My ideas about my action plan

Here I am! To my loyal followers….sorry for the silence. This little image gives a look into my mind when it comes to my Cohort 21 action plan. I found the last F2F session so helpful and left with the Christmas lights uncurled with no knots. Here I am, about to meet again later this week and somehow it’s all knotted up again.

Probably a good idea to start at the beginning. A few years ago the Government of Ontario moved Ancient Civilizations out of the Gr. 5 Social Studies curriculum. I have never forgiven them for that! I loved that unit of study. First Nations and European Explorers replaced it and I was back to square one. This year, with the Cohort 21 wind in my sails, I was going to do right by this unit of study. My HMW question is, ” How might we decolonize students’ perspectives by teaching Indigenous studies through an Indigenous framework, with a focus on reconciliation?”. I was grateful to my Cohort colleagues and coaches for helping that question to come to fruition.

Perhaps the overwhelmed feeling I have is because now it is time for action. This week, this Social Studies unit of study begins. A number of fortunate opportunities have turned up as this week has approached. For one, I’m fortunate to be working with a faculty intern who recently discovered her own Indigenous heritage and so we have been working on developing the unit from scratch using the Medicine Wheel as our framework. Secondly, the first day back from Christmas break was a PD day that started off with a TCS alumnus, who is herself from the Moose Cree nation, presented to our whole faculty about reconciliation and the TRC calls to action. It led to a full day of meaningful discussions and brainstorming that was inspirational.

And so, I look forward to seeing everyone this Friday with the knot a bit looser and some lessons under my belt.

See you soon!

@tfaucher

@ashaikh

4 thoughts on “Little knot here, Russ!

  1. I imagine that many people will be able to relate to your graphic for their Cohort 21 action plan, Heather! I appreciate your humour and willingness to open up about how messy and complex this process can be. It sounds like you have begun to tackle your learning and I am happy that fortunate opportunities to enhance the development of your unit plan have come your way. A teacher at my school has done a lot of work to develop an Indigenous Studies Club, actions for reconciliation and helping our community move forward in our understanding. I’d be happy to connect with you and share her contact information. I am sure she’d love to share her own learning journey. It is so important that we all “do right by” this learning. Thank you for sharing yours with us. I’ll look forward to seeing you on Friday, and hearing about your lessons this week!

  2. @hmcclure Have you listened to this episode of @ckirsh Teach Tomorrow podcast?
    https://cohort21.com/teachingtomorrow/2019/12/05/28-truth-and-reconcili-action-with-dr-angela-nardozi/
    It is a wonderful episode with the perfect tools and resources to help you.
    You should reach out to Dr Angela Nardozi (https://www.angelanardozi.com/about)
    I an imagine that short call with her would help you untangle your knot 🙂
    @tjagdeo is also another great resources to tap into.
    The third f2f will be a perfect opportunity to help jumpstart this unit.
    Kudos to you for taking this on – I can’t wait to read all about it.

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