The goal of this project was for students to design a room that guests could walk into and further their understanding of Residential School legacies. I encouraged students to consider how they could evoke an emotional response from their audience when they entered the room and experienced the installation.
Design Space LearningDesign space learning is empowering students to purposefully create a space using a design thinking structure.
This design thinking structure breaks down into three main phases of the design process:
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Project Summary written by a socials nine student
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"In our Social Studies 9 class we have been learning about Residential Schools and their effect across Canada. Our learning about the Residential Schools are displayed through this room. Instead of just doing the basic poster board and PowerPoint we decided to show our learning through a design space display. We have been working carefully to curate this room to display the emotions, heartbreak, and mistreatment of the students in Residential Schools. We especially decided to focus on the differences between the church and students. The room has been designed and put together by the grade nines with little help. There has been a lot of thought and research put in. Our thoughts and emotions about Residential Schools has been displayed as thoroughly as possible through this group project. By doing this we are hoping to display our emotions and learning in a new fresh outlook, while still making it educational. Everything from the writing on the wall to the night stands are things that we learned and are putting on display in hope that others will learn from it too. This room is displaying the cold harsh reality of Residential Schools and all the trauma that came with it. We want to bring acknowledgement to the poor treatment of those in Residential Schools and those who list their lives in them. We also want to bring attention to the fact that there are some who are still suffering due to intergenerational trauma today. We want people to be grateful that this chapter of Canadian history is closed, and that we have the responsibility to be aware of our past but to be hopeful for our future. We hope that others will be impacted from this project as much as we felt making it."
-Grade 9 Social Studies Student, Selkirk Secondary School
-Grade 9 Social Studies Student, Selkirk Secondary School
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This unit focused on discovery within residential schools as there were no “predefined outcome[s] but a general topic which students [posed] and [answered] questions of their own making”
Gini-Newman, 2018, p. 40
Gini-Newman, 2018, p. 40
Students reflected on the project by filming a short video interview, below is the audio clip.
The Dorm - Audio File | |
File Size: | 4632 kb |
File Type: | m4a |