From Education

Our Dreams Matter Too: First Nations Children’s Report to the United Nations

(From First Call:)   
This amazing report was written by First Nations children and supported with letters by non-Aboriginal children too.  The 38 letters written by children in this report talk about the inequities in First Nations education and how these impact their futures. The report asks the UN to study the inequities and urge Canada to take immediate action. From the news release:
 
The report was inspired by First Nations youth education activist Shannen Koostachin, founder of the Shannen’s Dream campaign for safe and comfy schools and equitable education, and convened by a group of students from Attawapiskat First Nation and Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation called the “Dream Team.” The report, supported by the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada and the Office of the Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth [Ontario], includes letters from First Nations students across Canada on how the under-funding of schools and education on reserve impacts them and their futures.  Many of the letters echo this statement by Chelsea Edwards, youth spokesperson for the Shannen’s Dream campaign, “Just like Rosa Parks as she started the civil rights movement, we have been sitting at the back of the school bus our entire lives. It was Shannen who rose and walked to the front of the bus, with the company of many children. The back was not a place where we wanted to be, where NO ONE should be.” 
 
French, Cree and Oji-Cree versions of the report are coming soon. Copies of the report and more information about Shannen’s Dream are available at www.shannensdream.ca.

Children’s Right to Play

(From CRRU): Children’s right to play: An examination of the importance of play in the lives of children worldwide
Working paper from the Bernard van Leer Foundation discusses why play is fundamental to the health and well-being of children; argues that both state signatories to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and adults generally should take seriously the importance of providing suitable conditions for children to play.

CRRU News!

Some recent articles and research from The Childcare Research and Resource Unit:

1. Pedagogical Connections (UVIC) http://www.cyc.uvic.ca/uccr/documents/UCCR_newsletter_Fall_10.pdf   Check out the events page!

2. The Effects of Preschool Education (Association for Psychological Science) http://www.psychologicalscience.org/journals/pspi/pspi_10_2.pdf

3. Forest Kindergarten in Central Scotland http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/infd-7sqjg5

4. Connecting with Communities and Creating Welcoming Schools: 2010 Ontario report http://www.peopleforeducation.com/reportonschoolcouncils2010.pdf

Enjoy!