may structure an extra-curricular
illustrator club just for Indigenous youth.

Two members worked with three schools in SD91 to support an Indigenous learner-focused numeracy and literacy program in the NOIIE network, working with the in-school support teachers to support their learners.

Checking:
-Safe spaces were created.
-Support and learning are ongoing.
-School GSAs were strengthened; this includes a super GSA meeting with youth from all across the district, meeting up and planning events and providing feedback. Many of these learners are Indigenous.
-Staff GSA (SD91) is being strengthened.
-Student Voice (student leaders from each high school) speaks very highly of the diverse actions taking place in our district and community.
-A follow-up survey with the current Grade 11 learners who were part of the original Honouring Diversity 8 (HD8) course in 2020 revealed positive results: (8 of approx. 70 learners)
-All eight learners can name two or more adults who care about them and believe in their success in life. Six respondents (75%) would describe their school experience now as “better” than in Grade 8. The other 2 (25%) say it is “about the same”. No one said it is “worse”.
-Encouragingly, 7 of 8 respondents said their thinking/opinions/bias about the topics covered in HD8 has changed for some or many of them.

Student and Parent Voice Research, NOIIE Inquiry Team (Create Student Success and Honour Diversity)

Much of our early baseline data came from research conducted with students and parents (facilitated by our District Principal of Indigenous Education in 2019/2020) in an effort to understand some of the reasons that students are not transitioning through the grades well. Grade 8 & 10 students at both LDSS and FLESS, and Grade 7 & 9 students at NVSS were asked a series of questions.

The Indigenous Education Teacher Lead Cohort 1 group used this information and its findings for our district-wide inquiry project in Year 1. The Student and Parent Voice results became one of the scanning tools used to think about ways to improve transitions for students from elementary to secondary school.

Reflections/Advice: Diverse learners are significantly impacted by their community cultures and social climates, and
schools are a microcosm of the larger surrounding communities. The FPPL that guides our learning and, ultimately, our efforts is that “Learning ultimately supports the well-being of the self, the family and the community” (FPPL, FNESC). There is a significant need for supporting marginalized learners in our communities, and many people need support with the learning needed to get to a place of acceptance and empathy. DELSA members are gaining the confidence and knowledge to engage community members in conversations to further their understanding of the issues.

Some advice for future inquiries is that persistence in the face of racism and discrimination is paramount. Remember that continuing to work as a team has so much more impact than individual actions.

We found that working as a district team helped hold things together; having members from all over the district allowed for changes and movement without impeding the work and allowed for great diversity in perspective. This approach helped sustain us for the whole three years and we have plans moving forward to continue this work.

Video summary of DELSA’s NOIIE inquiry efforts 2023/24