How can we meaningfully engage with and actualize Truth and Reconciliation in our classrooms, and school community?​

​How might we increase staff knowledge and learning of what decolonizing our schools looks like, and what impacts will this have on our community, our teaching practices, and students’ learning experiences.

Why this matters:

We are noticing things we could change and improve in our school to make it more welcoming and inclusive of Indigenous culture.​

Changing our teaching and intentional focuses on Indigenous.​

Having a deeper understanding of the respectful ways of teaching about Indigenous culture and questioning what and how we are teaching it.

What was learned?

• How to start to assess and be considerate when choosing resources to share with our students and the whole school.​

• We learned about some of our own biases we didn’t know we held​

• Became more thoughtful about how systems have been set up in our own province to discriminate against Indigenous peoples.​

• New ways to support Indigenous artists in our community.​

• That we still have so much to learn.​

• That progress, even if it feels slow is progress.

How is it making a difference for students?

• We have made our land acknowledgement a staple during school activities. These land acknowledgments are often made by students who make personal connections to our place here at Hamilton.​

• We have been looking through resources that are suited for staff growth as well as literature to use in our classrooms.​

• Creating thoughtful connections and space for reflection during the Orange Shirt Day and plans for the upcoming National Indigenous Day, and in our everyday teaching within our own classrooms.