NS+Models+for+Courses

Pitch / Course Descriptions





Option One Option One creates a five credit Northern Studies 10 option wherein a 3-credit ‘survey’ of Northern history, culture and issues is mandatory and 2-credits of inquiry based options are available. The 3-credit survey course, similar to the current Northern Studies course, is mandatory and the 2-credit ‘options’ part of the course is not mandatory. In order for students to receive a better grounding in Northern issues and realities, Social Studies 10 will be resourced to include northern examples which can be taught within the current ‘Globalization’ focus. This focus on Northern resources and examples will allow Social Studies and Northern Studies to explore some of the same issues in different contexts. It is important to note that the 2-credit ‘options’ section of the course stresses ‘on-the-land’ opportunities and skills. It is expected that students will pursue their ‘options’ outside the school setting or within the school setting with a community expert. Northern studies works best when the teacher acts a facilitator and community experts deliver content. In Option One there is no change to grades 11 or 12.

Option Two Option Two creates a mandatory 5-credit Northern Studies course at the grade 10 level. This course is comprised of a 3-credit ‘survey’ course on Northern history, cultures and contemporary issues as well as a 2-credits of inquiry based ‘options’. The 2-credit ‘options’ will provide students with a menu of traditional skills which they can pursue with the assistance of the teacher. In this inquiry based section of the course, community involvement is required and community experts must be involved in teaching and assessing skills. Further, students are encouraged to complete their learning on-the-land or in authentic settings. In these instances, the teacher acts as facilitator while the community expert is in charge of ‘teaching’ the student. At the grade 10 level, Option Two also requires the resourcing of Social Studies 10 (Globalization) to include northern examples and focus. This will allow students to further investigate northern studies within the Social Studies context. Option Two also creates a Northern Studies 11 and Northern Studies 12. Northern Studies 11 will contain 3 credits of classroom based learning on Residential Schools and 2 credits of experienced based practicums which are student directed. These projects, which are teacher supported, must be made available to peers across the NWT through various media options. An important part of the assessment of these projects will be done through NWT-wide peer assessment. Grade 11 Northern Studies is not mandatory in Option Two. Northern Studies 12 will consist of 2 credits of classroom based learning about Land Claims, Governance and Community. This course is intended to prepare students for leadership within the school and community and focuses on linking students with meaningful activity within the community. A 3-credit ‘co-op’ within the community setting will allow students to engage in governance and leadership activities. Students will be required to create a final assignment within the framework of Land Claims, Governance and Community which will be assessed within the community. Grade 12 Northern Studies in not mandatory in Option Two. Option Two requires that Grade 11 Social Studies (Nationalism) and Grade 12 Social Studies (Ideologies) be resourced to teach Northern content.

Option Three Option Two creates a mandatory 5-credit Northern Studies course at the grade 10 level; as in Option Two. At the grade 10 level, Option Two also requires the resourcing of Social Studies 10 (Globalization) to include northern examples and focus. This will allow students to further investigate northern studies within the Social Studies context. Option Three eliminates Social Studies 11 and replaces it with a mandatory Northern Studies 11. The focus of Northern Studies 11 is Nationalism and the course would incorporate all learning outcomes from the current Social Studies 11 course. In effect, Northern Studies 11 would be the current Social Studies 11 course taught through a northern lens. As a theme at the grade 11 level, Nationalism allows students to investigate issues of land claims, self-government and Aboriginal treaties and rights within a northern context. At the grade 12 level, Northern Studies and Social Studies again diverge to offer two non-mandatory courses. Northern Studies 12 will consist of 2 credits of classroom based learning about Land Claims, Governance and Community. This course is intended to prepare students for leadership within the school and community and focuses on linking students with meaningful activity within the community. A 3-credit ‘co-op’ within the community setting will allow students to engage in governance and leadership activities. Students will be required to create a final assignment within the framework of Land Claims, Governance and Community which will be assessed within the community. Grade 12 Northern Studies in not mandatory in Option Three. Social Studies 12 remains unchanged with a focus on Ideologies. The course will, however, be resourced so that as many northern examples and resources are available to teachers and students as possible.

Option Four Option Four creates a mandatory stream of Northern Studies courses at the grades 10, 11 and 12 levels. These mandatory courses will retain the focus of the current Alberta Social Studies courses, namely; Grade 10 – Globalization Grade 11 – Nationalism Grade 12 – Ideologies Further, all learning outcomes in the current Alberta Social Studies courses will be retained within a new Northern Studies framework. The revision to Alberta Social Studies will be to provide northern resources and case studies to teach ‘Social Studies in a Northern context.’ These mandatory courses will be streamed in the -1, -2 and -3 levels. Along with the three 5-credit courses, students must complete experienced based practicums worth 3 credits at each grade level. These include: Grade 10 – Student led inquiry within a ‘menu’ of land-based learning opportunities and land-based skill building. Grade 11 – Student led inquiry from a ‘menu’ of contemporary northern issues. Issues research must be linked to lived experience and peer assessment is a component of successful completion of the course. Grade 12 – Student co-op within the community with a governance, leadership or community focus. This co-op is intended to familiarize students with the opportunities within their communities and create links between students and future employers. ** Northern Studies **
 * === The writing below reflects some of our thinking over the past several months, but not any decisions or direction that has been taken. It may be useful to give you a sense of some of the things that we'll need to continue to think about.. === ||

The Northern Studies stream of courses is an attempt to address some of the long-standing issues facing education in the North: namely, an inability to create an education experience which resonates with students struggling in a traditional academic courses, the creation of a group of teachers familiar and committed to teaching the culture, history and evolution of the North and finally, the attempt to explicitly develop the next generation of Northern leaders. Through the creation of an inquiry-based stream of courses, Northern Studies will attempt to engage students interested in creating their own education experience. By shifting the emphasis of these courses from content delivery to inquiry based learning, we also propose to change the role and learning of our Northern teachers. The Northern Studies stream is a journey for both teacher and student; a new trail through our cultures, our past and into our future. __The Northern Studies stream will also give students a chance to use the skills and cultural knowledge they acquired in Dene Kede and apply it to their lived experiences. Opportunities will be made to include on-the-land and community oriented learning opportunities.__

** Creative Northern Education **

These courses are designed for students interested in developing a deeper understanding and appreciation of life in Canada’s North; to build communication, primary research, and inquiry-based learning skills; to involve students in designing, enacting and evaluating their learning experiences. The philosophy of these courses encourages both teachers and students to engage in this learning process together as co-learners. This learning for teachers begins with a mandatory inservice process, where teachers encounter Traditional Knowledge experts, learn about the land, peoples and history of their northern home, and are oriented to the objectives of the Northern Studies courses. It continues through the use of student-chosen inquiry-driven research projects- where teachers are not the content experts, but facilitate the research processes and goals chosen by their students.

The inquiries pursued will draw upon and further develop an NWT-developed resource repository of digital resources (including video, audio, wiki...archival photographs...) developed by students in partnership with the PWNHC. The technical skills necessary to develop and post these materials will be central to the objectives of the course. This repository will have protected access for Northern Studies students, teachers and professional researchers)


 * Creative Northern Educators **

The Department of Education has often heard that new teachers feel disoriented in the North and are often unable to find resources for teaching Northern history and culture. The Northern Studies stream is not only an attempt to create the next generation of Northern leaders, but also an attempt to create a new generation of Northern educators.

The prerequisite teacher inservice will involve a 1 week in-person session which focuses on the NWT’s peoples and history, the cultural context of our territory, on-the land experiences, and working with Elders and followup sessions held online over the course of the school term using tele-speech equipment where the Web 2.0 components of the courses will be explored.

An important component of the courses will be moving beyond the classroom and school into the community, and bringing community members into the school. This approach has been successfully demonstrated through initiatives such as the NWT Heritage Fairs, and is integrated into recent Social Studies curriculum development. This will be achieved in many ways, in part through the central component of the courses- student research projects ( primarily interviews) with community members- and through the need for teachers to bring in community members that will be drawn on for many of the issues explored in these courses. Northern Studies 20/30 teachers will also be enrolled in an online community of Northern Studies teachers where lessons, activities and learning will be shared.


 * Creative Northern Courses **

In order to succeed, Northern Studies courses must engage students and connect to their lived realities. As such, these inquiry-based courses will require students to study the world around them and make sense of the North as it is by studying it’s history and culture. The proposed courses are as follows:

These are the topics from Aboriginal Studies Alberta – we may or may not want to be paralleling them …???
 * **Grade** || **Module 1** || **Module 2** || **Module 3** || **Module 4** || **Module 5** ||
 * Dene Kede 7 || Passage to Womanhood || Oral Tradition || Fish Camp || My People, My Identity || Developing Dene Skills ||
 * Dene Kede 8 || Strong Like Two People || Hunting Camp || Birchbark Canoes || Leadership || Discovering our Dene Talents ||
 * Dene Kede 9 || Passage to Manhood || Winter Camp || Spirit of the Land || Self-Government || Developing our Talents ||

= __ Northern Studies 10 - Northern Perspectives __ = = __ Is the stuff below what is now...or what you're proposing...I'm confused with this layout??? __ =

__I nquiry Based Learning Model __

Career Focussing What does it mean to be Northern? My context, citizenship Creation Stories vs. Beringia Worldviews Who was here? Contact and Change Fur Trade Whaling Mapping Skills (GPS?) ICT Goals???? Dene Kede goals???? **I think module 5 of gr 9 DK fits this one well)** Interviewing Skills (conduct one chosen by teacher and report)  NWT Timeline Kit Activities  Geography - where are things  Land and people  Oral traditions  Worldviews  Traditional Societies  Contact and cultural exchange  Shifting relationships  Art symbolism

= __ 20 Peoples and Cultural Change __ =

__Inquiry-Based Learning Model__ ICT Goals???? Dene Kede Goals??? Biology Link (Northern Animal/Biome Inquiry - caribou ex) __ I think if we include biology it should be resource management...not science persay...they get enough of that. __ Interviewing Skills (conduct one chosen by student) Creating your own community timeline

Change – cultural resiliance Metis Treaties Education (White paper, assimilation) Continuity – self-government

__ 30 – Contemporary Issues __

__Inquiry-Based Learning Model__ ICT Goals???? Dene Kede Goals??? Inquiry into the Land Claim governing where the student lives Interview Skills (conduct one on Land Claims and record and post to NS archive) Governance Land claims Self government **(Module 4 of DK fits this one)** Employment, funding, employment quotas, opportunities Mining, IBA's The Pipeline The Bridge Truth and Reconciliation Committee




 * Creative Northern Partnerships **

Northern Studies builds on several exciting partnerships. Since Northern Studies requires students and teachers to build their own Northern inquiries, students and teachers must reach out into the broader community to find resources.

PWNHC

The Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre has long been a great supporter of education. In recent years, the Dept. of Education and the PWNHC have collaboarated on several exciting educational projects (Idaa Trail, Grade 4 Social Studies resource kits, Nuligak display, Beluga exhibit). These collaborations, in addition to the Museum’s permanent collection and extensive use of new technologies, allows us to propose the creation of a digital resource archive housed at the PWNHC which will support students and teachers in their inquiry-based projects. This repository of Northern voices, artifacts and resources will be a critical component to the success of Northern Studies.

Local Communities

Educators have long heard that they must do better at connecting schools to the communities which house them. As an inquiry-based stream of learning, Northern Studies requires teachers and students to find learning resources and information sources within their local communities; whether it be Elders, Band Offices, Land Claim negotiators, health care professionals, trappers, hunters, ect. As an exploration of our Northern past, present and future, the new Northern Studies courses call on teachers and students to follow trails into their communities, creating relationships which will enhance educational success and carry on beyond the school walls.

__Dene Kede__

__An important part of Northern education is Dene Kede and **Inuuqatigiit**. Beyond grade 9, however, many of the Dene Kede themes and skills are no longer referenced. Northern Studies 10,20 and 30 are intended to give students with a grounding in Dene Kede and Innuqatigiit the opportunity to use inquiry-based learning to delve more deeply into Dene and Inuvialiut culture. Students can use on-the-land experiences, interviews and real life experiences to explore the major themes of Dene Kede .....__

Telehealth

Career Focussing

Teacher Inservicing (Dechinta/College/U of A)