Overview
This LE encourages learners to think carefully about what a “right” is by demonstrating what conversations about rights might look like in everyday life. Where do rights come from? Who decides what a right is? On what basis are rights determined? Why do rights play an important role in how we care for each other? These questions are explored in a readers’ theatre, written by Mi’kmawey Debert staff, about a group of young learners who respectfully challenge adults about how they have been treating a groundhog caught eating sprouts in the school garden.
Learners will...
- Understand rights as collective responsibilities as opposed to something owed to individuals.
- Think about non-humans as rights holders.
- Consider how the concept of rights has always been inherent in Mi’kmaw cultural values and language.
- See how Mi’kmaw values and worldview are honoured in and protected by UNDRIP and the UNDRIP Act (UNDRIPA).
- Bring the international scope of UNDRIP to the context of the everyday in Mi’kma’kik.
Focus
This readers’ theatre explores the concept of rights rooted in a Mi’kmaw worldview through the perspective of a group of young learners. This script demonstrates how we can approach thinking about rights when we understand that we are all connected, as opposed to thinking about them from an individualistic, or even human-centric perspective. It can help learners understand how collective rights are framed in UNDRIP and UNDRIPA.
The script includes further notes about the delivery of this LE. Roles are assigned to individual learners, with some roles requiring more or less content as noted in the text (to accommodate various reading levels). Educators can choose to include props or simply to read from the text.
Further strategies for supporting learners with the readers’ theatre text can be found in the script.
PE!
It is important that learners have a clear understanding of the following content:
- The Mi’kmaq as the indigenous people of Nova Scotia and the Atlantic region.
- Mi’kma’kik as the ancestral homeland of the Mi’kmaq.
- Mi’kmaw core cultural values. (See LE F8)
- Understand the concepts of netukulimk and msɨt no’kmaq. (See LE F4)
- The core elements of UNDRIP. (See LE RR9)
- The primary elements of the Peace and Friendship Treaties. (See Treaties Level)
- The UNDRIP Act (or UNDRIPA) is the legislation that requires Canada to align its laws with UNDRIP. (See Mi’kma’kik in Global Context introduction and LE RR11)
LE Materials
The materials below support this LE’s activities and knowledge growth. They are designed to be printed on both 8.5″x” and 11″x17″ paper.
sharing our stories