I. General Information
School Name: Southern Okanagan Secondary School
School District: SD#53 Okanagan Similkameen
Inquiry Team Members: Cam Adam cadam@sd53.bc.ca
Brad Burns bburns@sd53.bc.ca
Bev Young byoung@sd53.bc.ca
Naryn Searcy nsearcy@sd53.bc.ca
Tracy Harrington has retired.
Inquiry Team Contact Email: cadam@sd53.bc.ca
II. Inquiry Project Information
Type of Inquiry: Indigenous Education Impact Initiative
Grade Levels Addressed Through Inquiry: Secondary (8-12)
Curricular Areas Addressed: Not applicable
Focus Addressed: Indigenous Focus (for example, Traditional Knowledge, oral history, reconciliation), Other: Attendance
In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? Through the lens of First Peoples Principles of Learning and listening to student voice, would culturally responsive teaching practices improve the attendance of our Indigenous On-Reserve students?
III. Spirals of Inquiry Details
Scanning: District-wide data reveals a noticeable attendance gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. Similarly, our success planning meetings highlight attendance as an ongoing concern across the district. Insights from our Empathy Interviews suggest a variety of factors contributing to this issue. To address these concerns, we are actively partnering with our local band to foster collaboration and solutions. Our ongoing scanning process is focused on uncovering the root causes of the attendance gap. This process has prompted us to reflect on our own teaching practices and implicit biases, exploring how they may influence attendance patterns. Additionally, we are prioritizing community engagement as a key area of focus, recognizing its significant impact on attendance and student success.
Focus:
- Implicit Bias and Micro-Aggressions: Addressing tone of voice, communication styles, and subtle biases that may impact student and family relationships.
- White Supremacy and Privilege: Reflecting on institutional structures and practices that may marginalize Indigenous students.
- Family Communication: Building stronger, more respectful, and culturally sensitive communication channels with families.
- Knowing Their Stories: Taking the time to understand the unique backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives of Indigenous students.
- Creating a Welcoming Environment: Ensuring all students feel seen, valued, and safe in our schools.
- Trauma-Informed Practices: Applying a trauma-informed lens to support students holistically.
- Principles of Learning: Embracing principles such as holistic, reflective learning and recognizing the impact of our actions on students.
- Building Relationships and Trust: Fostering meaningful connections with students and their families to create a foundation of mutual respect and understanding.
- Through this focused effort, we aim to create a more inclusive and supportive learning environment that directly addresses the attendance gap and contributes to the success of our Indigenous students.
Hunch: There are factors within SOSS that are impacting Indigenous student attendance. Our empathy interviews have led us to examine bias, privilege, and cultural sensitivity among our staff. Our empathy interviews indicate that these factors are impacting the feeling of belonging for the Indigenous students at SOSS.
Reflections for Year 1:
- There are many factors that impact attendance of Indigenous students at SOSS.
- Students identified home factors outside of their control that impact their attendance.
- Students identified the bias of teachers as impacting their experience at school. This has caused us to look inwards at how professional learning can help us to create a more welcoming environment for Indigenous students.
- There is a disconnect among staff in the philosophy of Indigenous education and some of the practices happening within the school.
- We have a unique opportunity to build a stronger relationship with OIB. OIB has reached out with similar questions they are exploring around attendance of OIB students. This presents us with a unique opportunity to work together on this project. This is aligning with district work on a new LEA with OIB.
Plans for Year 2:
- Continued focus on staff learning and development around Indigenous ways of knowing, privilege, bias and local cultural protocols. Discussion within staff on how to create a more welcoming environment for Indigenous students.
- Continuing to work with OIB to work on this project collaboratively.
- Continuing to work with OIB and district schools to provide opportunities for students to learn in different learning models (YouLearn, work experience, language classes, etc.)