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Responding to feedback from Indigenous youth in northern Alberta schools who noted that their curriculum lacks meaningful connections to their languages and cultural teachings, a University of Calgary research project has partnered with Indigenous communities to lead this work in the Fort Vermilion School Division. 

The Walking Alongside You(th) project, led by , MEd'13, PhD'20, a member of the MĂ©tis Nation of Alberta, includes researchers such as Dr. Stephanie Bartlett, MEd'16, PhD'24. Bartlett has in the Fort Vermilion School Division to understand the effects of language and culture teaching in schools. Bartlett is of Scottish and English heritage and grew up on the West Coast. As a researcher and educator, Bartlett centres land, language revitalization, and creativity in her research and teaching practice.

Bartlett's role is to witness culture and language revitalization in schools. Additionally, she is talking with parents, teachers, and Elders about their thoughts on the language and culture programs and the effects that they are noticing in their communities.

Building working relationships

Before witnessing any learning, Bartlett spent more than a year building research relationships, following protocol, seeking permission, and listening to Elders, land, and community members. When invited into classrooms, she does not take notes. Instead, Bartlett learns alongside youth as the teachers share language through song, art, storytelling, land-based activities, cultural teachings, and ceremony. She gathers stories through conversations with Elders, parents, teachers, and administrators. She also asked youth for their consent to take pictures of artifacts of their learning, such as beading, puppetry, writing, artwork, snowshoeing, and cooking over a fire. 

“The other piece is talking to Elders and community members and parents to understand the ripple effects of what we are doing. What are the students taking home? What are they talking about with their families? And what are the Elders, community members, and parents noticing themselves, and how do they feel?” says Bartlett, a postdoctoral scholar in the .

After gathering stories, she will work alongside the communities to figure out how to best share the stories. 

“I will return to the communities to share the collection of voices and perspectives," Bartlett says. "I will look to the Elders for guidance on how best to share these stories and with whom. We will decide together what knowledge mobilization looks like and how to best share these stories and with whom. Beyond conference presentations and journal articles, we want the communities to celebrate the far-reaching effects of these language and culture programs and to see that they are making a difference.”  

Students experience Beaver language and culture

One incredible story Bartlett recently witnessed was when Diane Kipling, a Beaver cultural educator, invited a Beaver/Cree trapper to teach students about trapping as an important part of Beaver culture. The trapper engaged students from kindergarten to Grade 12 through interactive stories and games, demonstrations of how traps worked, and conversation. Three Elders were also present to share stories and Beaver language. 

The teacher invited students to sing the song they were practising for the upcoming holiday concert. This was the first time that the school would sing in the Beaver language at a school event. The expressions on the Elders’ faces told a story of joy, gratitude, appreciation.  “Diane Kipling, the cultural educator, shared that the Elders were honoured in the front row at the concert and that the event brought the school and community together for the first time in many years, as Beaver language came alive again,” says Bartlett.

Postdoctoral journey 'a gift'

Markides says it has been a gift to share in Bartlett’s postdoctoral journey. "In my ongoing research relationships, we have known that actioning the cultural and language teaching requests from youth has been having a real impact but capturing that impact has been beyond the scope of my current work," she says.

“Dr. Bartlett has embraced the opportunity to witness and share back the evidence of increased student and community engagement in the schools. The work of these educators needs to be supported beyond the grant. Her work will help make this argument and case more compelling towards sustained Indigenous cultural inclusion in our systems of education.”