APPENDIX

D. Student Research

What is the place of student research in the Dene Kede program?

Research involves locating, gathering and organizing information.

In the Dene Kede program, students are researching topics which are related to being Dene (the land, history, stories, traditional skills, etc.).

1. Locating and Gathering Information

Locating and gathering information is the "Input" stage in the cycle of learning. There are a variety of sources for researching cultural information.

• Elders have an unparalleled quantity and breadth of experience to share. For example, students can:
  • listen to their stories
  • look at long-ago photographs together
• Community leaders and individuals have skills and resources to share. For example, students can:
  • watch someone make a fire
  • watch someone prepare fish for cooking walk into the bush with a knowledgeable parent and identify plants.
• Photographs from the past contain much information.
• Certain families or homes in the community may be involved in interesting cultural activities which they could share with students.

When researching with elders, teachers and students must take into consideration the special way they have of providing information.

• Their stories will often unfold around a certain topic in a holistic fashion. They will revolve around a point with many concrete stories and examples, lasting for a significant period of time until the point is firmly established.
• The truth or meaning is often implicit rather than explicit, and embedded in the story. It is up to the listener to draw from the listening experience what is required. This is perhaps the elders' way of causing the listener to think and reflect.

Researching enables students to follow their interests and aptitudes.

• Teachers should help students to identify what their interests and strengths are.
• Teachers should be flexible enough to allow a student or a group of students to explore and research further on topics of interest to them. Independent research and extended research should be encouraged and arranged.

2. Recording and Summarizing Information

Researched information can be recorded and summarized in different ways either by the teacher or by the students independently or with the help of the teacher. Every type of recording is important in the research process. The information can be used by the teacher to formatively test student understanding of the Dene concepts or skills.

There are several ways to record and summarize information:

• Information can be recorded into an interesting and easily-read format.
• One way of recording information is with photographs. During special activities or cultural experiences, photographs taken can be kept as a permanent record to accompany information. The photographs can be used as a follow-up to review or reinforce learning.
  • Information can be recorded and summarized into visual forms using a variety of materials and means other than the written form:modelling
  • construction,
  • drawing and painting
  • picture booklets
  • graphs, charts, maps
  • annotated photographs or pictures
  • scrapbooks
  • photo albums
• Research recorded by the students should be kept in a special place in the school so it can be used for future reference by students.

3. Sharing Researched Knowledge

Once the students have shown that they understand the information that they have gathered and organized, the next step in the learning cycle is to share the information or what they have learned with the community. This is the "Output" stage. The community benefits from the information but also the community can see what the students are learning and give recognition to the students. Community recognition is important in building self-esteem and a Dene identity.

Below are some ways in which knowledge can be shared with the community:

Displays

• Students can create hands-on activity-based displays to involve others in the information gained through research. Observers can be asked to match items, respond, or add to the display.
• Students can place photographs of elders with researched information about the elders in an important place within the school.
• Students can collect quotes from elders through research and choose quotes appropriate for themes they are working on. These can be displayed in a prominent place so that others will notice them.
• Students can put elders' words into a self-expressed picture and display the pictures in prominent locations.
• Displays can be set up in places other than the school. The Band Office, Seniors Home, Community Halls, Nursing Stations can all benefit by the messages in a display.

Demonstrations and Presentations

• Dramatization of a legend or an event that occurred on the land.
• Class newsletters can feature children writing about their experiences.
• Oral presentations to community groups such as the Elders, the Band Council, the Community Education Committee.
• Existing school wide activities and events should, as much as possible, integrate activities of a traditional nature. For example, the science fair may incorporate a special category for student prepared projects involving traditional Dene technology; games days can incorporate traditional Dene games organized by the Dene Kede students.

Celebrations and Feasts

• Students can be involved in planning and organizing a feast or celebration in the classroom or the school
• Students can help in preparing for a feast or celebration at the community level by making the bannock or contributing traditional tea. They can also have the honor of serving the elders or offer to tidy up after the gathering.
• In the event that a celebration of an individual student's accomplishments is in order (such as a young man's first hunt) the teacher and class should become involved only with the permission and involvement of the parents of the individual.

Community Radio and Newspapers

• After hearing an elder's story, students can write about it and share with the community via the radio or newspaper. They learn not only to listen effectively when researching with the elder, but also to re-tell stories in oral and written form.
• Students can prepare information for different purposes in a variety of forms for the newspaper or the radio: e.g. weather reports, comings and goings of people, reports about hunting or trapping trips, translation of interesting pieces of news from T.V. news, etc.