Due to COVID-19, teacher candidates in the 2019/20 Bachelor of Education program have had to quickly adapt their teaching and learning styles through the use of online platforms. We are showcasing some of the wonderful examples of projects created by them as part of the community field experience.
Cate May Burton
Elementary & Middle Years (Indigenous Education)
- What is the name of the community partner or group you are working with?
- Be the Change Earth Alliance
- What is your project’s subject area(s)?
- Focus on SEL, education for sustainability, and First Peoples Principles of Learning
- Tell us about your project!
- The organization Be the Change Earth Alliance is developing experiential activities that teachers in upper elementary and secondary classrooms can use as part of their remote education pedagogies.
The toolbox has activities that promote the core competencies of the BC curriculum and are grounded in the First Peoples Principles of Learning. There are activities that focus on sustainability, on intercultural awareness, on place-based curiosity about nature, and more. I am assisting in the development of these activities, which is a really exciting opportunity to weave together experiential activities and my passion for imagining sustainable, socially just, and healthy futures.
The activities are available free for educators at bethechangeearthalliance.org.
- Did you face any particular challenges in the planning, making or delivery of this project?
- My initial idea for the project was to offer online workshops to classrooms about climate action and how to show kindness to ourselves when we feel like the future is uncertain. However, teachers had already responded to Be the Change Earth Alliance already to say that they would like to have an experiential activities toolbox. So I changed my direction for the project.
- How was the project received? Did anything surprise you about the outcome?
- It has been wonderful collaborating with staff at Be The Change Earth Alliance. I feel like I have found a great team to bounce ideas off of and have my input valued as a new teacher. I have realized that experiential education can encompass so many different types of activities and learning.
- Can you tell us about a highlight of creating this remote lesson plan?
- One highlight has been developing a lesson that asks students to make a land acknowledgement personal and meaningful. Taking my learning from the Indigenous Education cohort and collaborating with BTCEA staff makes me hopeful that we can shift settler-Canadian attitudes about the resilient, diverse Indigenous Peoples who continue to steward their lands.
- What media did you use to create your project?
- The experiential activities are written guides and they include many web links to educational sites, blogs and articles.
- Where can we view your project?
- bethechangeearthalliance.org
(Toolbox is available once educators register on the site, which is free!)