NESA Activities Handbook for Native and Multicultural Classrooms, Vol. 2

David R. Hutchinson is a consultant in Saskatchewan’s Indian and
Métis Education Branch.

This collection of cross-cultural activities is a timely and progressive
complement to Vol. 1. Of benefit primarily to middle, secondary, and
postsecondary educators responsible for developing and implementing
antiracist curriculum and instruction, this activities handbook supports
the development of interdisciplinary concepts and socially responsible
behaviors. For educators interested in critical educational theory,
community-based development, and literacy studies, the activities
develop participants’ awareness of the relationship between mainstream
institutions and the reproduction of social inequities. Similarly, the
activities encourage participants to achieve consensus on the roots of
such inequities—and, further, to consider and recommend democratic
alternatives.

In general, the activities depart significantly from traditional
classroom practice. Experiential learning, involving both independent
and collaborative response, requires participants to engage their
emotions and intellect. This, when combined with considerable group
responsibility for the outcome and evaluation of the process, supports
meaningful inductive learning. This second volume will undoubtedly prove
invaluable to educators interested in debunking harmful racial
stereotypes, while empowering students with effective strategies for
enacting aboriginal self-determination and democratic institutional
change in the broader society.