By Bryan Eneas

Ministry creating more resources for Residential School education

Aug 29, 2017 | 11:30 AM

With the start of school just around the corner in a city which hosted its own variations of residential schools between 1947 and 1996, are teachers comfortable with teaching students about them?

A study conducted in southern Ontario, and presented last week by Emily Milne a student at MacEwan University in Edmonton found teachers were often not comfortable explaining either the subject matter of residential schools, the culture of Indigenous people or both.

Robert Bratvold, the education director for the Saskatchewan Rivers Public School Division (SRPSD) said he’s heard the same sentiment from teachers — not for the last year or two, but he feels it’s still a reality.

“There’s two things; one is the content. Not all teachers are fully aware of timelines or impacts of residential schools,” Bratvold said. “The other piece is just comfort with culture. Not so much with residential schools, but an ability to convey the values and importance of First Nations culture.”

The school division has taken steps to educate their teachers when it comes to residential schools, as well as Indigenous culture.

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Bratvold said new teachers coming from the Southern Urban Native Teacher Education Program or the Universities of Regina and Saskatchewan have opportunities to learn about residential schools in their education. Teachers in the SRPSD also take part in sessions with a First Nations and Métis education consultant, and take initiatives amongst themselves to learn about residential schools.

“In the school based team, there’s often small groups of learning communities who [educate about residential schools] through the [reading and writing] strategies,” Bratvold said.

When it comes to residential school education specifically, the Ministry of Education revamped social studies text books for students in Grades 4 to 7 in 2014 to address the impact of residential schools and the intergenerational effects.

Bratvold said the lasting impacts of residential schools is something the SRPSD focuses on.

“To me that’s the key thing, this is not just something that happened 20 years ago or 40 years ago or 100 years ago,” Bratvold said. “This is something that happened and is still affecting what’s going on today.”

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission brought about a few changes in the way residential schools are taught in Saskatchewan’s schools.

In order to provide teachers with sufficient resources and information about residential schools, the Ministry of Education developed a website this year. It includes information about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and its calls to action, as well as information about funding opportunities for professional development and networking opportunities.

According to the ministry, students learn why residential schools were established, their impact and intergenerational effects, the legal implications and their role in the colonization process. Students are also taught how they can help the reconciliation process, and how they’re connected to the healing process of residential schools.

The residential school learning within the curricula does not occur in one stand-alone course. The ministry said “there are many learning opportunities” through Kindergarten to Grade 12 in different subjects.

Examples provided in an email to paNOW included Grade 4 social studies, where students learn about Indigenous governments in Saskatchewan and issues important to them. In Grade 6 health courses students discuss factors which affect peoples’ identity because of colonization. In Catholic studies 20 (Grade 11) students learn about the impact of missionary work around the globe, including the residential school era in Canada.

“The topics selected for each grade level are linked to mandatory outcomes from various curricula,” the email read. “Teachers in Saskatchewan have the flexibility to incorporate new and emerging concepts when and where appropriate to support their students.”

The ministry said Elders are consulted in designing the curriculum. The ministry also partners with the Saskatchewan Professional Development Unit and the teacher’s federation to identify the proper materials to use.

Bryan.Eneas@gmail.com

On Twitter: @BryanEneas