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ARTICLE

The Aboriginal Education Project (OTF Report)

Rian McLaughlin

Over the  last  two years, OTF has been enthusiastically working with the Aboriginal  Education Office  (AEO)  of the   Ministry of  Education to  increase teacher awareness of the Ontario First Nation, Métis and Inuit  (FNMI)  Education Policy Framework.  This initiative, which has been fully  funded by the government, has three primary components.  The first  stage of  the  project was the  development of a  teacher resource  entitled SeeinEvery FaceHearinEvery Voice This  resource is  currently being  vetted  with  FNMI  stakeholders through the AEO and is expected to be in final production late this spring and into our schools by fall 2012. The  second   phase  was  the  development and delivery of   summer workshops. The  Aboriginal Perspectives in  Education workshop series  was offered in  the  summers  of 2010  and 2011.  The third and equally engaging piece of the project is currently underway!

Close to 100 teachers from across Ontario are participating in a year-long Aboriginal education awareness  and literacy initiative called Books of Life This third phase of the project began with an intensive two-and-a-half-day training session for   project participants this  past fall.  Sensory awareness,  storytelling, and book creation workshops were  provided, and  teachers developed ideas  and  strategies  for   building  books  and story  bundles.  Teachers  were  partnered with colleagues from across the  province. Wherever possible, teachers from schools with few or no Aboriginal students were matched with those in schools with relatively high  Aboriginal student populations. As  well,  teachers from the southern  parts of  the  province were grouped with colleagues from the north, and rural and urban mixes were made where possible. Thirty-seven ETFO members from Durham,  Hastings and Prince Edward,  Kawartha Pine Ridge, Lakehead,  Ottawa- Carleton,  Peel,  Rainy   River,  Simcoe  County, Toronto, Thames Valley, and Waterloo Region are all  now back in  their  classrooms  guiding their students in developing  books about who they are, what they value, what they celebrate, and how all of our lives are shaped by our cultural and historical contexts.

In  June 2012  when student books are finalized,  participating  classes will  keep copies, exchange copies between  partner teachers, and provide  OTF  with   copies  of   their   creations. Ultimately, it is our hope to showcase the books we receive at the Word on the Street festival in Toronto  this September.  Maureen Anglin, a coordinator with Frontier College, worked with OTF on the  delivery  of teacher training and says that participants now have a “deeper understanding of the role  that Aboriginal storytelling can have in different teaching moments”  and it  is hoped that  teachers will  be able to  “infuse this  new knowledge  in their classes.”

To  keep up to date with  the Aboriginal Education Project and the many other initiatives at OTF,  mark otffeo.on.ca in your Favourites  list on your Web browser  and be watching for Bookof Life!