Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Building Aboriginal Understanding and Respect

















One of the greatest opportunities that Linda and I have is to visit schools across the province. The entrance to the building says a lot about the identity of the school, what is valued, and the extent to which local cultures are valued.  Kitwanga Elementary School is tucked into a remote corner of the Coast Mountains School District - and just stepping inside the school is worth the trip. At Kitwanga we were greeted by two intermediate students who took enormous pride in showing us many of the special features of their school, including this button blanket in the main entrance. The KES message contained some powerful words. "We will listen with our ears, our hearts and our brains" - imagine what our world would be like if this was something we all did.

This year we have  had the chance to create four short videos of creative and innovative work in AESN schools with a grant from AANDC. The first of these comes from Uplands Elementary School in Nanaimo where the focus of their inquiry has been on building understanding and respect through the creation of legends. We encourage you to take a look on the website to view this video.

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