TakingITGlobal

C O N N E C T E D N O R T H : A J O U R N E Y O F T R A N S F O R M AT I O N & W E L L- B E I N G 26 Connected North provides administrators with a shared programming platform that they can connect with their peers on matters of curriculum planning and delivery, teacher support, and promotion of student Well-Being, retention, and engagement. The Connected North platform provides a scalable, cost-appropriate means to leverage a network of education leaders and content providers across many sites. It further enables administrators to better address their mandate of providing a diversity of perspectives, culturally relevant and appropriate content, and representing the communities that their students come from in programming. This reduces the stress on administrators caused by inequities and lack of resources to support schools across their jurisdiction in meeting their needs. Administrators are further charged with overseeing the deployment of a program across a region and ensuring there is a level of quality and consistency that is achieved. Providing a platform for administrators to share experiences and work with a supportive team allows them to learn from each other, form connections, think beyond the classroom, and ensure that their expectations are managed. Communities Although communities are indirectly affected by Connected North, the values and knowledge they hold are clearly represented within the program. Community members serve as guest instructors and complement the remote teaching conducted through Connected North. Elders, artists, and other knowledgeable members of the North can serve as educators for other communities outside of their own, providing an authentic connection to the program. Well-Being is fostered in communities through the establishment of a program that engages schools across the country and prominently features and promotes local knowledge. Elders and other local leaders are provided with a platform to share what they know and connect with young people. This intergenerational connection is valuable to students and elders. Connected North provides a means to preserve the heritage, traditions, and language of many FNMI communities through lessons aimed at promoting cultural knowledge. Role models are empowered just as those youth they connect to are empowered. These role models also provide voices that reflect the context of the North directly, adding to the diversity of perspectives that are complemented from those from outside the North. Connected North also provides communities with a sense of hope that young people will receive tools, knowledge, and the supports needed to live and thrive in a globalized world. Exposing youth to different perspectives and expertise from experts around the world can inspire youth to see possibilities in their own community and lives. Connected North, by creating that positive, supportive context within the school system is a means to contribute to healing required aer intergenerational trauma caused by colonial education and residential schools.

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