In this study, we offer a unique perspective of time spent in kindergarten and young children's writing by presenting a multi-dimensional analysis of the writing of 72 children (5-years-old) living in northern communities in two Canadian provinces. We administered the "Drawing, Writing, Talking Task" (DWTT), a research-based classroom…

Indigenous communities in Canada have struggled with systemic inequities that have affected education outcomes of their children. In collaboration with a Stoney Nakoda community in Western Canada, a university research team, composed of Indigenous and non-Indigenous members, offered an instruction program designed to use storytelling as a gateway…

In this paper, we examine 4- and 5-year-old Anishinaabek children's text creation and identity (re)formations while involved in collaborative writing with their Anishinaabek teacher about the moose hunting practices of their northern community. The teacher took on a role as an emergent writer alongside the children, voicing her memories of moose…

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) indicates that education for global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity should be embedded at all levels of curricula. In this paper, we share findings from an analysis of curriculum documents in Victoria, Australia and Québec, Canada that identified learning related to this…

In this paper, we describe patterns in and associations between the ways in which young (ages 3-7) children living in northern rural and Indigenous communities in two Canadian provinces communicated ideas as they drew, talked, and wrote in response to researcher prompts. Prompting the children to draw and talk about a personal experience afforded…

Indigenous perspectives and knowledges have been rendered "difficult" to teach and learn due to settler-colonial norms that are naturalized in Ontario's public K-12 education system. We explore how we as educators and teachers with diverse populations of students critically engage pedagogy and knowledge to take up Indigenous perspectives…

This research explores young Indigenous children's multimodal meaning-making to carry out social intentions in dramatic and construction/materials play settings. The participants are two teachers and 21 children from two Northern Canadian Indigenous communities. Underpinned by social semiotic theory, the research involves inductive analyses of six…

The aim of this research was to examine kindergarten to 12th grade teachers' (N = 257) perceptions of school kindness. Teachers were asked to define kindness, provide examples of kindness they had done and received, identify key agents of kindness, and rate the quality of kind acts within their schools. Findings indicate that teachers define and…

This article reports on research examining the social purposes of Indigenous kindergarten children's language and their construction of Indigenous cultural knowledge within and through interactions with peers during dramatic play and play with construction materials. The participants are three teachers and 29 children from two rural northern…

This report provides information about the performance of Aboriginal students (including adults) in British Columbia's public schools. Ten sections include: (1) Introduction; (2) Student and District Context (Kindergarten-Grade 12), 2016/17-2020/21; (3) Foundation Skills Assessment (FSA) Grades 4 and 7, 2016/17-2020/21; (4) Graduation Assessments…

Parents as Literacy Supporters (PALS) is an interactive, culturally responsive, family literacy program that brings parents of kindergartners into the classroom as partners in their children's education. Co-developed by Jim Anderson of the University of British Columbia and Fiona Morrison, Director of Family Literacy and Early Learning at 2010…

The aim of the current paper was to examine the equivalence of the Early Development Instrument (EDI), a teacher rating measure of school readiness, for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children. The current study used an approach, which analyzes the structure and properties of the EDI at the subdomain level. Similar subdomain score distributions…

Background: Aboriginal children are at increased risk for obesity and type 2 diabetes. Healthy Buddies [TM]-First Nations (HB) is a curriculum-based, peer-led program promoting healthy eating, physical activity, and self-esteem. Methods: Although originally designed as a pilot pre-/post-analysis of 3 remote Aboriginal schools that requested and…

This study explored the effectiveness of a speech and language intervention that was designed to be culturally responsive and adapted to provide explicit language instruction. Participants included all 774 kindergarten students from a mid-sized rural school district in British Columbia. Seventy-seven students screened as at risk received the…

Low literacy is a challenge facing Indigenous communities across North America and is an identified barrier to school success. Early literacy intervention is an important target to reduce the discrepancies in literacy outcomes. The Moe the Mouse® Speech and Language Development Program (Gardner & Chesterman, 2006) is a cultural curriculum…