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Introduction



This document provides ideas for adapting the English Language Arts curriculum guide to support the unique needs of Indian and Métis students. In this document you will find:

Unit Adaptation

The Adaptive Dimension in Core Curriculum (1992) provides teachers with a vehicle to accommodate individual needs while maintaining the foundational objectives by:

The units and lessons provided within the ELA are samples to be used as models for creating new ones. If used, they must be adapted to meet the general context of the community within which the school is located as well as the unique developmental needs, interests and learning styles of individual students.

Two ELA sample units, All About Me (Grade One) and Sharing Our World (Grade Four), have been adapted to recognize the needs of Indian and Métis students, particularly those in northern Saskatchewan.

Because these students may also be ESL or ESD language users, strategies for accommodating various linguistic needs have been included.

Meeting the Needs of Indian and Métis Students

In 1991, approximately 35,000 school-aged children in the province (18% of the school population) were from an Aboriginal background. (Partners in Action: Action Plan of the Indian and Métis Education Advisory Committee, 1991). Most of these students can also be recognized as ESL/ESD learners. Traditional programs have not met their needs. Up to half of all Indian and Métis students leave high school programs, many from special education programs.

Research has shown that minority students become empowered when:

Indian and Métis Education Policy from Kindergarten to Grade 12 (1989) p. 5 states: "The education system must recognize that Indian and Métis students are the children of peoples whose cultures are, in many ways, very different from those of the people who established the school system. These differences may include learning styles and worldview and must be accounted for in curriculum, programs, teaching methods and climate in the schools attended by Indian and Métis children."

An understanding of traditional Aboriginal cultures and worldviews can assist educators with teaching Indian and Métis students whose diverse traditions and learning styles may be affected. Rupert Ross (1992) describes cultural ethics such as non-interference in another person's rights and activities, a modelling approach to education, keeping one's emotions and thoughts private, and silence and withdrawal in new situations, as generalizations of traditional behaviour that may or may not continue to have an impact on the worldviews and, consequently, the behaviour of Indian and Métis peoples today. At the very least, these differences point to a cultural gap that has existed between Aboriginal worldviews and the dominant society's belief system upon which educational institutions have been established.

Acknowledging that cultures embrace and operate within different belief systems and rules governing behaviour and communication will hopefully lead to understanding and respect for different ways of life.

Awareness of these differences allows teachers to create lessons that can reflect cultural norms, adjust lessons to accommodate varying styles and abilities, as well as seek to understand students' behaviours and learning styles.

Saskatchewan Indian and Métis students come from different cultural backgrounds and social environments including northern, rural and urban areas. A Five Year Action Plan for Native Curriculum Development (1984) states that there should be recognition that children exhibit different learning styles, but that these learning styles cut across cultural and socioeconomic groups. No cultural group should be stereotyped as exhibiting a particular learning style. Furthermore, generalizations regarding cultural influences must always allow for individuality.

For more information refer to:

Language Development and Culture

Language and its meanings are influenced by the culture in which one is raised. An idea can be shaped by talking it out. Language is crucial to conceptualizing both words and images. Oral language is a part of nearly everything children do. It helps them create and transform their experiences.

The transformation from experience to language is a conceptualization (thought). This is shaped by the parent's (adult's) language which lies within a cultural context. The child's thought then results in his/her personal language and view of the world.

Because a young child's world is largely confined to family, home and neighbourhood, both experience and language are heavily rooted in culture.

This personal communication system eventually coincides with the language of the child's family and culture, and reflects the way this culture views the world.

The importance of language to the development of a positive self-concept is captured in Goodman's statement: "Children's language is as much a part of them as their own skin. Rejection of a child's language may be more disturbing than rejection of skin colour. The latter is only an insult, the former strikes at their ability to communicate and express their needs and feelings, their very selves." (Language and Thinking in Schools, 1987, p. 75).

English as Second Language (ESL)/English as Second Dialect (ESD) Students

Indian and Métis students, particularly those from isolated communities, often enter the school system with a first language other than English. In the North, students are likely to speak Cree, Dene or Michif. These students are referred to as English as Second Language (ESL) learners.

ESL students demonstrate competency in their first language. When learning English they use the syntax and grammar of their first language and substitute English vocabulary.

A growing number of Indian and Métis students use English as their first language. However, the influence of their Aboriginal language background may have an impact on their English language use, particularly on the syntax and grammar. These students are recognized as English as Second Dialect (ESD) learners.

Language Needs

Despite their characteristic differences, ESL and ESD students have similar language needs:

For more information refer to English as a Second Language and English as a Second Dialect learners. (ELA, pp. 65-67).

Linguistic and Conceptual Differences

Deviations found in the spoken language of ESL and ESD students are usually logical, predictable, and linguistic-based.

Differences in the choice of vocabulary are often the result of conceptual differences in the way a culture views the world. For example; in many Aboriginal languages, the world is categorized in terms of animate and inanimate objects rather than by gender. Thus, one could expect students to demonstrate some difficulty with pronouns such as he, she and gender specific words such as husband or wife.

Other linguistic differences may be the result of the student's first language influencing the structure, grammar and syntax of English. "I gots a new pantses red" would be an example. This would also be reflected in the students' reading and writing.

Rather than considering these differences as errors that need constant correction, the teacher's role is to see them as part of natural growth. Teachers must seek out and provide opportunities to model, explore and discuss the language and concepts with the students, and to encourage a comparison of the languages but not to overtly correct these miscues.

ESL/ESD Students and the Language of Instruction

Language and concepts develop together. While the language of instruction in most schools is English, the students' first language should be utilized whenever possible to assist with understanding concepts, particularly during the emerging phases of literacy development. At the very least, the use of the students' first language should be encouraged and affirmed; students should develop pride in bilingualism as a positive asset.

Possible options for language programs for Indian and Métis students are suggested in Rationale and Recommendations for the Teaching of Indian Languages in Saskatchewan Schools, 1988.

Bilingual Programs
In schools that have a majority of ESL students and where bilingual teachers are available, the community may wish to support bilingual programming.

Well-organized bilingual programs are very effective in teaching English as a second language, often more effective than all day English programs that "immerse" the child in English.

Teachers and other community resource people can be invaluable in supporting first and second language growth and cultural validation when they:

Teachers who are fortunate in being able to speak the language used by the students should do so. Discussions, brainstorming, story telling and retelling, story response activities, creating audio tapes of favourite stories, story modelling, experience chart stories, key words, journals, dictated stories, word walls, collaborated books, songs and chants, semantic mappings, charts of supportive print, charts of routines, webbings, drama, role playing, puppetry, captioned art work, and various projects can all be presented and shared in the students' first language, gradually increasing and extending the amount of English being used.

Teachers who do not speak the students' language are encouraged to learn as much as they can from the students, teachers and community, especially significant positive words that can be used frequently in the classroom. This can be done as a weekly school-wide project.

The availability of bilingual community personnel can be invaluable in supporting language growth for both the students and the teacher.

ESL/ESD Programs
When bilingual programs are not an option, ESL and ESD students in English immersion programs require supportive activities to extend their language development.

The ELA curriculum guide is founded upon principles embracing a holistic, developmental and integrated language-based framework for language arts. It recognizes that language is basic to thinking and learning in all cultures and is designed to complement students' natural first language acquisition and development.

While the strategies advocated within the guide will support students' oracy and literacy development, ESL/ESD students will benefit from an increased focus on:

Examples of Methods, Strategies and Activities For ESL/ESD Students

Activities and strategies that accommodate the needs of ESL/ESD students as they learn English are beneficial to all students.

Language Extension
Extending students' language means following their lead, elaborating on language concepts and ideas in a relevant way. For example, a child sees a picture of a bike in a book and says," my bike." The teacher responds with, "Oh, do you have a blue bike?" Child: "No .... like that" (points to red block). Teacher: "Oh, you have a red bike. Where can you ride your bike?" A lengthy conversation might ensue with the student leading the conversation, relating personal experiences and ideas, and the teacher extending the concepts and language, getting to know the student at the same time.

Discussions
Rather than having the teacher at the centre of all discussions and questioning, students should be encouraged to interact with each other. Older students also benefit from being able to discuss events, experiences and ideas in their first language before being asked to present information in English.

Talking Circles
Participants are seated in a circle. An item such as a stone or a feather is passed from one person to the next around the circle in a clockwise direction. The person holding the item speaks and then passes it to the next person. This continues until all participants have had a chance to speak. Those who do not wish to talk may pass.

Talking Circles are effective for open-ended discussions, sharing feelings and responses, developing empathy, building trust, and ensuring that all participants have an opportunity to participate.

An Inquiry Approach to Learning
By grade four, most learning is often expected to take place through context-reduced situations such as textbooks and note taking. ESL/ESD students in particular benefit from alternate means of taking in information and presenting it. Curriculum content is best learned through context-embedded situations, those which encourage an experiential, concrete, inquiry approach to learning.

An inquiry approach to discovering curriculum concepts encourages students to use their background knowledge, seek out resources, experience situations, gather information, read, draw, create projects, write, and share information with an audience. While this approach supports learning for all students, it is critical for ESL/ESD learners.

Language is the tool which facilitates transaction from experience to knowledge.

Experience > Language > Knowledge
  (symbolism)

Students require assistance with the language concepts that create a bridge from the Experience to the Knowledge. When the student's personal language is extended and used to explore, discuss, elaborate and reflect upon experiences, curriculum concepts are consolidated and integrated.

Story Reading
If possible read or tell a story in the student's first language, then reread or retell it in English. If you cannot speak the student's language, read the story in English. Encourage responses in either English or the child's language. If responses are given in English, extend and elaborate naturally upon them. If given in Cree, Dene or another language, seek to understand by repeating words as you hear them, asking the students for clarification.

Cross-Age Groupings
Cross-age groups can develop language ability, self-confidence and pride in both the younger and older students. Older students can be encouraged to create or rewrite stories in their first language for younger students. This would also provide the school with a collection of books to be shared in the community.

The Adaptive Dimension

The Adaptive Dimension refers to the concept of making adjustments in approved educational programs to accommodate diversity in student learning needs. It includes the ways in which the teacher tries to make curriculum content, instructional practices, and the learning environment meaningful and appropriate for each student.

This enables the teacher to:

Adapting lessons means more than adding the occasional piece of literature that focuses on Indian and Métis content, or the incidental inclusion of an occasional Aboriginal dance.

The Adaptive Dimension allows students to participate in the learning process by offering them alternative access to, and expression of, knowledge. When teachers authentically adapt curriculum, instructional strategies and environment, a shift from the traditional approach to instruction will result.

The curriculum should reflect the culture of the students' background and may influence the following elements:

The curriculum should also be:

The instructional strategies should accommodate diverse learning styles through varied ways of teaching, processing and demonstrating learning.

Consideration should be given to the students' traditional background as well as their linguistic culture or communication styles (the role of language in community situations, what is said, how it is said, how people conceptualize, preserve and transmit knowledge). Teachers should build upon the students' individual learning styles.

All these factors influence classroom interactions, personal interaction, communication, organization and methods of instruction.

Several ideas include the use of:

The environment includes both the atmosphere and the physical setting and is an important factor in facilitating and encouraging interaction and communication.

It should ease the transition from home to school, as well as facilitate the gradual bonding of a class of individuals into a community of learners.

As well, the environment should:

Getting to Know Students

Parameters and overviews for units and lessons can be established by the teacher. However, to engage the students in learning that meets their needs and allows for individual choice, it is essential that teachers know their students well.

Strategies such as those described earlier will help to establish a supportive environment for self-expression. Knowing students individually is an important factor for successful teaching/learning interactions. These are described below.

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