Collaborating With an Indigenous Community to Teach Storytelling: The Outcomes of a Culturally Relevant Program

• In Event: Fostering Culturally Sustaining Literacies of Justice and Liberation

Abstract

Eurocentric pedagogy has failed to adequately support the literacy development of Indigenous children. As a traditional Indigenous pedagogy, oral storytelling can potentially bridge between the knowledge Indigenous children bring to school and mainstream curriculum, particularly if Indigenous stakeholders, educators, and researchers work together to develop culturally-relevant programing. In pursuit of this objective, a developmentally-based, oral storytelling program was collaboratively fashioned to reflect the culture and experiences of one group of Indigenous children, while minimizing cognitive processing demands through graphic depictions, manipulatives, and paired oral and written presentation. Statistical analyses showed that post-instruction, children’s storytelling and recall was developmentally advanced compared to their comparison group and descriptive comparisons suggested their knowledge of story structure approached those of their mainstream peers.

Authors

• Meadow Schroeder, University of Calgary

• Erin Tourigny, Calgary Board of Education

• Susan Graham, University of Calgary

• Anne M. Mckeough, University of Calgary

• Stan Bird, University of Calgary

• Joan Jeary, University of Calgary

• Jackie Ottmann, University of Saskatchewan

• Duane Mark, Stoney Education Authority

• Clarice Kootenay