"Indigenizing Education is an ongoing process of teaching and learning that pays respect to and honours the Indigeneity of a place. Indigenizing education involves recognizing the value and place of Indigenous knowledge in curriculum. It requires a strengths-based, learner-centered practice that is holistic, relational, spiral, and experiential and is rooted in the culture, worldviews and practices of the community" (GNWT, 2021, p.37). 

“If we think about decolonization as the un-doing or unsettling of colonial power and structures and ways of learning and teaching, then Indigenization can be seen as the re-doing or reaffirming of education to include Indigenous ways of knowing, thinking, feeling and being. It involves elevating the voices of Indigenous peoples, elevating traditional, and cultural knowledge, and intentional inclusion of Indigenous ways of teaching and learning to form and create pedagogical approaches” (Queen’s University, 2023). 

Thinking in Place: Connect the Big Ideas to place-based knowledge, use place-based provocations that help students access their schema and provide the time and space for students to generate wonderings and curiosities that are related to community issues and realities. 

Connecting to Self and Community: Curate the learning wall to gather evidence and make learning visual. Implement thinking routines and oracy supports to help students collaborate in culturally relevant ways. Help them access community experts and create learning experiences that transfer expertise in the classroom to student learners, guests, guides and elders. 

Growing Together: Help students to choose a relevant and meaningful way to share their learning in a project or product format.  Provide space and structures for peer, self, teacher, guide feedback on an ongoing basis and provide the space and tools for reflection throughout the learning process. 

Coming to Know: Provide opportunities for students to record and document their learning products, journeys and projects.  Encourage and facilitate them in co-creating and co-designing the success criteria. Make it clear to students that they are practicing reciprocity and respect for their guides in sharing what they have learned. 

"Students are actively involved in solving authentic (real-life) problems within the context of the curriculum and the community – formulating questions, investigating to find answers, working in relationship with community learning guides to build new understandings, meanings and knowledge, and then sharing their learnings to others; developing powerful learning experiences that engage students deeply, increase student critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication, independence, emotional intelligence/self-regulation, and problem solving skills as they progress through the school experience. This is essential for students to take on the challenges and opportunities ahead" (BDDEC, 2023)

The Proficiency Scale (p.1)

• Views learning as ongoing, rather than signaling that learning is done 

• Values growth and most recent evidence of learning

• Provides feedback, to both students and their parents and caregivers, on where the student is in their learning and how to help them move forward

• Supports lifelong learning by shifting the focus from getting marks to developing competencies

• Maintains high provincial standards, helping all students attain proficiency in their learning

• Is inclusive of all learners, focusing on strengths and next steps for each individual student

Every Student has a Place on the Scale (p.2)

• Each student comes into each learning situation with their own experiences and background knowledge.

• A student does not necessarily begin at Emerging or Developing at the beginning of the school year. Similarly, students do not reach Proficient only at the end of the school year.

• Reaching Proficient is not the end of learning; if a student enters a learning experience as Proficient or achieves Proficient during the school year, the goal becomes to further enhance their learning.

-Unpacking the Standards (Government of BC)

Assessment Formats and Resources

• Self-assessments and peer assessments

• Student self-reflections 

• Student/Teacher conferencing and conferring

• Formal and informal observations

• Discussions, learning conversations and questioning

• Group and partner work

• Demonstrations and performances

• Co-creating and co-designing assessment rubrics and exemplars with your students. 

• Learning Portfolios

• Online learning portfolios such as FlipGrid and Padlet.

• Trevor MacKenzie's Inquiry Mindset Assessment Companion Resources