Culturally responsive teaching in Yukon First Nation settings

Recent development in Canada's Yukon Territory has awarded Self-Governing Agreements to all of Yukon’s 12 First Nations. SGAs, in principle, provide autonomy to YFN in developing governance structures for all social agencies such as justice, social services and economic operation as well as education. SGAs have the potential to accelerate practices in education responsive to YFN’s cultural knowledge systems and practices, especially the pedagogies to be encouraged in YFN schools. This presentation will focus on the outcomes of discussions in one YFN community where community members shared their stories about teaching and learning. The results of these discussions assist in identifying the learning priorities of schools and classrooms and the pedagogies appropriate for supporting students’ success as culturally located individuals. Also, the responses assist in identifying characteristics of effective teaching within YFN settings. Current research efforts focusing on determining the influence of effective teaching practices on student learning will also be presented