Curriculum links

Our Government has made a commitment to strengthen K-12 education by undertaking a number of initiatives. One of these initiatives is to "ensure that Treaty education is made mandatory in the K-12 curriculum".  To support mandatory Treaty education, the Ministry of Education worked with the Office of the Treaty Commissioner to develop Teaching Treaties in the Classroom: A Treaty Resource Guide for Kindergarten to Grade 6 (2008).  This resource guide will also support the achievement of the Goals of Education for Saskatchewan by developing the potential of all students in the province and affirming the worth of each individual.

A copy of this resource guide has been distributed to schools.  In addition, each teacher has received a copy of the resource guide for the particular grade(s) being taught. Each grade level resource guide provides basic information about Treaties, First Nations peoples, and the history (of what is now known as Saskatchewan) for teachers to use as they design their lessons in the various areas of study (based on curriculum objectives or outcomes). In addition, each resource guide provides suggested activities to support teachers in the development of their lessons.

The attached chart is intended to show how the objectives (or outcomes depending upon the year of the curriculum being used) in provincial curricula are both open and inclusive in order to encourage and support First Nations and Métis ways of knowing as well as other ways of knowing. In addition, these curriculum objectives (or outcomes) are expansive and directive enough to affirm First Nations and Métis worldviews and to embrace particular content such as Treaties.

Within the attached chart, each area of study listed provides at least one "connection" showing how a Treaty education objective from the resource guide can be addressed within a particular curriculum objective (or outcome).  Please note that only a sample of objectives (or outcomes) from current curricula are included in the chart, due to space limitations. In addition, while "connections" could be made to each objective/outcome listed, this would have made the chart unwieldy. While the information in this chart is limited, the ability to address Treaty education within current curricula is boundless as each school community addresses this initiative in innovative ways.  It is anticipated that teachers and others will find a variety of ways to support student achievement of Treaty education objectives across the areas of study.