Sherron Burns, Indigenous education consultant for Living Sky School Division at North Battleford Comprehensive High School. (Kenneth Cheung/ battlefordsNOW staff)

By Kenneth Cheung

TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION EDUCATION

‘Step by step’ : Educators see progress in Truth and Reconciliation education

Sep 27, 2024 | 4:00 PM

A little girl pointed up at the wall of her school gym and said, “Look, there’s a Métis flag up there.”

To anyone else hearing that, it may have just been a comment in passing, but for Sherron Burns, it was another step toward reconciliation.

“She was happy and proud to see that [flag].”

Burns is an Indigenous education consultant for the Living Sky School Division. Her job, in part, is to help integrate First Nations, Métis, and Inuit content, perspectives and ways of knowing in all curricula. Burns believes more students are becoming more aware of the world around them thanks to greater acceptance of Indigenous cultures among the new generations.

“The Truth and Reconciliation calls to action are for all of us as Canadian citizens. It’s not just for ‘if you’re working with Indigenous students’ – it’s for everybody,” she said.

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The Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) 94 Calls to Action in 2015, included ‘making age-appropriate curriculum on residential schools, Treaties, and Aboriginal peoples’ historical and contemporary contributions to Canada a mandatory education requirement for Kindergarten to Grade 12 students.

Sherron Burns has been an Indigenous education consultant since 2017. (Kenneth Cheung/ battlefordsNOW staff)

Burns said significant advances have been made in the school division to promote reconciliation. For example, beginner-level initiatives like land acknowledgements on campus are helping to create awareness, but there’s also been a large amount of land-based learning.

“It’s a real desire not just to have an event or just put up a flag, but to create something more authentically lasting and embedded in daily life. So, people are making connections within their classes and their teaching,” Burns explained.

Danene Kopperud, an Indigenous learning coach at the Northwest School Division in Meadow Lake, believes that the Calls to Action have not just allowed Indigenous students to regain pride in their cultural identity but also enlightened non-Indigenous students to learn about the culture, fostering greater understanding and pride in being part of a diverse community.

“We have seen other students become great allies,” said Kopperud. “Once we (Indigenous) know who we are, we are capable of doing more good things.”

Traditional knowledge keepers and Elders are also helping to support the Calls to Action in education. Recently, Jeanette Bugler from Red Pheasant spoke to students about why there is a need to learn and reconnect with culture and language.

“We can’t read that in a book; we have to experience it. We must stand in the circle together, and we have to feel the prayers, and when we listen to the stories, that’s when we are attached as a human being to another human being, and that’s when I think the real change happens is, is that deep connection from person to person,” Burns explained.

In the Northwest School Division, Kopperud said teachers develop five to ten Cree words monthly and find ways to use those words with students throughout the month.

Both believe education has come a long way as far as Treaty outcomes and indicators for students K-12, but Burns said the path to reconciliation is not done.

“I’m not so idealistic as to say it’s over. We’re never going to be over. It will be a work in progress, step by step, and being in progress is okay because that means we’re open to some change and growth,” she said.

National Day of Truth and Reconciliation is Monday Sept. 30. Battlefords Agency Tribal Chiefs will hold the 12th annual Battleford Industrial School Walk at the Ridge that day to commemorate the residential school’s history.

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Kenneth.Cheung@pattisonmedia.com