Community Action Project (CAP)
Credit: Linda McDaniel
RECLAIMING HISTORY THROUGH STORY AND ART: The Big Dance House, The Halalt First Nation
This project was inspired by the work and art of one of our pod members, Kacey Gladstone. After interviewing elders of the Halalt nation, she was able to come up with a visual image of the Big Dance House that used to be at the center of the Halalt village. With no photographs of the dance house available, Kacey’s art was a tool to reclaim a part of the Halalt history. We wanted to create something that would allow for this recreated memory to be shared in the local community while using the same process to invite students to reclaim some of their own memories.
Our original idea was to create a few lessons and teach them in a school close to the Halalt traditional territory. However, we were pressed in time and this didn’t appear feasible to most members of the pod and we even considered rejecting the idea and starting over from the beginning. There were some tensions and frustrations, but we managed to hear everyone’s opinion and problem-solve. After considering everybody’s wishes and concerns about this project idea, we were able to consider a different option: create a unit plan with comprehensive lesson plans to share with the SD79 Resource District. Without having to teach the lessons, we could focus our energies on the development of a resource that would be useful to our community. This option brought everybody together around a common focus and we were able to move forward.
This project was inspired by the work and art of one of our pod members, Kacey Gladstone. After interviewing elders of the Halalt nation, she was able to come up with a visual image of the Big Dance House that used to be at the center of the Halalt village. With no photographs of the dance house available, Kacey’s art was a tool to reclaim a part of the Halalt history. We wanted to create something that would allow for this recreated memory to be shared in the local community while using the same process to invite students to reclaim some of their own memories.
Our original idea was to create a few lessons and teach them in a school close to the Halalt traditional territory. However, we were pressed in time and this didn’t appear feasible to most members of the pod and we even considered rejecting the idea and starting over from the beginning. There were some tensions and frustrations, but we managed to hear everyone’s opinion and problem-solve. After considering everybody’s wishes and concerns about this project idea, we were able to consider a different option: create a unit plan with comprehensive lesson plans to share with the SD79 Resource District. Without having to teach the lessons, we could focus our energies on the development of a resource that would be useful to our community. This option brought everybody together around a common focus and we were able to move forward.
Credit: Linda McDaniel
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Co-creating a unit with 6 people is bound to be challenging, but we also benefited from this process greatly as we learned from each other how we structure and write our lesson plans. We shared ideas, perfected each other’s lessons and we learned a lot from the collaboration. It made me realize that collaborating with other teachers to co-create and co-teach is a great way to grow as a teacher and I will make sure to include this in my practice.
CAP Unit Plan Personal Reflection on CAP |
