Indigenous Perspectives at Q'SHINTUL Mill Bay Nature School

(Mill Bay Nature School, 2018)

After reading about Indigenous perspectives, I decided to dig a little deeper into the Q’shintul Mill Bay Nature School. I was really hoping to visit the school before making this post but unfortunately have not had the opportunity yet, so all the information I will share with you is based off their official website and field guide.

“Aboriginal students require a learning environment that honours who they are and where they have come from. These strategies nurture the self-esteem – the positive interconnection between the physical, emotional-mental, intellectual and spiritual realms – of Aboriginal students” (Toulouse, 2018, p. 1). It is very evident that Q’shintul Mill Bay Nature School has innovated it’s approach to meet the needs of their aboriginal students. In their Field Guide (2018) they say that their school represents a culture where “the Cowichan and Malahat cultures are deeply respected, will be a focus supported by Elders-in Residence and aboriginal educators. Mill Bay Nature School seeks to practice these principles as they are natural to the life found in this place” (p. 10).

In addition to working with elders in the community, having a holistic approach to teaching, connecting students to the land and teaching through indigenous tratdions and culture, Mill Bay Nature school also uses the First’s People’s Principles of Learning. Most schools in BC u
se these principles as a guide to teaching and learning in their schools.

The First People’s Principles of learning are a set of principles created by “Indigenous Elders, scholars and knowledge keepers” (First Nations Education Steering Committee, 2006) to guide teachers with some Indigenous approaches to teaching and learning common to most First People’s in BC. ** “It must be recognized that they do not capture the full reality of the approach used in any single First Peoples’ society” (First Nations Education Steering Committee, n.d.).

 (First Nations Education Steering Committee, 2006)

 

References:

First Nations Education Steering Committee. (n.d.). Quality first nations education in BC. First Nations Education Steering Committee FNESC. http://www.fnesc.ca/

First Nations Education Steering Committee. (2006) First People’s Principals of Learning. http://www.fnesc.ca/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/PUB-LFP-POSTER-Principles-of-Learning-First-Peoples-poster-11x17.pdf

Mill Bay Nature School. (2018). Mill Bay Nature School Field Guide. https://natureschool.sd79.bc.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/143/2018/08/Mill-Bay-Nature-School-Field-Guide-best.pdf

Toulouse, P. R. (2008). Integrating Aboriginal teaching and values into the classroom. What Works? Research into Practice(Research monograph #11).