About

What is It?

Wab Kinew wrote a facebook post inviting educators to partner “mainstream” classes with First Nation schools/classes to discuss “What does reconciliation look like?”. Students will get to know each other, share a bit about each other's community and culture. Then, they will come up with an answer to “What does reconciliation look like to us?” together. After determining what it looks like they will model it in 3D using Minecraft. This could be done by designing;
  • a national monument to residential school survivors
  • a round house, long house or traditional building
  • a future Canadian city where Indigenous people and cultures are celebrated  
  • a different vision


When complete, teachers should tweet out a picture(s) of the student work with the hashtag #CraftReconciliation to enter Wab Kinew’s challenge. This tweet needs to be sent out before June 1st 2016.


Alternatives to Minecraft



Teachers and students do not have to build their vision in Minecraft in order to participate with us. The reason Wab Kinew chose Minecraft was because he views it as a virtual world that is important to many young people. Different students may have different forms of expression that they are comfortable with.


Some other alternatives students and teachers may want to consider include crafting;
  • artwork that represents their vision
  • songs that represent their vision
  • written works representing their vision
  • 3D design representation
  • dramatic representations
  • dance representation
  • any other representations

Why Participate?

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada findings can be found here and includes the Calls to Action document. The following quote from the mandate of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s mandate helps explain why collaborative activities like this are important.


“profound commitment to establishing new relationships embedded in mutual recognition and respect that will forge a brighter future. The truth of our common experiences will help set our spirits free and pave the way to reconciliation”


From a curricular point-of-view, in the front matter of each curriculum document the Ministry of Education calls on educators to help students understand multiple perspectives including that of First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities and individuals. Teachers can personalize this activity for their particular course, grade and students by focusing specifically on specific parts of the process:
  • understanding the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada and its work
  • understanding First Nation, Métis and Inuit culture
  • communicating in an online discussion forum
  • designing in 3D


If you are struggling to find a connection to your own curriculum, please contact Jaclyn Calder, jcalder@scdsb.on.ca , Julie Balen, jbalen@wbe-education.ca or Shannon Simpson slsimpson@scdsb.on.ca . We will work together to see if we can draw out the connections.


Secondary Canada and World Studies curriculum connections can be found in this document.


Media












No comments:

Post a Comment