Students at Langley Meadows Community School have been learning about some fairly big concepts this school year, from trust and respect to bravery, love and others, and they have been doing it all through an Indigenous lens.
All those concepts are part of the Seven Sacred Grandfather' Teachings, along with humility, honesty and truth. They are being taught as part of the school's ongoing commitment to Truth and Reconciliation, and with help from the school's Aboriginal support worker, Aimee Boyle.
Most recently, a Grade 1 class took on an art project with Boyle, where they learned about respect - for themselves, for others, for the land and for their school. After identifying the four types of respect, students were tasked with drawing pictures that represented each type of respect.
When it came to respecting one's self, Boyle said students focused on "eating healthy food and drinking water" and with regard to respecting others, they discussed checking to see if their friends are OK if they get hurt, and saying "please and thank you."
When it came to respecting the land, they learned about buffalo.
"One of the big ones for respecting the land is to be gentle with the land, which I think is absolutely adorable," Boyle said. "So, they were learning that buffalo walks gently and he's a really big and strong animal, but he still walks gently, and that's how he shows respect to the land."
Langley Meadows principal Rhonda Krisko said that learning about such big, important concepts is important for young learners, and by adding Indigenous learning, students are able to see things from a new perspective.
"Langley Meadows decided to teach the Seven Sacred Teachings rather than something like virtues because we wanted to intentionally engage in the process of Truth and Reconciliation," Krisko said. "In recent years we have been learning the true history of Canada and now it is time for the Reconciliation piece, and for our community it means recognizing Indigenous ways as a viable, thoughtful way of living and teaching."
"The students have enthusiastically engaged with the content," she added. "And the work we have started on the Seven Sacred Teachings has truly worked to draw us closer together as a community and move us along our journey of Truth and Reconciliation."
Once they've completed their project, the Grade 1students plan to share their learning with their fellow schoolmates during an assembly. Another class, meanwhile, plans to show what they've learned through a skit.
More lessons about the other Seven Sacred Teachings are planned for the next few months.
"I'm really looking forward to seeing what the kids are going to come up with. We've really put it in their hands," Boyle said.
