Page 49 - THE ONTARIO CURRICULUM, GRADES 9 to 12 | First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Studies

In its 2008 report, Shaping a Culture of Respect in Our Schools: Promoting Safe and Healthy Relationships, the Safe Schools Action Team confirmed “that the most effective way to enable all students to learn about healthy and respectful relationships is through the school curriculum” (p. 11). Teachers can promote this learning in a variety of ways. For example, by giving students opportunities to apply critical thinking and problem-solving strategies and to address issues through group discussions, role play, case study analysis, and other means, they can help them develop and practise the skills they need for building healthy relationships. Co-curricular activities such as clubs and intramural and interschool sports provide additional opportunities for the kind of interaction that helps students build healthy relationships. Teachers can also have a positive influence on students by modelling the behaviours, values, and skills that are needed to develop and sustain healthy relationships, and by taking advantage of “teachable moments” to address immediate relationship issues that may arise among students.
Also conducive to healthy relationships are the character traits, values, and habits of mind that are associated with responsible citizenship and outlined in the citizenship education framework (see page 11). Specifically, positive personal interactions are grounded in an understanding of rights, responsibilities, truth, fairness, and justice; in the ability to work collaboratively and cooperatively; and in empathy and respect for others. The integration of citizenship education into the First Nations, Métis, and Inuit studies curriculum pro- vides students with multiple opportunities to develop these attributes, which will not only help them become responsible, active citizens but also support them in fostering healthy relationships within and beyond the classroom.
A climate of cooperation, collaboration, respect, inclusiveness, and open-mindedness is vital in the First Nations, Métis, and Inuit studies classroom, as students grow to appreciate the complexity of the issues, events, and developments they are investigating. Moreover, as they examine issues from multiple perspectives, students learn to respect different points of view. Students develop understanding and empathy as they analyse events and issues from the perspectives of Indigenous peoples in Canada or elsewhere around the world. The attitudes and attributes summarized in the citizenship education framework provide a foundation on which students can base their sense of their own identity and build and maintain healthy relationships. Students may also draw on these attributes
to support and promote healthy, respectful relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous individuals, such as through active participation in groups that promote reconciliation and reciprocity.
EQUITY AND INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IN THE FIRST NATIONS, MÉTIS, AND INUIT
STUDIES PROGRAM
The Ontario Equity and Inclusive Education strategy focuses on respecting diversity, promoting inclusive education, and identifying and eliminating discriminatory biases, systemic barriers, and power dynamics that limit the ability of students to learn, grow, and contribute to society. Antidiscrimination education continues to be an important and integral component of the strategy.
In an environment based on the principles of inclusive education, all students, parents, caregivers, and other members of the school community – regardless of ancestry, culture, ethnicity, sex, physical or intellectual ability, race, religion, creed, gender identity/expression,
SOME CONSIDERATIONS FOR PROGRAM PLANNING
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