Made up of an educational booklet and DVD, the Full Circle: First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Ways of Knowing: A Common Threads Resource guide is meant to fill in the gaps that are missing within contemporary education concerning Indigenous peoples, history and culture. Created by 13 members of the Ontario Secondary School Teacher’s Federation (OSSTF/FEESO), the majority of which are First Nations, Métis, or Inuit authors, this resource attempts to educate Ontario students on matters concerning Indigenous Studies in a sensitive and respectful way that honours Indigenous ways of knowing while also approaching each topic holistically. This resource represents an important step in creating an educational curriculum that is factually accurate as well as inclusive and culturally sensitive.
Acting as the foundation of this activity kit, the physical booklet works as both a guide to the accompanying DVD, but also as an educational resource that touches on Indigenous experiences with Land, Residential Schools, health and identity. These four broader topics are then broken down into four sub-categories that concern the associated physical, emotional, mental and spiritual aspects of each. By exploring these topics in such a holistic way, a deeper, more thorough and accurate understanding of Indigenous peoples, history and culture is offered while maintaining respect for the traditional ways of knowing of the communities being studied. Along with its factual text, this item also includes a multitude of activity sheets that help to provide context to the material being taught.
The accompanying DVD of this kit features a documentary that follows the lives of six Indigenous youth. Throughout the documentary, each individual describes their lived experiences as an Indigenous person, and the various ways that their journey to self-discovery has been influenced by their culture. By sharing the many ways that they have struggled and succeeded in celebrating their culture and heritage, the footage of the Indigenous youth in this film help to encourage understanding and respect for Indigenous people, culture and history.
While this resource is an excellent accompaniment to any course or unit within Indigenous studies broadly, the social issues being discussed are in fact cross-curricular and were developed to be used within history, geography, family studies, physical education and health, business, technological education civics, careers, social studies, English and science curricula. With its table of contents that outlines how each section of the resource can be used for each aforementioned subject, the creators of this resource demonstrate the many ways that the content provided in this book can and should be applied in the classroom so to recognize, acknowledge and respect Indigenous education.
The Full Circle: First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Ways of Knowing: A Common Threads Resource activity kit is currently on display on the ground floor of the OISE Library, next to the Circulation Desk—OISE students, please feel free to check it out! Like using activity kits in the classroom? Check out the OISE Library K-12 Manipulative Database or browse the 3rd floor of the Library.
