NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: North Slave Region

Tags: traditional knowledge, literacy, indigenous language

Objective(s): To develop a toolkit of theoretical approaches, practices, and tools for supporting Indigenous children’s language, literacy, and cultural knowledge.

Project Description: This licence has been issued for the scientific research application No.5232. Over the next seven years and using collaborative action research methods, research practitioners (e.g., early childhood educators, teachers, parents/caregivers, and community members) from Indigenous communities in Canada and abroad will work with university researchers to develop a toolkit of theoretical approaches, practices, and tools for supporting Indigenous children’s language, literacy, and cultural knowledge. Collaborative action research will be conducted by six Local Partnership Teams (LPT), led by lead research practitioners from Indigenous communities and the co-applicants and partners, and including approximately 6-7 research practitioners in each community (approximately 90 in total across 14 communities). Four to five times each year, team members will visit the northern Indigenous communities that are part of their LPT. During these visits, lead team members and research practitioners in each community will collaboratively develop learning goals and play-based pedagogical practices, tools and approaches to achieve the collaboratively-developed goals. As agreed in the Research Collaboration Agreement, data will be created and shared in consultation with communities. Data will be co-owned by all who are part of the collaborative action research team at Aurora College. Members of the team will have access to data throughout the duration of the project. Permission from members of the collaborative action research team will be needed in order share the data outside the project team. The research team will amend the communications plan in the second year when children in graduate communities will be involved. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from May 12, 2022 to June 30, 2022