I. General Information
School Name: South Delta Secondary School
School District: SD#37 Delta
Inquiry Team Members: Kristy Abel: kabel@deltaschools.ca, Sandra Adamson: sadamson@deltaschools.ca, Murray Bambford: mbamford@deltaschools.ca, Nola Bonner: nbonner@deltaschools.ca, Katrina Branden: kbranden@deltaschools.ca, Albert Chan: achan@deltaschools.ca, WingYee Cheng: wcheng@deltaschools.ca, Steven Cong: scong@deltaschools.ca, Jennie Condonopoulos: jcondonopoulos@deltaschools.ca, Angela Dop: adop@deltaschools.ca, Terri Farnden:tfarnden@deltaschools.ca, Thomas Froh: tfroh@deltaschools.ca, Ricky Gill: rgill@deltaschools.ca, Parmjot Guron: pguron@deltaschools.ca, Val Hayes: vhayes@deltaschools.ca, Jamie Heslip: jheslip@deltaschools.ca, Barry Henderson: bhenderson@deltaschools.ca, Richard Hortness: rhortness@deltaschools.ca, Anne Howlett: ahowlett@deltaschools.ca, Irina Hunt: ihunt@deltaschools.ca, Erica Hurley: ehurley@deltaschools.ca, Brooke Jacobs: bjacobs@deltaschools.ca, Karen Jensen: kjensen@deltaschools.ca, Karen Kilpatrick: kkilpatrick@deltaschools.ca, Jessica Le Brun: jlebrun@deltaschools.ca, Carol Lingham: clinghan@deltaschools.ca, Bryan Lopez: blopez@deltaschools.ca, Tara Maunder: tmaunder@deltaschools.ca, Kiren Morgen: kmorgen@deltaschools.ca, Sachie Motohashi: smotohashi@deltaschools.ca, Lauren Neufeld: lneufeld@deltaschools.ca, Leata Nielsen: lnielsen@deltaschools.ca, Geralie Oba-Underwood: gobaunderwood@deltaschools.ca, Emma Peckingpaugh: epeckingpaugh@deltaschools.ca, Jack Phillips: jphillips@deltaschools.ca, Scott Pike: spike@deltaschools.ca, Kate Prefontaine: kprefontaine@deltaschools.ca, Heather Pue: hpue@deltaschools.ca, Karen Reimer: kreimer@deltaschools.ca, Ross Saare: rsaare@deltaschools.ca, Gatlin Saip: gsaip@deltaschools.ca, Brent Sweeney: bsweeney@deltaschools.ca, Samantha Smirfitt: ssmirfitt@deltaschools.ca, Jen Thoss: jthoss@deltaschools.ca, Luce Turgeon: lturgeon@deltaschools.ca, Jessica Udy: judy@deltaschools.ca, Sean Waymouth: swaymouth@deltaschools.ca, Eli Westinghouse: ewestinghouse@deltaschools.ca, Amber Young: ayoung@deltaschools.ca
Inquiry Team Contact Email: gobaunderwood@deltaschools.ca
II. Inquiry Project Information
Type of Inquiry: NOIIE Case Study
Grade Levels Addressed Through Inquiry: Secondary (8-12)
Curricular Areas Addressed: Applied Design, skills & Technology, Arts Education, Career 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, Experiential learning, First Peoples Principles of Learning, Inclusion and inclusive instructional strategies, Indigenous pedagogy, Inquiry-based learning, Land, Nature or Place-based learning, Social and emotional learning, Universal design for learning
In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? Our focus area is centered on the second principle of the First Peoples Principles of Learning, where learning is holistic, reflexive, experiential and relational.
III. Spirals of Inquiry Details
Scanning: In scanning our students from a variety of subject areas (English, Fine Arts, French, Science, Social Studies), our group gained deeper insight into our learners’ learning needs. From our previous inquiry in 2021-2022, we found that our learners needed support that focused on their social and emotional needs, before learning could take place. In our collection of numerous types of data (satellite, map and street data), our students have voiced through the Student Advisory Council that they feel the need for more Indigenous awareness within our school community.
Focus: In connection to our previous inquiry from 2021-2022, our focus for the 2022-2023 school year is on connectedness, on reciprocal relationships, and a sense of place. Through our continued learning of the 4 R’s of the Longhouse (relationships, respect, responsibility and reciprocity), we hope to help our students feel more connected to the community and the land on which they work, learn and play. We want to create cultural awareness and celebrate diversity, equity and inclusion.
Hunch: Appreciating the student feedback of the need for greater Indigenous awareness in our school, and the vital role education plays in building intercultural understanding, empathy and mutual respect, our inquiry groups believed that to help our students feel more connected we needed to create cultural awareness and celebrate diversity, equity and inclusion with the input of our students.
New Professional Learning: Appreciating the student feedback of the need for greater Indigenous awareness in our school and the vital role education plays in building intercultural understanding, empathy and mutual respect, our inquiry group sponsored a Student-Led South Delta ReconciliACTION Team. The team is dedicated to creating opportunities for students and staff to participate in activities that support awareness and appreciation of Indigenous cultures and traditions. The team’s first meeting was held on November 9, 2022 with 4 student leaders and 13 active members. Our first inquiry event featured Nathan “Kaanaax Kuwoox” Wilson, Indigenous Educator and Cultural Enhancement Facilitator. Nathan brought the Delta School District’s Journey Canoe, Wave Warrior, to visit our school and shared his heritage, culture and knowledge with students and staff. The Indigenous ReconciliACTION Team also held a bottle drive and donated the funds to Native Women’s Association of Canada. For December, the Indigenous Education Teacher Team held a viewing of “The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open.” For January 2023, we have made additions to our School Code of Conduct to reflect the 4R’s of the Longhouse, highlighting the importance of Relationships, Responsibility, Respect and Reciprocity. For February, we celebrated diversity and emphasized inclusion by celebrating Black Excellence Day, Have a Heart Day, and Black History month. For the month of March, both our Anti-Racism and SD Reconcili-Action Student Teams went to English Bluff Elementary to do a presentation for grade 6/7 classes, to let them know about the student led initiatives at our school. For April, our Indigenous Education inquiry group, purchased “Connecting Resilience Indigenous Truth & Reconciliation ‘CRITR Workbook’” to use within our classrooms. For May, our Student Productivity and Disrupt Your Feed inquiry groups collected valuable data that shed light on different student behaviours. By June, our library learning commons had increased its diverse collection from 27.5% to 41%. Most notably, our Indigenous books collection had increased from 3.5% to 10%. As we continue in our journey of learning, we hope to learn more by inviting experts in Indigenous Education to guide us.
Taking Action: The 8 inquiry groups explored various topics this school year, centered on the second principle of the First Peoples Principles of Learning. The 8 inquiry groups strived to help our students feel more connected, create cultural awareness and celebrate diversity, equity and inclusion. The 8 inquiry groups included the following:
1.) Indigenous Education Teacher Inquiry Group expanded into a Reconcili-Action Student Team
2.) Anti-Racism Teacher Inquiry Group expanded into an Anti-Racism Student Team
3.) Health and Wellness Teacher Inquiry Group
4.) Student Productivity Teacher Inquiry Group
5.) Diversity Resources Teacher Inquiry Group
6.) Incorporating Female Perspectives in English Curriculum Teacher Inquiry Group
7.) Made For Leadership Teacher Inquiry Group
8.) Female Lead Teacher Inquiry Group
By having numerous inquiry groups with the same focus, numerous departments/courses were able to participate in inquiry this school year. The following specialty areas were involved in inquiry this year: Social Studies, English, Science, Math, Fine Arts, Library Learning Commons, Inclusive Learning/ISSA, Languages, PE, Applied Skills, CLE, LAC, ELL, Counselling, and Administration.
Picture descriptions: These are images that document our journey while spiralling at SDSS. As always, food, curiosity, and caring for students brought us together.
Checking: Our journey of learning centered on the second principle of the First Peoples Principles of Learning, honouring the Aboriginal Ways of Knowing and Being and the First Peoples Principles of Learning. Throughout our learning journey, we continued to challenge our old ideas and beliefs and explored our new learning with our students. Although learning and curiosity is lifelong, for this year’s work it seems that our work inspired our students to also take the lead. With two student led groups (Student Anti-Racism Team and Student ReconciliACTION Team) stemming from teacher inquiry groups, we feel satisfied yet inspired to do more. Both our student teams were featured in the local paper, The Delta Optimist, for their leadership work. Our learning of the 4 R’s of the Longhouse resulted in a change in the Student Code of Conduct. Furthermore, the events and work that our inquiry teams and student teams led created a much richer response to the four questions.
Reflections/Advice: Reflection has helped us learn. Following the pillars of the 4 R’s of the Longhouse which includes Respect, Relationships, Reciprocity, and Responsibility guided our reflections. Reflection has kept us focused as we explore and learn as we take action. Our learning of the 4 R’s of the Longhouse resulted in a change in the Student Code of Conduct. Through reflection, we learned that learning involves developing relationships, respecting distinct cultures, and honouring the perspectives of others in our communities.