62 i. Make age-appropriate curriculum on residential schools, Treaties, and Aboriginal peoples’ historical and contemporary contributions to Canada a mandatory education requirement for Kindergarten to Grade Twelve students.
Introducing age-appropriate curriculum regarding aspects of residential schools, treaties, and Aboriginal peoples’ historical contributions can be a difficult task. This task is also made more difficult with my own lack of personal background on the topic. A resource that I found that would assist in the learning of aspects of Truth and Reconciliation is a video titled How can Canadians work Towards Reconciliation? This CBC interview is with senator Murray Sinclair. Sinclair was a Truth and Reconciliation Commissioner, who wrote the 94 calls to action. This resource can be effectively utilized to begin the discussion of Truth and Reconciliation within a learning environment. In this interview, Sinclair discusses aspects of the 94 calls to action regarding why and who it was created for. Sinclair also addresses the shortcomings of the calls to action, that being the amount of inaction regarding these demands for change. I would use this resource to create discourse within the classroom, while also utilizing it as a method of pre-assessment. If I was addressing this topic with a younger grade, I would utilize books such as Shin-chi’s Canoe or Shi-shi-etko. These books introduce life within residential schools while echoing the life they had before the residential school became an aspect of their lives. These books are more child friendly, while also beginning to introduce and begin the discussion of the injustices of residential school. The final resource that I would introduce would be the BC Treaty Commission. This resource explores aspects of Indigenous treaties and the rights that Indigenous people hold. I would utilize this website as a method of inquiry. There is a wide range of information that students could obtain through the exploration of the BC Treaty Commission, which would only strengthen their learning.