Introduction to Dene Kede

Return to A Dene Perspective
 

 
 

Curriculum Status

The Dene Kede Curriculum is an official curriculum supported by the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, Government of the N.W.T. It was produced by Dene developers with the guidance of many elders from each of the Dene regions.

It is expected that Dene teachers will use this curriculum to guide them in the creation of their own community-based programs. Each teacher will have to interpret the expectations in terms of what is specific to his or her community, and use the language, material resources and people of the community to bring the curriculum to life in the form of a local program.

Since this is a community-based curriculum, each community will have a program unique to its own needs. The extent to which the curriculum is used within a school will depend upon the desires and needs of the community. Where one school may use the curriculum as a Dene-based perspective within which to organize teaching of all other subjects, another school may confine the use of the curriculum to the second language classroom.

Back to Contents

Curriculum Components

The curriculum consists of three components:

General Learner Expectations for students, Kindergarten through Grade Six in four areas of student development from the perspective of the Dene: student relationships with the spiritual world, the land, other people and themselves. The expectations are intended to be generic, that is, broad and general enough to apply to all five of the Dene tribes of the N.W.T.: the Chipewyan, the Dogrib, the North Slavey, the South Slavey and the Gwich'in.

Specific Learner Expectations in the following areas:

Student relationship with the land

Student relationship with the spiritual world

Student relationship with other people

Student relationship with themselves

Also, specific expectations are provided to guide the teacher in setting goals for students who have Dene as a first language, as well as for students who are learning a Dene language as their second language.

Back to Contents

Thematic Units

Approximately fifty thematic units are outlined as a possible basis from which to develop a Dene program within a school. The thematic units are generic in the sense that they apply in greater or lesser measure to all regions, and in the sense that they form the content considered core to the Dene culture.

Each unit consists of learning expectations and examples of key learning experiences appropriate for students at various grade levels. The learning expectations correspond to the specific expectations identified in the curriculum in the areas of Land, Spiritual World, Others, and Self.

The thematic units can be an organizational framework for determining how existing learning resources can be used as well as for the development of new learning resources. Using these units, it will become evident what kinds of resources are most needed to be developed.

Back to Contents

The Place of Our Elders in Dene Kede

We have always understood the wealth that our elders possess, but we have not been so sure of their place in the fast-paced world of technology. By seeing children as the key to our future, we realize that we must impart in them the Dene perspectives identified as crucial to our survival. Our elders must be given a place in our formal education system so that these values and perspectives can be passed on to our children, who will be working with the technological tools and knowledge that the modern world provides. The elders will be an essential resource to the teacher when organizing key cultural experiences for the students. These experiences, along with the presence of our elders, will give students a firm grounding in Dene perspective.

Back to Contents

The Place of Language Learning in Dene Kede

The Dene languages must be viewed not as ends in themselves but rather as tools that enable us to access the knowledge and wisdom of the elders, and to help us better understand the Dene perspective. Language is viewed by the Dene as a gift from the Creator to enable us to reach back into our past and our history in order that we can go forward toward survival. The Dene languages help us to establish good relationships with the spiritual world, other people, the land and ourselves.

Back to Contents

The Place of Dene Learning Resources in Dene Kede

For years now, Dene teachers have been actively creating Dene language and culture learning resources for schools and classrooms in the N.W.T. Each of these resources is valuable for the skills and knowledge it imparts, and for the effort and time it represents on the part of the developers. The Dene Kede Curriculum, with its broad Dene goals and perspectives, gives a place to each of these resources. All resource materials that have been produced to date have an important role to play in the successful implementation of Dene Kede. As the various regions and schools develop teaching units using the Dene Kede curriculum, it is hoped that they will incorporate the many existing resources as well as develop new ones. A preliminary attempt has been made by the developers of Dene Kede to mention relevant resource materials in each of the thematic units contained in this curriculum.

Back to Contents

The Place of Academic Subjects in Dene Kede

At one time in the formal school system, the academic subjects were very much tied to purpose. Numbers and math had to be learned to enable students to engage in money transactions or for particular kinds of jobs. Literacy was important for reading the Bible or for reading instructions. Today, some subjects have become so abstract that often our students lose sight of why they must learn them.

Dene Kede attempts to give some perspective as to why these subjects are important. Science and geographic knowledge are important in giving us a greater understanding of the land. Knowledge about our physical bodies and well-being (health) is an important part of our being capable on the land and surviving. The study of other tribes and people with respect to their similarities and differences (social studies) is an important aspect of establishing good relationships with other people. Knowledge and skills such as these, taken together, are vital for our survival.

Back to Contents

Scope and Sequence

The scope and sequence of learning expectations in past curricula have been based upon a learning model which is linear and comparative. Learning was outlined in steps and stages. Students were expected to follow through these stages together, and at the end were compared in terms of how well they mastered the content. For example, reading was divided into mastery of phonics, then reading of a word, then a sentence, then a paragraph.

In keeping with a Dene perspective on education, this curriculum subscribes to a cyclic and individualized learning model which more closely parallels the traditional model for learning. Children were exposed repeatedly to a holistic and authentic experience from the culture (experiences such as spring camping or making dry meat). A child and an adult would have the same experience but through years of experience, the adult would be more proficient in the experience than the child. Each person would get from any experience that for which he or she was ready. For example, young girls were exposed to sewing or beading and allowed to try a simple project rather than being kept at parts of the project.

The scope of the expectations for the children is provided in four categories: in their relationships with the spiritual world, other people, the land and themselves. The expectations are sequenced with culturally accepted levels of "proficiency" or awareness (e.g. "seeking opportunities to learn from respected individuals in the community" grades 4-6).

Back to Contents

Experiential Learning

The teaching approach advocated by this curriculum is based on the use of Key Cultural Experiences. Key Cultural Experiences here are understood to be:

Whole experiences rather than parts of one.

Doing rather than analyzing.

Authentic,realistic or natural activities within the Dene culture.

Experienced at different levels of awareness and ability depending upon the individual.

Experienced over and over throughout a lifetime with a spiralling development of awareness and ability in individuals.

It is in the context of these cultural experiences that students learn the perspectives that are distinctly Dene. The perspectives can be taught in other ways as well, such as through discussion or hearing stories. However, they are best taught in a "lived" experience. Teachers, schools and communities must enable such experiences as much as possible to make Dene Kede come alive. Analysis, practice, review, and reflection are activities which occur as offshoots to these key cultural experiences. Also, basic academic skills, including language skills, are taught as offshoots to these key cultural experiences.

Back to Contents

Evaluation

The primary form of evaluation proposed for Dene Kede is formative evaluation. The individual is measured against himself or herself rather than against others. It is expected that each student will progress over time, becoming more capable in terms of the indicators identified in the learning expectations. Emphasis on formative evaluation requires the teacher to keep very precise records to pass on with each student from year to year. Student self-evaluation is an important component of Dene Kede. This is a modern-day attempt to bring the child back to the Dene way of being self-aware, self-responsible and self-motivated.

Back to Contents

 
  Return to Home Page