Aboriginal Beliefs, Values, and Aspirations in Contemporary Society

Assessment & Evaluation of Student Achievement
Assessing, evaluating, and communicating student achievement are essential elements of course planning
and implementation. The Achievement Chart for Native Studies provides a good foundation for
structuring assessment practices and measuring degrees of understanding. The four categories of
knowledge and skills – (Knowledge/Understanding, Thinking/Inquiry, Communication, and Application)
present a structure for assessment and evaluation that measures the level of achievement of the
expectations accomplished by the student.
Directing individual students to explore Aboriginal values, beliefs, and aspirations from a variety of
perspectives requires a clear context for students to conduct their studies. Due to the nature of the subject
material addressed, teachers need to be sensitive and aware of experiences, beliefs, and values that are
significant to individual students and Aboriginal communities. Teachers must employ a variety of
assessment methods, including paper-and-pencil assessment (e.g., short-answer tests involving
constructed responses, quizzes, opinion papers), performance-based assessments (e.g., essays, posters,
artistic representations, videotaping), and personal communication-based assessments (e.g., oral
presentations by individual and groups). The Ministry of Education’s policy on assessment and
evaluation requires that 70% of students final mark be based on term work and 30% on a final evaluation
or culminating activity.
Resources
Note Concerning Permissions
Units in this profile make reference to the use of specific texts, magazines, films, and videos. Before
reproducing materials for student use from books and magazines, teachers need to ensure that their board
has a Cancopy licence and that resources they wish to use are covered by this licence. Before screening
videos for their students, teachers need to ensure that their board/school has obtained the appropriate
public performance videocassette licence from an authorized distributor (e.g., Audio Cine Films Inc.).
Teachers are also reminded that much of the material on the Internet is protected by copyright. That
copyright is usually owned by the person or organization that created the work. Reproduction of any
work or a substantial part of any work on the Internet is not allowed without the permission of the owner.
Note: The URLs for the websites have been verified by the writer prior to publication. Given the
frequency with which these designations change, teachers should always verify the websites prior to
assigning them for student use.
The first text listed is especially recommended as it is useful for all units of the course.
Ahenakew, Freda and H.C. Wolfart, eds. Our Grandmothers’ Lives As Told in Their Own Words.
Saskatoon: Fifth House Publishers, 1992. (Cree - stories, life history)
Alfred, Taiake. Peace, Power, Righteousness – an indigenous manifesto. Canada: Oxford University
Press, 1999. (Haudenosaunne - philosophy/political)
Anderson, Kim. A Recognition of Being: Reconstructing Native Womanhood. Second Story Press, 2000.
(Cree/Métis-woman/identity-social issues)
Armstrong, Jeanette. “The Disempowerment of First North American Peoples and Empowerment
Through Their Writing.” In Moses and Goldie, T. Anthology of Canadian Native Literature in English.
Oxford University Press, 1992. (Okanagan woman-giving voice to oppression)
Asch, Michael. “Aboriginal Rights and the Canadian Constitution.” In Home and Native Land. Toronto:
Methuen, 1984. (Anthropologist’s discussion of self-determination- appendix includes idea of inherent
rights)
Barkwell, Lawrence J. Claiming Our Inheritance: Métis Youth Labour Market Awareness Conference.
Ottawa: Human Resources Development Canada, 1997.
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