Thanks very much to Debbie Koehn, a Network leader, for sharing this story from
the Nass Valley.
This is the time of year when present opening plays an
important role but gifts come in many different forms. One of the most
important gifts educators can offer students is our own opening and sharing of
practices. As we grow as educators
our students benefit. The
Aboriginal Enhancement Schools Network is enabling the learning and sharing of strong
practices. One great example
of learning that is taking place is our understanding of the importance of
transitions.
We are learning lessons from the First Nations’ Peoples in
the Nass Valley about the power of community. Last September Gitwinksihlkw Chiefs, Matriarchs, Elders and parents/family members presented the
students to the Gitwinksihlkw Elementary School staff. A Chief from each Tribe gave their
blessing and words of wisdom, as did other respected members of the
community. The staff at
Gitwinksihlkw Elementary School was honored to be part of such an important
ceremony, accepting the shared role of educating and developing students’
potentials as members of the community.
This ceremony was one that demonstrated communal trust and respect for
all educators and caregivers working together to help students develop skills
and strategies that will help guide them through the future.
Important lessons are to be learned from this
ceremony. The Aboriginal community
is helping to lead the way to understanding each individual’s personal need to
feel like a valued member of the learning community. Each student is known to
all the stakeholders by the end of the ceremony and should be more ready to
move into a structured learning community after being acknowledged by all
participants.
Members of the Aboriginal Enhancement Schools Network will be
taking this practice a step further, examining it thoughtfully so that we can
emulate this wise practice when transitioning our students from grade to grade
or from school to school.
Imagine the impact on the community when the students
leaving one school structure are formally presented to the new school and staff
by not just their current teacher, but by caring Elders, Chiefs, caregivers and
members of the Aboriginal community painting a picture with words and actions
of who the student is as a person and a learner. Students could feel ownership of a place, before even
attending, knowing that the important people in their lives have come together
to celebrate them as individuals. Community members could feel more at ease,
knowing that students were entering a place where they already were known and
knowing that the seeds of relationships had already been planted. Students and
community members will have begun to develop an understanding of the new school
expectations.
If done in late
Spring and early June students could have the possibility of moving back and
forth between the buildings they are exiting as students and the buildings they
are entering - creating a bridge of relationships between the two. Peer learning partners could be
established so that the learning community is actively interacting long before
the official first day of the school year. The importance of moving through
life skills (represented by educational buildings) would be acknowledged and
celebrated in a traditional, dignified manner.
Although we cannot replace the meaningfully relationships
built in home communities, we can begin to learn through watching, and
attempting to embed in our schools the wise practices of education that take
place daily in our Aboriginal communities.
Gitwinksihlkw Elementary School
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