Invite Elders and Knowledge Keepers into the classroom/shop

Inviting Elders and Knowledge Keepers into the classroom can create many benefits for students. An Elders presence can help Indigenous students feel more connected to the school and their community. Further, it can create a mutually beneficial relationship between students and Elders where students aid Elders when in need and Elders offer stories and lessons. Elders and Knowledge Keepers in the classroom present an opportunity:

  • for students to form relationships with an older generation and to learn from their experiences, skills, and stories. For example, creating a class discussion about how life and technologies have changed since the Elder’s youth and how those changes have affected their life.
  • to connect Indigenous skills and knowledge to real life applications. For example, Elders and Knowledge Keepers may share their skills and knowledge on drum making or cedar weaving and connect those things to todays world and culture, as well as provide historical context with local connections.

To connect with Elders and Knowledge Keepers, contact your school or district Indigenous education department. If those do not exist in your location, the Elders in Schools Handbook is a great resource to point educators, administrations, and districts in the right direction to start making connections and address proper protocols when inviting Elders into the classroom/shop.

Invite parents and other community members into the classroom/shop

Opening the classroom to outside experiences from parents and other community members creates an opportunity for students to learn from local people and give lessons with real life context, consequences, and local connection. It demonstrates to students that the school is not a shut off place where learning is disconnected from the rest of the world but is in fact real and meaningful. Some methods to approaching this are:

  • inviting parents/community members to share their experiences in their careers which may or may not be related to the class subject/lesson.
  • inviting parents/community members to work directly with students to aid in their research, design work, and hands-on applications.
  • inviting local community members/businesses to connect with students to design/create something of meaning for/to the local community.

Maintain strong relationships with students’ family

Keeping in regular contact with a student’s family is important in student and community growth. Open communication between teacher, student, and parent/guardian allows for a united front in addressing the best learning methods for a student. Gaps in learning can better be filled and parents will be given the chance to aid their child in the learning process when not at school. It should be noted that in the teenage years some students may not want their parent’s involvement in their learning and that should be respected.