My focus on this blog has been to explore how one might intervene and support students with challenging behaviours in a mainstream classroom, using Indigenous principles and strategies. With reflection on readings and discussions, I shifted from a student focus to a focus on the classroom teacher. A school-based team meeting typically consists of the classroom teacher, student family members, administration, and learning support staff. It can evolve to include district support district personnel, such as school psychologists and behaviour interventionists, and community resources, like counsellors or social workers. The student is demonstrating an undesired or difficult behaviour; the teacher is directly influencing and being affected by the behaviour. Everyone else at the table is offering input, advice, or support; however, it the classroom teacher who ultimately performs the action of change or puts into place the innovation from the creativity shared as a group. Using Indigenous pr...
One of B.C.'s First Peoples Principles of Learning is, "Learning requires exploration of one's identity". This principle aligns with British Columbia's move to Competency Based Inclusive Education Plans. Another way to explore this concept came to me in my reading of Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. The 3 sisters refers to the Indigenous agricultural practice of growing corn, beans, and squash or pumpkin plants together. This process allows the strengths of each plant to supplement and support the growth of each other, simply by doing what it naturally needs to do to survive, because, "as it happens, when the individuals flourish, so does the whole" (Kimmerer, 2013, p.134). The Competency Based Inclusive Education Plan is designed to reflect the revised B.C. curriculum's focus on core competencies, like creative and critical thinking and social responsibility. Students use their personal strengths, interests, and passions to access the p...