BC TEAL is proud to present our 2025 Annual Conference: Disruptive Educational Practices: Strategies for Transformation.
Educators shine in times of change to face unexpected challenges. This is when creativity flourishes by combining proven practices with fresh and innovative ideas. These times call for transformation which can be rooted in tradition or experience, or it can arise through unexplored approaches. The synthesis of old and new ideas drives meaningful progress. Join other insightful and creative educators as we flourish within the power of our community.
Through the evaluation of extension activities and discussion with peers, participants will gain more confidence to recognize and create appropriate materials for their classrooms, ones that appreciate culture rather than appropriate it.
The session will begin with a land acknowledgement and speaker introduction. Participants will then hear a short story about a phone call from a colleague about a problematic speaking activity that inspired the workshop. Next, participants will imagine that they have found an excellent reading resource about ribbon skirts. They want to create an extension activity to go with the lesson. They will have a short time to discuss how confident they would feel making an extension and what they might consider as they create such an activity. Then they will be shown a sample speaking activity to evaluate (Presentation: Create Your Own Ribbon Skirt). Participants will need to think about three main questions: 1) Which parts of the activity are okay? 2) Which parts are problematic? 3) How can we change this to make it an appropriate activity? After some discussion, participants will share their answers to the questions. Then a sample of an appropriate activity for the lesson will be shown along with a definition of cultural appropriation.
Following the example exercise, participants will have time to evaluate 2-3 more extension activities (presentation suggestions, role plays, writing, guest speaker opportunity) using the three guiding questions. After reviewing the sample activities, ideas will be shared with the group through an open discussion format. At the end, participants will be given a list of 5 tips that can guide them as they create and review extension activities. These ideas apply when centering Indigenous content but also any cultural content that is not oneʼs own. If time permits, there will be a short Q&A. Sample slides attached.
Mary Bertucci (she/her/hers) is a LINC instructor and writer living in Metro Vancouver. She focuses on diversifying curriculum and incorporating Indigenous content into EAL.
