Stories Matter: Using Culturally Relevant Literature to Build Identity and Literacy With Indigenous Students

• In Event: Culturally Relevant Instruction in Indigenous Contexts: New Sites of Meaning

Abstract

Presenters will report on one aspect of a five-year Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council study investigating the impact of indigenous cultural instruction in selected schools in terms of student attendance, achievement, graduation rates and psycho-social development. This session will focus on the role of indigenous literature in supporting literacy and identity-building processes among at-risk Aboriginal high school students. Patterns of student engagement and identity development gained through focus groups and detailed analysis of students’ oral, written, and representational responses to indigenous literature will be presented. These formats not only offer insights into students’ cultural identity experiences but also provide an authentic assessment and record of literacy development as corroborated by significant increases in provincial language arts assessment scores

Authors

• Donna Joan Forsyth, Brandon University

• Helen D. Armstrong, Brandon University

• Jacqueline H. Kirk, Brandon University