LON 360° Framework for Essential Understandings
Through the LON 360° Indigenous Education Initiative, educators gain insights into the longstanding inhabitation of the Niagara Region by Indigenous peoples; Indigenous cultural practices and protocols often adopted by Europeans; relations established between Indigenous and European peoples; history of alliances involving First Nations and Great Britain, including detailed information about Indigenous contributions prior to and during the War of 1812; appropriate use of terminology; significance of place names; meaningful cultural, historical, and natural world sites in Niagara; the importance of Indigenous knowledge and contributions to science with practical examples from the Smithsonian Institution; Indigenous ecological and conservation knowledge; and much more.
ten essential understandings:
- Indigenous Peoples Cultures
- Time, Continuity, and Change
- People, Places, and Environments
- Individuals, Groups, and Institutions
- Power, Authority, and Governance
- Production, Distribution, and Consumption
- Nature, Science, Technology, and Society
- Global Connections
- Civic Ideals and Practices
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action 62 and 63 explicitly state that changes to the way we educate students in schools are imperative in furthering efforts on reconciliation. LON 360° took these recommendations to heart in working with Niagara’s prominent schools and school districts to develop an Indigenous Education Initiative for the Niagara Region. The Initiative includes 1) the development of a framework for Indigenous subject matter education tied to the Ontario curriculum; 2) teacher training on Indigenous subject matter, and 3) instructional materials and Internet-based lesson modules for use in classrooms across the region.
In pursuing these recommendations, the accomplishments achieved by the LON 360° Indigenous Education Initiative have been on-point and substantial. The work began by forming the LON 360° Roundtable comprised of history, archaeology, and arts scholars, and Indigenous cultural resource and language specialists whose expertise regarding Niagara’s Indigenous experience is extensive. In fact, a primary benefit of the LON 360° process has been the establishment of this brain trust capable of examining all manner of Indigenous issues related to the Niagara Region. This group, competent and comfortable in its review, deliberation, and debate of complex histories and contemporary societal dynamics, is unparalleled in its capacity for analysis and intellectual determination in consideration of the Indigenous experience. But moreover, with this process being successfully implemented in Niagara, it can also serve as a model for all of Canada on how to incorporate Indigenous knowledge effectively, and with rigorous scholarship and factual accuracy, into classroom curricula.
The Roundtable was tasked with conceptualizing the Framework for Essential Understandings About Indigenous Peoples of the Niagara Region. This document, first published in 2018, was updated when the Second Edition was released in September 2020. (We’ll make sure that Parliament members each receive a copy of this innovative scholarly work.) Also, in 2020, LON 360° completed the delivery of a specialized professional development teacher training program for master teachers identified by its major educational partners.
Think of LON 360° and the Ten Essential Understandings as the “software” that backs up the “hardware” of several nationally significant historic sites and permanently installed public artworks and memorials. These include Landscape of Nations: The Six Nations & Native Allies Commemorative Memorial in Queenston Heights Park, the First Nations Peace Monument in DeCew House Heritage Park, and the contemporary public art installation entitled Curtain Call, at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre.
Teachers were themselves taught with the same inaccuracies and incomplete materials that have produced the widespread misunderstanding of Indigenous peoples within Canadian society. Working under the demands of testing and curriculum guidelines they have few opportunities to rectify their own lack of knowledge and confidence in teaching about Indigenous subject matter. Professional development that meets teachers where they are can help transform teaching on subjects that must include Indigenous knowledge and perspective. Teacher training is therefore the key element of LON 360°.
Arming teachers with exemplary content and building expertise in teaching Indigenous subject matter lies at the heart of LON 360°. Professional Development is key to ensuring that systemic advancement in Indigenous knowledge can be sustained in the Niagara Region and across Canada over the long term.
As a result, this past year LON 360° developed a rich, engaging, accurate, authentic, and inclusive teacher training program centered on Indigenous histories and issues associated with the Niagara Region, many which have national significance. This training is effective in its support of pedagogical strategies and the integrated use of the technologies also being developed by LON 360° for the forthcoming educational modules being produced for classroom use.
First came the Essential Understandings Framework. Next came professional development for teachers to become competent and confident in teaching Indigenous subject matter. And now, their team is deeply involved in creating instructional materials for the benefit of students throughout the entire Niagara region and beyond. Developed as multimedia educational materials these modules will be located on The Great Niagara Escarpment Indigenous Cultural Map, the digital platform specifically designed for Indigenous place-based experiential learning.
“Educators and School Administrators have been waiting for a long time for a resource as authentic and comprehensive as the Ten Essential Understandings from LON 360°. There is both a deep desire and need in classrooms across the country to acknowledge and educate our students, the future generation, on Indigenous contributions to the history of Canada and to share the stories, beliefs, and perspectives of this important group of peoples. These Ten Essential Understandings will provide the much-needed content knowledge and contemporary lens that is required to teach Indigenous history and perspectives in a comprehensive, respectful, and informed way. As both a teacher and school leader, I know this document in the hands of educators will make an enormous impact on the way we share knowledge with our students, and subsequently on the way they will share their knowledge with those they encounter in their paths and lives ahead.” — JULIA CAIN MURRAY, Head of School, Royal Oak Community School
