Chippewas of the Thames First Nation and its education board are rolling out big changes for Antler River Elementary. Indigenous language and land-based learning will be at the forefront of the new education model at the elementary school, reports the London Free Press, and the staff and programming have been restructured and redesigned in order to better meet the culture and needs of pupils at the school. “We’re really trying to decolonize our system, not taking the traditional principal-vice-principal-director kind of hierarchy approach,” said education board co-chair JoAnn Henry. Instead, Henry explained, the school is looking at “more of a team-based approach” and has hired co-principals Michelle Brown and Jenna Southen. The school’s new education framework, called RAISE (Representation, Amplify, Inspiration, Support, and Engage and Empower), will also see teachers learning how to reflect on themselves, their pedagogy, and the school system as a whole. The First Nation is also reportedly working with the First Nations With Schools Collective to change the current funding model for First Nations schools and address inequities.
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