ISSUE THIRTEEN | SPRING 2016

T H E M A G A Z I N E O F B C E D U C AT I O N

SUPPORTING NEWCOMER 6

STUDENTS AND FAMILIES

BRINGING BC EDUCATION TO THE WORLD 2
TEACHERS’ COUNCIL CHAIR BECKY BLAIR 10
INTEGRATING FIRST NATIONS PERSPECTIVES INTO MATH 9 12
 SPRING 2016

IN THIS ISSUE
à FEATURE 2

FEATURES
2 BRINGING BC EDUCATION TO THE WORLD
Offshore schools program continues to grow

6 BUILDING CONNECTIONS TO SUPPORT

NEWCOMER STUDENTS AND FAMILIES
Vancouver’s District Reception and Placement Centre
provides comprehensive support for new students

10 OPEN TO LEARNING
In Profile: British Columbia Teachers’ Council Chair
Becky Blair reflects on four decades in BC education

UPDATE
9 British Columbia Teachers’ Council surveys new teachers

EXPLORE
12 INTEGRATING FIRST NATIONS PERSPECTIVES
INTO MATH 9
Prince George classroom engages students through
experiential learning and Aboriginal perspectives

IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST

13 a case study on the standards

Þ IN PROFILE 10 Þ EXPLORE 12 14 professional conduct advisory:

professional boundaries and social media

15 discipline case summaries

IN EVERY ISSUE
5 trb news

ON THE COVER
Jennifer Reddy, Engaged Immigrant Youth Program, and
William Wong, District Reception and Placement Centre, Vancouver

Photographer: Hamid Attie

 EXPLORE
INTEGRATING FIRST NATIONS
PERSPECTIVES INTO MATH 9
The new BC curriculum has expanded opportunities for practical, experiential learning and for the integration
of Aboriginal perspectives and worldviews, all of which came to life for the students in a Grade 9 math class in
Prince George last year.
For the students in Lauren Stelmaschuk’s Mechanics of Math 9 class
last year, math was a lot more than worksheets, drills and textbooks.
Stelmaschuk used a project-based approach that drew on First
Nations culture and concepts to better prepare students for
Apprenticeship and Workplace Math 10.
“All the projects we did were built around different aspects of
First Nations culture across Canada,” she says. “For example, after
designing and building bentwood boxes to explore concepts of
surface area and volume, I invited some elders into the class who
spoke about the importance of these boxes within their culture.”
In another project, students deepened their understanding of
circle geometry by designing and building a model of a pit house.
The students then went on a field trip to the University of Northern
BC to tour a recently built pit house on campus, where they learned
about traditional living arrangements from Aboriginal faculty mem-
bers. “We sat as a community in the house and listened to stories,”
says Stelmaschuk, “and the experience brought the pit house and
First Nations culture to life in a very tangible way.”
Stelmaschuk says that the course was designed to provide support
for 20 students identified by teachers and administrators as po-
tentially benefiting from this approach. And although she had high
hopes for how the emphasis on hands-on learning might translate
into learner engagement, she says she was surprised by just how
positive the experience was for her students.
12 learn spring 2016
“The engagement was amazing. The questions the students
asked were thoughtful and challenging. They often came up with
great analogies when explaining concepts to their classmates,
and they created beautiful projects that were so much a part
of themselves.”
Stelmaschuk mentions one student’s bentwood box that she found
particularly inspiring. “He went through his own family history to bet-
ter understand the links to his clan and tribe, and then designed a
box to show how his family nests together. He represented himself
in the interior of the box, then his immediate family, community,
tribe and region.”
Another notable component of the class was that Stelmaschuk
grouped the students into companies and gave them a budget to
purchase the supplies required to complete each project. “They had
to consult with their classmates to advocate why they should spend
money on certain supplies. I found it fascinating to listen to them talk
about the pros and cons of different support structures for roofs or
the need for extra webbing when building dream catchers.”
Stelmaschuk says that teaching this class has changed the way
she looks at the curriculum, and that she is now always seeking
opportunities to ensure that she finds ways to make concepts “more
tangible and connected to something that students already know
about or want to know more about.” 