Residential Schools News Deep Dive

My class knew (vaguely) about residential schools.  In conversation about them, one student said, "I don't get what the big deal was.  They had to go to school.  So do I."   A problematic view, for sure.  But a great opportunity for education.  I wanted my students to learn about the atrocities of the Residential School System, but it had to be a) age and stage appropriate, b) reflect the terror that was the residential schools and c) fit into the curriculum (which is easier to justify than you think.)

So our big question was, "What was so bad about Residential Schools?" And we set out to answer it with some case studies.

The Activity

And that sparked this "Deep News Dive" for the class.  In this post, I will outline how I introduced, and taught this media/ social studies lesson, as well as how I developed the lesson materials.

Graffiti Wall- Click to enlarge

To introduce the lesson, we looked at a painting by Kent Monkman (Sidebar:  I know that Kent Monkman is a controversial figure right now after the unveiling of his most recent painting (LINK HERE).  However, the painting above title "The Scream" is a great artistic representation of some of the emotions of the kidnapping of Indigenous children in a dynamic visual.  And, it's  a great example of current Indigenous Arts and culture in Canada.

Our introductory activity was a graffiti wall.  Students looked at the painting, and they were to write their first thought on what they thought was going on in the picture.  You can see some of the thinking in the picture above.  There are some interesting responses.  On the one hand, this activity was able to flush out some of the racist thinking that my students have been exposed to eg. "I see drunk people" or "red guys and dead guys,"  which is helpful for me because I know what they've been exposed to so I can address it.  Also, students picked out some great details that we expanded on in our discussions eg. "nuns were taking the kids away," and "no cloths" [sic] recognizing the poverty of the Residential System.  One thing that popped up a number of time was the violence of the kidnapping of the children.  This common comment was our starting point.

We watched a clip of a documentary by Al-Jezeera about the residential schools in Canada, that was the experience of a man who was taken away by Mounties.  Students listened to his story, about the school, and then we got to work on the news stories.

Student notes

In groups, students were given a news story about one specific residential school.  Each students had a role: There was a reader, a note taker, a time-keeper for discussions, and question asker and presenter for each group.  While they read, they had to capture important information about the school their group was focussed on, and they noted the text features of the articles.  We focused on the by-lines mainly for this class.) I printed out articles for the groups to focus on.

The articles that each group read were:

• https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/mohawk-home-children-spanish-school-1.5025062
• https://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/residential-school-survivor-recalls-hungry-eight-years-in-port-alberni-1.543526
• https://www.cbc.ca/2017/canadathestoryofus/how-stanley-redcrow-and-first-nations-activists-reclaimed-the-blue-quills-residential-school-1.4108629
• https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/specialseries/2017/01/canada-dark-secret-170130091149080.html
• https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/st-anne-residential-school-opp-documents
• https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/winnipeg-famous-gramma-shingoose-1.4349879

But there are many more.  I had no problem finding articles on Residential schools and their history of abuse.  While reading the articles, students had to infer what happened at the school.  For example, one article noted that a mass grave of human remains was found.  Students had to figure our what that meant.  

After the "News Dive" students had to present their finding to the classy where each student needed to take notes on this sheet:

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After the presentations, students had time to look at the note sheets from each group to fill in their note frame (for students who could not get all the information down from the presentations.)

Many of my students were shocked at the conditions of the residential schools and the abuses of the students.   After this activity, students had a clearer picture of the difference between the school they attend, and the Residential schools that Indigenous children were forced to endure/ survive.  To consolidate this lesson, each student took our "big" question, and wrote a journal response, answering it based on the new learning they had.

How does this fit into the curriculum?

Social Studies, Grade 6 Overall Expectations

• A2- use the social studies inquiry process to investigate different perspectives on the historical and/or contemporary experiences of two or more distinct communities in Canada 
• A3. demonstrate an understanding of significant experiences of, and major changes and aspects of life in, various historical and contemporary communities in Canada

This is an important issue for many Indigenous communities, and should be for non-indigenous population of Canada.  The abductions of indigenous children was a terrible blow to Indigenous communities.  Not only was it a terrifying experience for the children, the residential school system worked to erase the culture and identity of the children who suffered in these school.  How many languages are in peril because children were not allowed to use and learn them?  How many communities dwindled with shrinking population of lost children?  More, the experience of residential schooling affects indigenous communities today.  It's something that all Canadian should be aware of,  and want to acknowledge.

Language, Grade 6 Reading Expectations:

• 1.4- demonstrate understanding of increasingly complex texts by summarizing and explaining important ideas and citing relevant supporting details 
• 1.5- develop interpretations about texts using stated and implied ideas to support their interpretations

Students read the news articles, and they had to infer the meaning of what happen in each school, based on the text provided by the reporter.  The note-taking both in each group and during the presentations help students focus on important details and summary, based on the guiding questions provided.