§ 5: Intrinsic Case Study 2: Prince Rupert School District – Aboriginal Inquiry: Lifting All Learners

5.9 Summary of AESN impacts

Pink Sheep Media — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 05:04:28 +0000

We have attempted to provide rich detail about how the Network operates in the Prince Rupert school district. When considering overall impact, we thought it could be useful to try and represent impact using a basic scale. For the purposes of our summary then, we consider impact in three categories: as sustained, initiated, and as potential. Impact Category Potential: the AESN has provided an...

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5.8.5 Perseverance and grit

Pink Sheep Media — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 05:02:10 +0000

An important context that readers should understand is that this learning centered, inquiry based culture was constructed upon a pre-existing commitment and long history of being concerned with Aboriginal student success. One Network leader, in reflecting back over her career in the district, described what she understood as a 20 plus year history of working on effecting change to benefit...

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5.8.4 Aboriginal pedagogies: culturally inclusive practice

Pink Sheep Media — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 05:01:07 +0000

Teachers, Network leaders and members all describe the ways that the AESN has enhanced their ability to incorporate and promote culturally inclusive practices among all teachers in the district. It accomplishes this in several ways; first, the Network builds and supports the creation of professionally focused relationships both within the district and outside of it. It also provides a powerful...

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5.8.3 Leadership

Pink Sheep Media — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 05:00:04 +0000

There is no doubt that leadership has been a key component of the work done in the Prince Rupert School District. The work of key personnel—including the School Superintendent and District Principal of Aboriginal Education have been key components of how change has been initiated and sustained in Prince Rupert. There is evidence that funding has been targeted to the Network and related inquiry...

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5.8.2 Partnerships with community

Pink Sheep Media — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 04:59:41 +0000

Another important observation about how the AESN operates in Prince Rupert is how it encourages collaborative practices with members of its wider community, particularly Aboriginal communities. This work was well underway in Prince Rupert prior to the start of the AES Network , as the description of the Aboriginal Education Partnership Agreement makes clear. Community leaders are regularly and...

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5.8.1 Nested, interconnected learning systems

Pink Sheep Media — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 04:57:37 +0000

In exploring how the AES Network operates in Prince Rupert what becomes clear is how the Network is nested within and amongst pre-existing and parallel systems of support for teachers and district personnel involved in educating Prince Rupert youth. Inquiry is ubiquitous: there is a seamlessness to the ways in which the Network members work within existing district initiatives...

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5.8 Key features of the AESN in Prince Rupert

Pink Sheep Media — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 04:56:12 +0000

As reported in the methodology section of this report, three focus groups were conducted in Prince Rupert; one was conducted with a mixed group of Network members. The second focus group was with Network leaders—both those who have formal roles within the AESN and other district staff who support the work of the AESN . The third focus group was among the AESN team at Conrad Elementary school...

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5.7 The role of conceptual/big picture thinking

Pink Sheep Media — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 04:55:45 +0000

A caution among some who examine inquiry-based learning is that the specificity of the inquiry can focus on the particularity of a case or situation or reinforce folk theories (personal learning theories based in beliefs) about why certain interventions work or fail. In other words, a focus on the singular case may preclude consideration of how larger contexts or ideas might inform teacher and...

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5.6 Networked teacher learning

Pink Sheep Media — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 04:55:21 +0000

Another theme that became evident was that these teachers wanted to develop ties with other schools, regions or districts around the province to share what they had learned and to learn more from others. There was an intensity to descriptions of their work and how much value they placed on the opportunity to share with and learn from others. For example, references were specifically made to...

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5.5 Shifting teacher beliefs about Aboriginal learners

Pink Sheep Media — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 04:53:14 +0000

As is evidenced in the Prince Rupert Partnership Agreement, culturally responsive teaching is understood to be a powerful pedagogy through which teachers should engage their students in deepened forms of learning that acknowledge the significant contributions Aboriginal peoples have made to Canada, BC , and the Prince Rupert region. This is particularly important in the context of school districts...

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