It is interesting to see the course unfold in this way and very reassuring as I watch these materials about the medicine wheel as a framework in BC by Martin Brokenleg and read these materials by Bell in Just Do It because I mentioned this in past posts. In this course we discussed the world views of the first nations and the mindset of others. On initial investigation I find that this medicine wheel framework very much holds water to the ideals of the worldview by the first nations people. A big world that stands out to me is "holistic" this is because the the learning needs to occur in use, application and in a sense of togetherness rather than a broken down skill by skill instructional. In order to see the details, one needs to see the "Big Idea" or big picture.
I think some background knowledge about the framework that should accompany this video is that it is a part of BC and it became a big part of the way BC uses "Core Competencies" to promote the ideas of the medicine framework, again-word that sticks out when describing these core competencies, "holistic". The core competencies are pretty much the same thing as Ontario's Global Competency Framework which interestingly enough came out in 2017 (same time of BC's re-branded of its educational framework).
The First Nations' Principles of Learning are ideas that one needs to keep in mind while moving through the study of their choice.As Martin Brokenleg put it, "the studies of someone's heart". This idea of learning how to be a global citizen emerges from these ideals. In context, these teachings that enrich ones life in regards to education are to be understood as ways that one interacts with their trade, others and overall the world in which they are studying within. In the most basic form of application, the respect of elders who are teaching a skill come to mind. Where a youth who may claim to be better equip than their own teacher based on physical or dexterous attributes because of "big-headedness" can be avoided if they had slowed themselves down and taken time to consider what the implications of such words/actions are. Teachings of humility, or as we were more familiar with "The Hidden Curriculum". In 2017 when the Global perspectives framework came out in Ontario/when Core Competencies became something teachers needed to address with classes, it was seemingly to remove the hidden curriculum and replace it with "a framework". This is how I understand it and I feel quite reassured as I read through this base timeline resource, The Hidden Curriculum as published through sociology.iresearchnet.com, much of the hidden curriculum develops a sense of unfiltered inputs that ultimately greatly influence one's identity (force of conformity to the dominant culture), the core competencies and global framework are documents that seek to root out the monopoly on identity development which the hidden curriculum holds. Straight from the BC ministry site on curriculum, "The Core Competencies are sets of intellectual, personal, and social and emotional proficiencies that all students need in order to engage in deep, lifelong learning. Along with literacy and numeracy foundations, they are central to British Columbia’s K-12 curriculum and assessment system and directly support students in their growth as educated citizens." (2022)
The medicine wheel as a framework, I will say (because of experience teaching this "holistic" model of education) is a great idea but teacher training is extremely important in regards to implementation. In facilitating (a lot administration don't like the use of this word in this area) the classroom environment to emphasise moral education/the induction of these principles of learning, teachers need to constantly remind themselves of what is mean't to be assessed and what is mean't to be reflection. There is often a fine line between the two (especially in regards to what we do in Ontario and consider as "meta-cognition"). The Medicine Wheel framework has two things that the BC and ON frameworks don't though, application and a base culture. Without these two things the framework crumbles apart as it is adapted and experimented with to find out how it better suits the needs of the students, teacher and school community. The Medicine Wheel Framework can indeed make the impacts on learners in the way that is aimed, but its extremely important that one understands what it is they need to "look for" and "how to foster it". The framework (I feel through experiential use of a similar framework), is not necessarily designed to be something that is outright taught but used to provide emphasis on the learning of whatever skills or content are being taught. In an example, students may be reading "A Small Place" by Jamaica Kincaid, they may reflect on the voice and tone of the author as angry, and the writing as too informal to be considered an academic narrative worth discussing as a valuable source of information for this or that topic of study. As an educator the values of the text that are emphasised are the things that the framework would endorse and provide guidance to the learner to understand that it may be all those things previously mentioned, but it can also be a), b) and c) too. This is a base top of the head example, but this sounds like a student is developing something an English teacher might assess, "ability to see a argument from other's perspectives" or whatever. It is important to note though that the medicine wheel framework is not for a teacher to assess but for a student to guide themselves with.
In practical application these frameworks are best utilized as what teachers refer to as "exit tickets", or short personal response pieces. The reflection that takes place is usually best down with a rubric or a clipart that shows "I get it/don't get it", "agree with it/don't agree with it", etc.
Sources:
The Hidden Curriculum. sociology.iresearchnet.com. (2022). from http://sociology.iresearchnet.com/sociology-of-education/hidden-curriculum/
BC's Curriculum. British Columbia Government. (2022). from https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/competencies
Brokenleg, M., First Nations Principles of Learning. (2015) . from https://www.martinbrokenleg.com
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