Latest news with #landbasedlearning
CBC
22-07-2025
- General
- CBC
Yellowknife school launches land-based junior kindergarten
Gloria Gaudet has been teaching junior kindergarten for two years, and come the fall, she will be doing it a whole new way. She will lead Weledeh Catholic School in Yellowknife's first land-based junior kindergarten class. "I am excited and a little nervous. I think it's such a great opportunity to connect to the children, to the land and our traditional ways at an early age," she said. "And it's also a big responsibility." The new program, open to up to 20 kids, will split the school day between an indoor and outdoor classroom, merging the existing junior kindergarten curriculum with outdoor play and traditional knowledge. So far, three quarters of the spots have already filled up. The program has been in the works since last fall and was designed with help from Weledeh staff, the school district's Indigenous language education team and their connections with the community, from whom they sought feedback. "One of the biggest things we heard is that we want these kids to understand the importance of the land and how valuable it is," said Paul Kelly, the school's new principal. He also sees the return to play as a potential way to fend off the rise in mental health concerns observed in schools "not just here, but all over the world." Kelly says the aim is to bring back opportunities for adventure, exploration, and safely taking healthy risks while playing outside that have been missing from the existing model. Weledeh is in the early stages of building a fenced outdoor classroom area, and will have a fire and cabin for the winter. Part of the outdoor learning will also happen through field trips where possible. Kelly says some existing facilities on the school grounds will also be used for the class, like tents that provide warmth in the winter. Mandee McDonald, a faculty member at the land-based Dechinta Centre for Research and Learning in Yellowknife, says she has not seen many models combining land-based and Western education in the public education system. "The value that I see in land-based programming is specifically from Indigenous knowledge holders being able to teach land-based knowledge, connection to the land, Indigenous worldviews to Indigenous students," she said. "Though I also strongly think that all those lessons around Indigenous worldviews and ways of doing and ways of being are extremely beneficial for all young people to learn." Kelly said that while the school is only starting with junior kindergarten, there are hopes to scale up the program all the way up to high school in due time. "I think in the back of our minds, everyone who's invested in this is thinking next year it's going to be kindergarten, maybe down the road it's going to be Grade 1 and 2," he said. McDonald says she sees promise in exposing the students to ways of knowing the Western curriculum doesn't include. "In my experience, with the public education system, and this is kind of documented in the literature as well, there's a lot of underlying racist assumptions built into Western models of education and the things that we're taught in the school system," she said. She says offering a land-based program can be a way to undermine that. At Weledeh, the plan is for elders to visit the outdoor classroom to share their language and culture with the children. Gaudet expects the kids in her class will learn about Dene law, fire-feeding, drumming and more. "I am very excited to have the community involved at the school, tell their story and share their stories," she said.
CBC
29-05-2025
- General
- CBC
A Whitehorse high school now has an Njel. That sets a precedent, vice principal says
Social Sharing There was a time when Njels were everywhere across the land. "These are the types of houses we would have lived in," said Harold Johnson, a Southern Tutchone knowledge keeper. "There was [sic] towns, villages, even cities." Now the traditional, full-sized dwelling stands tall once more, behind Porter Creek Secondary School in Whitehorse. It's at the centre of a camp called Ǹtsǟw Chù Kets'edän Kų̀, which means "the learning house at Wild Rhubarb Creek" — the original name of the area. It's here all students will experience first-hand the transfer of traditional knowledge. That includes stories from Elders and land-based learning like hide tanning. Hundreds attended a ceremony hosted by the school Wednesday, with speakers saying the Njel deepens and solidifies cultural connections — both at the school and the community at large. Funded by the Arctic Inspiration Prize and the Yukon government, Johnson and Meta Williams designed and built the Njel. Students helped. With the exception of a massive cedar log from Vancouver Island at the top, the house is built mostly of local spruce, the boughs of which cover the floor. "To learn like this in a traditional structure is so much more [beneficial]," Johnson said. "You're not explaining how a house looks, you're actually in it. Right off the bat, [the students] totally get it, you know? "There's no words that I can say. This house speaks for itself, basically. You just gotta see it." 'If you live here, you need to learn about living here' Vice-principal Nicole Cross said the urban traditional camp sets a high bar, and at a school where at least 40 per cent of youth are First Nations. "I think what this means for the school is the ability to be able to truly incorporate cultural learning on a scale that isn't precedented really," she said. "We want to make sure we're honouring that knowledge and that culture." The Njel provides a space for cultural teachings and ceremony while making place-based learning accessible to everyone. "Where are students going to learn about it if not on the land, where it comes from?" she said. "This is a traditional building of this land. "If you live here, you need to learn about living here." As for what instruction will look like, Cross said to start — teachings about the Njel. "What is its meaning, why is it here, how was it built, and its traditional uses," she said. "Then any kind of learning. It's the space itself that is part of the magic. It's a living thing in itself." Cross hopes students from other schools can experience the Njel too, and that elders come by on a regular basis. "It's a bit of a scaffolded situation," she said, noting students continue to work on the building and take part in a nearby hide camp, which is on this week.
