Black Gold teachers learn Indigenous history through river valley walk
More than 30 teachers and staff from across Black Gold School Division spent time in Edmonton’s river valley earlier this week. Together participants explored Indigenous history through walking, listening, and reflection. The river valley walk brought together one teacher from each Black Gold school, along with Division staff, for a day of land-based learning with Dr. Dwayne Donald.
Donald, an Indigenous professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta, guided participants through stories connected to the land, the Edmonton river valley, and Indigenous history in the area. The walk encouraged staff to approach learning from the perspective of truth and connection.
“As an educator, sometimes our experience is disembodied, informational, and impersonal,” says Donald. “When people are outside, listening to the birds, we wake up something that’s been asleep.”
Participants walked paved and unpaved trails beneath the High Level Bridge while stopping for discussion, teaching, and reflection. The experience focused on learning directly from the land and understanding the histories that continue to shape the community today.
Michael Swampy, Black Gold’s Indigenous Lead Instructional Curriculum Coach, believes opportunities like this are important because Indigenous knowledge helps deepen learning for both staff and students.
“We understand why Indigenous knowledge is so important,” says Swampy. “The histories and the stories connected to this land can only honour and help develop our own personal learning, but also help our students’ learning as well.”
Swampy said one of his biggest takeaways was hearing new perspectives and learning alongside others. “I think creating environments like this, where we’re able to actually learn on the land, is the best way to honour that knowledge,” he says.
For Black Gold teachers, the walk also offered a chance to better understand the history of the place they call home.
“I’m not from Alberta, so I don’t know the history,” says Emilie Robichaud, a Grade 4 French teacher at École Corinthia Park School. “There’s so much history to be learned. If we speak to kids from that perspective, from truth, I think they’ll be more engaged.”
“This day reflects Black Gold’s ongoing commitment to building understanding,” adds Erin Tisdale, one of Black Gold’s Curriculum Managers. “It helps to create meaningful learning opportunities grounded in truth, connection, and reconciliation.”
