Ontario school board, First Nations team up to create course material

Teachers at the Lambton Kent District School Board are getting more resources, like videos, to help them implement the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Chris Riley is the Aboriginal Liaison for the school board. He's started working on ways to help educators in his district teach their students about Indigenous issues.

"[Teachers] don't feel like they are trained to deliver this type of curriculum," he said.

One of Riley's first projects is producing videos to help condense the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's report into something more digestible and deliverable. The first video is still in production.

The Lambton board approached leaders in various Indigenous communities, including Isadore Day, the regional Chief for Ontario. Day thinks the school board will be happy with what they are getting from this project, but points out that the subject matter is heavy at times.

"We're all Treaty people, living in Canada. You know there was a lot of discussion that had to get broken down," says Day.

Riley is working towards creating a comprehensive batch of materials that teachers can use for professional development. He hopes to have at least some of this ready by late October.

"My hope is to provide a package that would be essentially in all the schools within the board, and at some point in time all teachers and staff would be able to view it...to address what is happening regarding the truth and reconciliation," he said.