Page 113 - THE ONTARIO CURRICULUM, GRADES 9 to 12 | First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Studies

Course Introduction
English: Understanding Contemporary
First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Voices,
Grade 11
University Preparation (NBE3U) College Preparation (NBE3C) Workplace Preparation (NBE3E)
OVERVIEW
“English: Understanding Contemporary First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Voices” is designed as an alternative to the Grade 11 compulsory courses of the English curriculum. The English curriculum is based on the belief that language learning is essential to responsible and productive citizenship, and that all students can become successful language learners. The curriculum is designed to provide students with the knowledge and skills that they need to achieve this goal. The program helps students develop a range of essential skills in the four interrelated areas of oral communication, reading and literature studies, writing, and media studies, built on a solid foundation of knowledge of the conventions of standard English and incorporating the use of analytical, critical, and metacognitive thinking skills. Students learn best when they are encouraged to consciously monitor their thinking as they learn, and these courses include expectations that call for such reflection.
“English: Understanding Contemporary First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Voices” focuses on these core competencies through exploration of text forms emerging from First Nations, Métis, and Inuit cultures in Canada, and also of the perspectives and influence of texts that relate to those cultures. The knowledge and skills described in the expectations will enable students to understand, respond to, and appreciate a full range of literary, infor- mational, graphic, oral, media, and cultural texts and to create their own texts in a variety of forms.
Cultural text forms such as clothing and regalia, stories, songs, music, dances, and cultural practices embody social and cultural meanings in relation to their use in contemporary and historical contexts. Exploration of these text forms is therefore a crucial component of “English: Understanding Contemporary First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Voices”. It is critically important that students are taught to engage responsibly with these text forms, as well to follow appropriate cultural protocols to ensure respect for First Nations, Métis, and Inuit cultures. These protocols vary from nation to nation.
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