"Learning hinges on relationships between ideas, people, life experiences, languages, spirituality, identity, and culture. All are rooted in the place where the students live and learn, making it essential to connect to the land and people of that place. A classroom is not merely a room in a school. It should be a safe space where staff, students, and community can collaborate to understand both the historical and contemporary context of the land and people to deepen connections to the community. The land outside the school is considered an integral part of the classroom" (GNWT, 2021, p.15).

This framework serves as a pre-planner to the BDDEC Teacher Inquiry Cycle. It will guide you in grounding yourself in place and in identifying and organizing all of the required learning resources, as well as connecting with the local experts, Elders and community members. It will support your planning of meaningful place-based provocations and on-the-land learning opportunities. It will guide you in determining the structures and thinking routines required for student learning and student reflection. The framework is followed by a "Connect and Reflect" activity to support teachers in synthesizing and reflecting on this planning process. As with many of our BDDEC mandates, collaboration is key! You are encouraged to co-plan and work with your Indigenous Language Educators, Land Based Educator and Support Assistants, Instructional Coaches and Program Support Teachers.

What are the connections to place?

The planning begins with the community cultural calendar. In this section, you will be identifying the themes, traditions and seasonal activities for that month. You are encouraged to consider what key cultural events and/or on-the-land activities could support this learning. 

What are the connections to people?

Using the Inuuqatigiit and Dene Kede, you will be identifying the relevant sections, age-appropriate objectives, knowledge and traditions. Once you have established these, you will be able to seek out support from your local community (Elders, local experts and inter-agency connections). You are encouraged to consider how these learning opportunities will contribute to students' being and becoming capable, and how you will ensure reciprocity towards those who will be working with you and your students. 

What are the connections to land?

After you have solidified the foundations of student learning, you will now need to plan the inquiry teacher moves such as: provocations and thinking routines. When planning for provocations, you must consider the impacts and logistics of bringing students to the place versus bringing the place to the students. The possibilities for provocations are endless and can take the form of: an on-the-land experience, storytelling, videos, photos, written pieces, music, artwork and artifacts. Once you have these planned, you are invited to consider which thinking routines would best support eliciting students' curiosities, questions, wonders and prior knowledge. 

How does this learning make us more capable? 

Lastly, you will consider the curriculum connections that could potentially be covered over this lesson and/or unit. Referring to the core subject areas, you will then connect place to the curriculum. The learning journey and outcomes covered will rely heavily on your students' curiosities, interests and wonders. The learning objectives covered will be strongly aligned and connected to being and becoming capable in the NWT. You are encouraged to co-design and co-plan the next steps in learning with your students and support them in reflecting on their learning journey. You are also invited to co-plan with your students the means and methods of sharing back their learning with the community and ensuring the reciprocity protocols are in place. 

“When working with Indigenous populations through a place-based mathematics educational model, the learning environment is inherently connected to the land, to the community, and to that which sustains us. Furthermore, Indigenous people’s knowledge is not consumed for individual learning. Rather, knowledge is rooted in the concepts of belonging; where local Elders and community members teach Indigenous youth to find a sense of belonging by centering Indigenous ways to explore mathematics education” (Garcia-Olp et al., 2022, p.8).

“Indigenous science is not a collection of observations, facts and measurements, but rather a dynamic living process of watching, listening, connecting, responding and renewing. Indigenous science embodies a holistic view of the world in which all human, animal, and plant life are perceived as being connected, related and interdependent” (Battiste, 2013, p.118). 

"Place-based models of teaching set educators on a mission to familiarize students with the land where they live, and in so doing, motivate measurably significant stewardship behavior. Students are encouraged to extrapolate their knowledge to global scales and back again to connect what is going on in their own backyard to climate change, chemical toxicity, and biodiversity loss as they impact the earth as a whole" (Kulago et al., 2021, p.350).

Each school in the Beaufort Delta has its own cultural calendar created in collaboration with community Elders, members, DEAs, students and school staff. Our cultural calendar was created by Candice Cockney, Land-Based Educator and Grade 9 to Highschool Inuvialuktun Teacher (2023).  The cultural calendar aligns with the traditions and customs of the local community and the NWT Indigenous curriculums (Inuuqatigiit and Dene Kede). This document is a foundational tool that teachers must use for long-range planning, and for organizing and sequencing the units to align with the identified monthly themes and traditions. 

"Ways of believing are connected to place for many Indigenous peoples. The relationship to the land is passed along from generation to generation and rests at the very core of many peoples’ identities. This intimate knowledge of place and land is an extension of their spiritual beliefs. It is important to acknowledge the meaning, power, influence and spirit of a place in content for curricula and programming" (Battiste & Henderson, 2009; James, 2016; Kavanagh, 2006; Little Bear, 2009 as cited in ILE, 2021, p.48).