A CULTURALLY RELEVANT PROGRAM IN A FIRST NATION CLASSROOM: AN ACTION RESEARCH STUDY
In contrast to the negative era of residential schooling during which efforts were made to extinguish Aboriginal languages and culture, cultural revival is now regarded as a positive and desirable aspect of First Nations education. Through the use of an action research methodology, this thesis explo...
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Scholarship@Western
2010
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Online Access: | https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/digitizedtheses/3677 https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/context/digitizedtheses/article/7495/viewcontent/2022_05_03_Culturally_Relevant_First_Nation_Classroom_Program_OCR.pdf |
Summary: | In contrast to the negative era of residential schooling during which efforts were made to extinguish Aboriginal languages and culture, cultural revival is now regarded as a positive and desirable aspect of First Nations education. Through the use of an action research methodology, this thesis explores the development and implementation of a culturally relevant program in a First Nation classroom. The research is presented as a story of the journey an educator took, thereby respecting the First Nations' tradition of story telling as a teaching and learning method designed to promote understanding. The research demonstrated that implementing a culturally relevant program in a First Nation classroom requires the use of a teacher-guided approach that utilizes community resources to ensure a program compatible with the community’s culture. Programming ran most smoothly when it allowed students to be active participants and engage in hands-on activities. Teacher reflections reinforced the findings of others that a culturally relevant program could instill confidence in students, improve classroom management, and provide growth for an educator in a First Nation classroom. |
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