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Jennifer Sator
The Nisgaa Treaty Resource Project has been developed in conjunction with BC Treaty
Coission and the Surrey School !istrict" The project is intended to be an e#tension to study the !$!
in the %The Nisgaa Nation Series& called Nisgaa Dancing in Both Worlds" The students who view the
!$! for the prescribed learning outcoes do so in grade '' social studies"
The plos in the unit(
)*#plain how Canadians can effect change at the federal and provincial levels +related to policy, legal, and legislation-.
)!eonstrate /nowledge of the challenges faced by aboriginal people in Canada during the 01
th
century and their responses,
with reference to( Residential schools, reserves, self governent, treaty negotiations"
2f this unit would include another social studies plo(
)!eonstrate s/ills and attitudes of active citi3enship, including ethical behavior, open)indedness, respect for
diversity, and collaboration
it could potentially incorporate a social justice perspective for the students to consider as they learn
about Treaty Coissions" The necessary conditions for social justice would be best defined alongside
the students in your specific grade '' classroo where you can all agree on its ters" The three general
conditions for social justice include fostering respect for different social groups through their self)
identification( diversity (ethical behavior). opportunities for their self)developent and self)
e#pression( freedom (ethical behavior); and the participation of groups in a/ing decisions that
directly concern the. equality(collaboration).
2t is iportant to show the odes of oppression that are produced and sustained by doinant
groups +provincial and federal governents- anaging to establish their own perspectives and
e#periences as universal or neutral" 2n presenting this topic to our students at this grade level, we can
present and 4uestion otives behind legislation, policy and law, and draw our own conclusions and
opinions fro evidence about how Canadians effect change"
The rubric as/s for %clear, complete, accurate and demonstrates understanding of a
topic"& 5et, it is unclear to e what clear deonstration of understanding of a topic eans within this
conte#t" Perhaps a student is probing into an un/nown real as he6she searches for new eanings and as
such, the wor/ is not coplete and accurate but does deonstrate an authentic understanding of critical
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thin/ing ethods, particularly as one navigates a cople# topic" The concern is how to account for this
with the assessent rubric7
8s well, ta/en fro the blog feedbac/ rubric, one category is %9 and above responses with clear
connections& and another is %0 responses with connections,& the forer being allocated a higher score"
:owever, fro a critical analysis standpoint, what if the student that wrote 0 responses was uch
ore carefully crafted writing with deep connections when copared with another student that wrote 9
responses that with siple and unclear connections7 The student who wrote 0 responses is
deonstrating higher 4uality wor/ than the student that wrote 9 responses, however this is not
accurately reflected in the achieveent score on the rubric" To be specific, none of the content is
included in the assessents and so what is iportant for us to learn fro this Treaty Project then7
;hat are the essential 4uestions for our youth that need to be included within this study of our
governent laws and policies7 8re the rights of free peoples to choose the coponents of their lives
under the law and policies we have in Canada soething appropriate to 4uestion7 :ow did the
governent change with that Treaty, and what do they get in this negotiated deal that would serve their
interests7 These are people that live in our province living with very poor conditions and still fight for
basic huan rights and inclusion into our econoy" 2n reality, developent for the vast ajority of the
people of the world has been a process in which the individual is torn fro his past, propelled into an
uncertain future, only to secure a place on the botto rung of an econoic ladder that goes nowhere"
The point is to show students is how they can affect their own change with new perspective, and see that
Canada doesnt ensure that all peoples are able to benefit fro odernity on their own ters, and
without that engageent deanding the death of their ethnicity"