“You can’t be what you can’t see.”
—Marian Wright Edelman
This powerful statement highlights the vital role of representation in education. Indigenous students feel valued and empowered when they see their culture, language, and traditions reflected in the classroom. As educators, we have a unique opportunity to create inclusive learning spaces that celebrate Indigenous knowledge, build meaningful relationships, and inspire learners to dream big.
What does supporting Indigenous students look like in everyday classroom practice? How can we create learning environments where Indigenous students feel seen, valued, and empowered? If you’ve ever struggled with these questions, keep reading! This post explores culturally responsive teaching and offers practical strategies to support Indigenous students in meaningful and authentic ways.
Build Meaningful Relationships
It all starts with relationships—getting to know your students beyond their academic abilities and making space for their voices, experiences, and identities to be seen and heard.
Take the time to get to know who they are, including their culture, language, interests, and unique gifts they bring to the classroom. Create meaningful opportunities for students to share their backgrounds through storytelling, art, music, or personal reflections. These moments of sharing help create a sense of belonging, respect, and community within your classroom.
Use Culturally Responsive Teaching Practices
Creating an inclusive classroom starts with intentional, culturally responsive teaching to ensure every learner feels valued, seen, and heard.
“15 Strategies for Teachers of Indigenous Students” is a useful resource for educators seeking to create an inclusive classroom. It provides valuable tips and ideas for creating supportive and meaningful learning experiences for Indigenous students.
Another way to create a culturally responsive classroom is by integrating Indigenous perspectives across subjects. This way, Indigenous knowledge becomes a natural part of everyday learning, routines, and activities rather than being seen as separate.
Integrate Indigenous Perspectives
One powerful approach is Two-Eyed Seeing, a concept introduced by Mi’kmaq Elder Albert Marshall. This concept weaves Indigenous and Western knowledge systems together to create a holistic learning experience.
Indigenous Peoples have always held deep knowledge of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, even if these disciplines were not described in Western terms. It was and is a way of life. It is essential to acknowledge these long-standing Indigenous ways of knowing and weave them into the provincial curriculum.
Indigenous ways of knowing are deeply connected to the land. Creating lessons that intertwine Indigenous land-based learning and the provincial curriculum will foster respect for the environment and deepen cultural connections. Integrating Indigenous perspectives goes beyond a classroom display. Integrating means interlacing Indigenous perspectives into daily learning experiences across all subjects.
Indigenous perspectives can enrich every subject area. Here are just a few examples:
Science: Integrate Indigenous approaches to astronomy, land stewardship, medicinal plants, and sustainable harvesting of berries, fish, or animals.
Art: Invite local Indigenous artists, beaders, storytellers, pow-wow dancers, or drum groups to share and, if possible, teach learners new skills or Indigenous art-study methods, techniques, and cultural expressions.
Language Arts: Incorporate author studies on Indigenous authors, Indigenous storytelling traditions, and oral histories.
Move beyond individual subjects by including class-wide projects that can foster a sense of belonging and cultural expression. Here are a few examples:
Create a Classroom Culture Quilt
Creating a Culture Quilt is a fantastic way to celebrate identity and diversity.
Invite each learner to create a square of fabric or paper representing their culture, interests, language, or identity. When each learner has completed their paper or fabric square, create a quilt by joining each square side by side to visually represent the classroom’s rich diversity and unity. The classroom culture quilt is a daily reminder that every learner belongs, every culture is valued, and every voice matters.
Host a Bannock and Tea With an Elder Event
Another meaningful way to connect students with Indigenous knowledge is by inviting an Elder into the classroom.
An Elder-led gathering allows students to share and listen to stories with the Elder. This is a great time to learn about family, culture, and language. Serving tea and bannock with an Elder will create a warm environment for the students to share and ask questions. Before inviting an Elder into your classroom, take time to learn the appropriate local Protocols and discuss expectations with your community partners.
Continue Building a Culturally Responsive Classroom
Amplify Indigenous Voices: Invite Elders, Knowledge Keepers, or family members to share stories, teachings, or histories. Storytelling is a powerful way to connect learning to lived experiences and identity.
Ensure Representation: Students should see their language, culture, and traditions reflected within the school environment. This representation will create a sense of belonging, value, and connectedness.
Highlight Role Models: Embed role models, success stories, or historical figures within the instruction to create a curriculum deeply rooted in culturally responsive teaching. Representation empowers students to see themselves as capable and important.
Encouraging Self-Reflection
Supporting Indigenous students begins with self-reflection. As educators, we need to examine our own perspectives, assumptions, and teaching practices to create learning environments where every learner feels seen, heard, and valued.
Some questions to consider:
- How do I ensure Indigenous students feel valued and heard in my class?
- How am I integrating Indigenous perspectives authentically?
This self-reflection practice will resonate in the classroom and foster relationships with students and families.
A few ideas for reflection include seeking out learning opportunities that align with your needs. One example would be to attend professional development workshops or webinars focusing on Indigenous history, teachings, or ways of knowing.
A great place to start is the Indigenous Canada course created by the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta. This free online course explores complex experiences Indigenous Peoples face today, as well as national and local Indigenous-settler relations from an Indigenous perspective.
Additional ways to connect include reading books, listening to podcasts, attending community events, or sitting with an Elder, community members, or Knowledge Keeper.
We create meaningful change by taking the time to reflect on our biases, teaching approaches, and classroom practices. But self-reflection is just one part of the journey—our commitment to representation and cultural responsiveness must extend into all parts of education.
A Commitment to Students
Representation matters.
By embracing the Two-Eyed Seeing approach, fostering meaningful relationships, and ensuring representation in curriculum and classroom spaces, as educators, we can create environments that nurture pride, identity, and success.
By prioritizing self-reflection, culturally responsive teaching, and meaningful relationships, we create classrooms where Indigenous students feel a strong sense of belonging, and every learner benefits from richer, more inclusive learning experiences.