A teacher from Saskatoon is being recognized for her efforts to share some traditional knowledge with her students.
Elizabeth Phipps teaches at Fairhaven School and designed a five-week course aimed at teaching kids how First Nations and Metis culture impacted Saskatchewan’s environment.
This week, Phipps was named a winner of a Governor General’s Award for Excellence in Teaching Canadian History. She will be presented with the award next month at Rideau Hall in Ottawa by Gov. Gen. David Johnston.
Phipps says her students adore the class, which gives them a first-hand account of the history of the province.
The course sees them building a fictional prairie landscape on some tables and then learning about what happened on that land:
“We have looked at the connection with buffalo. We also have looked at a traditional way of setting up a First Nations community on the Prairies. Then, we look at how the Metis had developed their land and used river lots, and talked about the different traditions around trapping.”
Phipps says part of the focus is to show students that the land in Saskatchewan developed over time, and much of that development pre-dates the arrival of settlers from Europe.
She adds the students also physically create everything that goes onto their landscapes in the classroom. Examples include miniature buffalo or First Nations villages.