Curriculum Framework

Approach assessment and evaluation holistically by intentionally including learners’ funds of knowledge

Learning is strengths-based. All learners have strengths, and activating those strengths enhances the learning experience for everyone. For learners, the development of these strengths begins at home and in partnership with early childhood education. It includes home skills, knowledges, experiences, languages, culture, and family histories (Moll et al., 1992).

Strength-based practices enable learners to connect prior knowledge to new concepts. A personalized approach to teaching is developed and sustained through collaborative, school-based professional learning communities. When planning for all learners, educators:

• Unpack all standards or learning outcomes.
• Work across grade levels to revisit curriculum expectations and learning pathways.
• Analyze learner-created products with colleagues. (Davies, Herbst, & Parrott-Reynolds 2012)

Holistic assessment and evaluation require careful consideration of each individual learner’s strengths and the various factors that contribute to their achievement. Each learner’s unique profile – their experiences, cultures, strengths, interests, goals, and spirit – impacts how they relate to others, experience the school and classroom context, receive and process information, and communicate their understanding. Each learner is held in the highest regard.

Wabanaki Principles of Learning describe how a person who has balance in their mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual components of life will be ready to learn. Learning is holistic, reflexive, reflective, experiential, and relational (focused on connectedness, on a reciprocal relationship, and a sense of place).

Wabanaki Principles of Learning connection:

• Learning involves generational roles and responsibilities. 
• Learning is holistic, reflexive, reflective, experiential, and relational. 
• Learning supports the well-being of the self, the family, the community, the land, and the ancestors.
• Learning recognizes the role of Indigenous knowledges.

Enacted in Practice

Educators hold each learner in the highest regard and project confidence in learners that they are capable and worthy. Educators cultivate a respectful learning partnership with each learner, in which high expectations are consistent, clear, and supported. Educators value learners’ voices and approaches when designing assessment and evaluation tasks. When each learner is held in the highest regard:

• The learner is at the centre of the pedagogy and developing their agency is front of mind when teaching the curriculum.
• The learner’s lived experience is valued.
• The learner has opportunities to co-construct and to have a voice in the learning.
• The learning is valued for today, not solely as preparation for next steps.
• The learner is engaged in the assessment process.
• Universal Design for Learning strategies are used to support achievement and demonstrate personal excellence.
• Evaluation practices reflect universal design and include triangulation of evidence of learning over time.

Learners are empowered to take ownership of their learning and to identify ways of demonstrating their achievements. Educators respect multiple ways of knowing and being and incorporate Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in their assessment practice. Educators provide various examples of what success may look like in connection with learning goals. Learners can state what is expected of them and are capable of meeting those expectations.

Educators and learners respect and understand diverse worldviews. Educators understand that worldviews impact how learners communicate their understanding. Educators consider how school systems have the power to reinforce positive and negative learner outcomes and work to ensure learning environments support flourishing. Equitable assessment and evaluation is accurate, validly reflecting a learner’s academic understanding. It is also bias resistant, preventing biased subjectivity and counteracting historical and continued disparities. (Feldman, 2024).

Educators and learners share the belief that each learner has a unique identity that will be honoured and respected. Educators consider the learner holistically – including the learner’s mind, body, and spirit – in instruction and assessment. Educators consider the whole learner through multiple modes of learning, socioemotional needs, developmental needs, strengths and interests, course and career pathways, past trauma and experiences, and cultural diversity. Learners bring with them unique profiles with needs and experiences that inform assessment: Primary Block, Elementary Block, Middle Block, High School Block.

Educators recognize the role of Indigenous knowledges and the knowledges of those on and of First Nation communities, respecting that there are generational roles and responsibilities and that some knowledge is sacred, only to be shared with permission and in certain situations.

Educators consider the demands of assessment tasks in the context of their learners. Educators design assessments that are accessible to the learners in their classrooms, ensuring content knowledge is separated from linguistic skills. Educators place rich tasks in authentic contexts that are accessible to learners. Learners respond in specific and personal ways that reflect their strengths and what they value.

In practice, this:

• looks like learners are connected and engaged with learning activities; there are diverse examples and representation of all learners in the classroom; educators use UDL strategies to support all learners in achieving and demonstrating personal excellence.
• sounds like ongoing discussions with learners about learning goals and their educational journeys; educators highlight learner contributions consistently and often.
• feels like learners’ lived experiences are valued; educators know each individual learner and their goals; learners feel capable and worthy; learners value learning for today, not solely as preparation for the next steps; learners actualize their passions through identity exploration; learning supports the well-being of the self, the family, the community, the land, and the ancestors.