Who Am I to Initiate Change? I Am a Teacher Librarian... (well, learning to be) and That's How We Roll!

Alert Bay School, Annual Cultural Celebration:  Photo-op for the Students and Staff

The teacher I would like to discuss is a colleague named Amelia.  Amelia’s situation is her hesitancy to include Indigenous resources into her practice.  As is the same for many teachers, the reasons may be that they are “afraid” to say or do something wrong, or that they are not knowledgeable about the subject.  "Everyone has concerns...and acknowledging these concerns and addressing them are critical to progress in a reform effort" (https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/731/2015/07/CBAM-explanation.pdf, p. 1).

There are many reasons teachers are reluctant to teach First Nations or Indigenous content.  Many of the reasons may be of personal concern.    Amelia is a great teacher who teaches the primary grades at our school.  She has an open mind and is keen to learn new things and to find ways to complement her practice.  

She has taught in a First Nations community for 15 years and has embraced the community as her home.  She has a genuine care and love for our community and the children we teach.

Teaching in an Indigenous community or at district schools across BC will mean that you may be familiar with an Aboriginal Enhancement Agreement.  Most districts have one and it includes goals for increasing student achievement. "EA's highlight the importance of academic performance and more importantly, stress the integral nature of Indigenous traditional culture and languages to Indigenous student development and success"  https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/education-training/k-12/administration/program-management/indigenous-education/enhancement-agreements

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/education/administration/kindergarten-to-grade-12/indigenous-education/enhancement-agreements/aboriginal_education_enhancement_agreements_brochure.pdf

One goal that is almost universal in these agreements is to “integrate Indigenous content.”  For our district # 85, Vancouver Island North, Goal 3 states, “All students will experience Aboriginal content in all subject areas and at all grade levels” (SD. # 85, Aboriginal Enhancement Agreement [EA], p. 8). 

 http://www.sd85.bc.ca/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Enhancement-Agreement-3-2018-to-2023.pdf  

As we have learned from the Concerns-Based Adoption Model, [CBAM] “each person will respond to a new program with unique attitudes and beliefs and each person will use a new program differently” (https://www.air.org/resource/concerns-based-adoption-model-cbam).  My colleague Amelia has voiced some concerns about integrating Aboriginal content into her practice, as she did not feel “comfortable” teaching about a culture she did not know much about.  She also teaches among staff who are very knowledgeable about the culture and traditions of the Kwakwaka’wakw people which can be very intimidating.  

Her concerns are valid and felt by many teachers across the province.  We must address these concerns by providing support from knowledgeable people and relevant professional development opportunities.  "The kinds and content of professional-development opportunities can be informed by ongoing monitoring of the concerns of teachers" (https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/731/2015/07/CBAM-explanation.pdf p. 1)

By admitting her apprehension, Amelia just opened the doors of communication!  When she stated she wasn’t comfortable she was opening up about her feelings and attitudes towards the goal she is asked to work towards as a teacher of SD # 85.  Even though she hasn’t had any specific training towards achieving this goal Amelia is open to learning about and integrating Aboriginal content into her teaching as outlined in Goal 4 of the SD # 85, Aboriginal Enhancement agreement (p.10).

The Concerns-Based Adoption Model recognizes that “change often requires not only gaining new skills, but shifting one’s attitudes and beliefs.  As individual comfort level and competence with a program increases, staff can move beyond their personal concerns to focus on the desired outcomes, such as increasing student achievement” (https://www.air.org/resource/concerns-based-adoption-model-cbam) as is one of the reasons the Aboriginal Enhancement Agreement exists. 

Although the EA has been in effect for at least 12 years in our district, that does not mean that all teachers have adopted or are utilizing it.  Amelia is just now, in the past few years feeling comfortable enough to work through her personal concerns and start to utilize the program.  For some, as described in the CBAM model "the assumption was that once a new practice was introduced to the workplace through initial publicity and training, its implementation was a fait accompli" (https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/731/2015/07/CBAM-explanation.pdf, p. 4).  

Our Aboriginal department can tell you that this isn't so.  It is an ongoing process to encourage and support teachers into adopting the goals of the E.A.  "The strength of the concerns model is in its reminder to pay attention to individual and their various needs for information, assistance and moral support" (https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/731/2015/07/CBAM-explanation.pdf, p.2).  The district provides teachers with one professional development day that is tied to the goals of the enhancement agreement and the Aboriginal department collaborates with each school to ensure they are aware of resources and sources available to schools to assist in meeting these goals.  

 Amelia’s Stages of Concern:  

Awareness:  Teachers are introduced to the SD # 85, Aboriginal Enhancement Agreement # 3, which came into effect in May of 2018.  Each agreement is updated every 5 years.  The Enhancement Agreement has been in effect for approximately 12 years in our district.  The EA can be viewed as a “program” being initiated by our district where teachers are expected to utilize it and work towards meeting the four goals of the EA to increase student achievement.  

Amelia is aware of the EA and knows she needs to work towards integrating Aboriginal content into her lessons in all subjects in all grades.  This would be very overwhelming to anyone.  There are many questions that come about when asked to teach about something you don’t know much about.  Which brings us to the next stage of concern:

Information:  As mentioned before, Amelia is a keen teacher who does want the best for all of her students.  Although a bit hesitant and cautious Amelia is willing to ask for more information.  

Although it may be difficult to meet the goal of integrating content in all areas, Amelia begins asking questions about what she can do for certain Indigenous days of recognition.  In collaboration with the rest of the First Nations staff, the library tech and the librarian, Amelia finds information for “Orange Shirt Day.” 

https://www.cbc.ca/kidscbc2/the-feed/what-is-orange-shirt-day

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3vUqr01kAk

https://bctf.ca/uploadedFiles/Public/AboriginalEducation/OrangeShirtDayActivities.pdf

She collects resources that are appropriate to her class’ age range, which is 5-8, and acquires a “unit plan” from a reliable reference source then proceeds to share the information with her students.  She initiated a “whole school project” where each student in the school wrote a message with “I matter because...” then created a large orange shirt with all of the children’s messages on it and had it displayed in the community grocery store!  Level of Use:  Orientation

Personal:  Once Amelia came across a story she could understand, one that had resources attached and concrete information, Amelia felt comfortable teaching about Residential Schools.  A topic that she was not comfortable discussing with her class’ age group. 

The resources were available to provide Amelia with the confidence she needed to teach about Orange Shirt Day.  As her confidence increased she introduced more resources and included more stories when teaching about residential school.  Level of Use:  Preparation

Amelia felt good about doing what she could to learn how to integrate Aboriginal content into her classroom.  As the teacher librarian Amelia has come to me to acquire more resources and more stories.  I have shared the following resources and accompanying lesson plans with Amelia.  While her class was learning about Orange Shirt Day, I shared the book Shi-Shi-Etko.  Amelia was interested in the book and asked to keep it in her class to share with her students.  I also shared the accompanying book Shin-chi's canoe.  We thought these resources were fitting and relevant to her primary students.  

Amelia is now more willing to integrate Aboriginal resources into other subjects of her class.  Level of Use:  Mechanical

Management Stage:  Now that Amelia is feeling more confident about integrating Aboriginal content she is willing to try some new things.  She is willing to go beyond the subject of reading.  Amelia has found ways to integrate Aboriginal content into math by counting in Kwakwala, into science by studying about subjects that are specific to our culture and way of life, like raising salmon in the classroom and into social studies through maps and name-places of our area.  

Amelia also fully participates in our annual school feast and cultural celebration (before covid) and is willing to learn and help our students succeed.  Level of Use:  Stabilized  

Consequence:  Amelia has noticed that her students are engaged and interested.  Some students have shared stories of their own with the class.  They are aware of the topic because there used to be a residential school in our community.  The topic is relevant and true.  

Amelia has achieved the goal of integrating Aboriginal content into her classroom.  Her confidence has increased as she witnessed how the whole school embraced her idea and each teacher initiated her ideas for a school project.  Awareness of Orange Shirt Day increased and students are aware of the story and the reasons behind why we wear an orange shirt to school.  Amelia initiated the project and was rewarded with the final result.  Amelia realizes “it is worth it, and it is working.”  Level of Use:  Routine

Collaboration:  Now that Amelia’s confidence has increased and she has tried a number of different ways to integrate Aboriginal content she is willing to collaborate with others to see “how others do it.”  This is the stage we are at now.    Here is the opportunity to collaborate with and introduce Amelia to reference resources that will be useful in helping her to reach the goal of integrating Aboriginal content across all subjects and in all grades.  Level of Use:  Refinement

Now that Amelia has reached out and her confidence has increased I would share the First Nations Education Steering Committee website with her.  This website has a plethora of information about integrating indigenous content into the curriculum.  

To follow her unit about Residential Schools and Orange Shirt Day I would suggest the book Secret of the Dance to further her exploration into the laws that affected Indigenous people. 

I would suggest this book because although it speaks about a difficult past, it does not speak specifically to the trauma the people suffered.  It tells a story, but in a way that will generate questions and discussion regarding the history of Indigenous people in our area.  

The story depicts the childhood memories of Judge Alfred Scow when he was a boy as he witnessed a potlatch for the first time in his life.  Judge Alfred Scow was also a positive role model from our community so would be relevant to many of the children in our school.

I created a lesson plan which I would share with Amelia for her to use as she wished.  "Help over time is necessary to work the kinks out and then to reinforce good teaching once use of the new practice smoothes out" (p.1).

She would be encouraged to adapt it in any way to meet her needs.  This resource would fit well into the Social Studies curriculum as it talks about our area and surrounding communities that students would be familiar with.  

The illustrations could easily be used as an opportunity for an art activity and the areas described in the book could be found on a map, or by using Google Earth.  I have attached the lesson plan that I created for intermediate students to be adapted by Amelia to better fit the grade level of her students.   file:///Users/hargrace/Downloads/secret-of-the-dance-pages.pdf

As Amelia became more confident and willing to integrate more Indigenous content across other subjects in her teaching I would assist her in locating relevant and authentic resources with the premise in mind that this is a "process not an event."  The opportunity to share my knowledge and areas of expertise would be an ongoing collaborative process with her and other colleagues in the school, the district and the community.  We would continue to encourage each other and check in to see if integrating Aboriginal content is in fact increasing Aboriginal student success.  

I would also introduce Amelia to the "Strong Nations" website that features Indigenous content with accompanying lesson plans.  The site is culturally relevant and features "authentic" resources.  https://www.strongnations.com/

To further encourage Amelia's ability to integrate Indigenous content I would share information from the BC Curriculum website where "educators may use this resource to easily access where Indigenous Knowledge and Perspectives intersect with the curriculum in every area of learning at every grade level.  https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/sites/curriculum.gov.bc.ca/files/curriculum/indigenous-knowledge-and-perspectives/gr-1-cross-curricular-references-indigenous-knowledge-and-perspectives.pdf

As Amelia refines her knowledge of integrating Indigenous content and wants to further refine her practice I would steer her again towards the First Nations Education Steering Committee [FNESC] website where she can find many more resources that would assist her in integrating Indigenous content across the curriculum and lead her closer to the level of refinement.  http://www.fnesc.ca/learningfirstpeoples/.

As outlined in LIBE 467, Lesson 7 notes we are reminded that "as information specialists, teacher librarians know that information is power and powerful" (p. 3).  As the school librarian I have the power to find and share information that would help my colleagues meet the goals of our district's EA.  In this instance I truly feel like a "promoter" (p. 3) of authentic and relevant resources that will help to alleviate some of Amelia's concerns about "her lack of knowledge of Indigenous content"  and encourage her towards the refinement level of use.  

References

 Aboriginal education enhancements agreements brochure [Web page]. (n.d.).  Retrieved from   https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/education/administration/kindergarten-to-grade-12/indigenous-education/enhancement-agreements/aboriginal_education_enhancement_agreements_brochure.pdf

BC's New Curriculum [Web page.]. (n.d.). Indigenous knowledge and perspectives in K-12 curriculum.           Retrieved from https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/education-training/k-12/administration/program-       management/indigenous-education/enhancement-agreements

Canadian Library Association.  (2014).  Leading learning:  Standards of practice for school library learning commons in canada.  Ontario, Canada:  Canadian Library Association.  Retrieved from   https://llsop.canadianschoollibraries.ca/

CBAM:  The concerns-based adoption model [Web page].  (2015).  Retrieved from  https://www.air.org/resource/concerns-based-adoption-model-cbam

First Nations Education Steering Committee [Web page] (n.d).  Retrieved from        http://www.fnesc.ca/learningfirstpeoples/

Huang, P-S. [Web page] (n.d.).  Concerns-based adoption model:  Stages of concern.  Retrieved from  https://sites.google.com/site/ch7cbam/home/stages-of-concern

Indigenous education enhancement agreements [Web page]. (n.d).  Retrieved from   https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/education-training/k-12/administration/program-        management/indigenous-education/enhancement-agreements

Oris, Alex. [Web page] (n.d.) Concerns-based adoption model:  Intro to CBAM.  Retrieved from   https://sites.google.com/site/ch7cbam/home/introduction

School District # 85.  (2018).  Aboriginal enhancement agreement.  British Columbia, Canada:  School District # 85, Vancouver Island North.  Retrieved from http://www.sd85.bc.ca/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Enhancement-Agreement-3-2018-to-2023.pdf

Secret of the Dance lesson plan:  file:///Users/hargrace/Downloads/secret-of-the-dance-pages.pdf

Strong Nations Publishing. (2020).  Retrieved from https://www.strongnations.com/

The Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM): A Model for Change in Individuals.  Retrieved from  https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/731/2015/07/CBAM-explanation.pdf