As Blanchet (2019, p. 26) states in an article on social and emotional learning among First Nations students in Quebec, many studies have shown the benefits of including these types of learning in schools’ curriculum (Shanker, 2014; Taylor, Oberle, Durlak et Weissberg, 2017). She adds that in many indigenous educational institutions, the implementation of a positive and caring classroom environment is essential to students’ well-being and academic success. As some of them grow up with a lack of emotional security and experience intergenerational trauma, they need sustained attention (Clarke, 2007). Starting to teach them emotional and social skills in early childhood can only help them succeed later in school, but also in life in general.

Teaching children how to express their emotions is a day-to-day challenge, but investing time in it will foster the development of the emotional dimension of the child, create favourable conditions for learning (Blanchet, 2019), as well as improving the child’s relational behaviours, decreasing his or her stress and increasing his or her learning capacity (Taylor et al., 2017).

The Jasmin Roy Foundation, in collaboration with the Centre des Premières Nations Nikanite and the Secrétariat aux affaires autochtones, has put together pedagogical tools to foster social and emotional learning among Quebec’s aboriginal students. You will find in the documents section below two posters that you can put on your classroom walls to help students deal with their emotions as they arise. The posters are available in English, French and Mi’gmaq (as well as other indigenous languages), and customizable versions are also available. They come with a teachers’ guide, available in English and French.

Note that you can also download this page in French in the documents section.