Hi everyone! My name is Claire Tincombe and my co-op placement is taking me to the beautiful Northwest Territories where I will be working for 10-months with high school students as an eLearning Classroom Monitor.
Due to the remoteness of the community, many of the high school level courses are only offered through digital learning without a physical teacher in the classroom. My role is to facilitate the eLearning program and ensure it meets the needs of the students as well as act as a teaching assistant to help students engage with the material. I am also hoping to become involved with the school’s extracurricular programs and use my coaching experience and love of sport to support current after-school activities as well as help establish new ones. I am excited to take on this role as I am passionate about the need for quality education and youth engagement both through the classroom curriculum as well as through sport and recreation.
I am also looking forward to seeing more of Canada and spending time outdoors (even in the cold!)
At this point my research is loosely focused on understanding how the Dene and Métis of the Dehcho Region conceptualize the notion of ‘food security’ and ‘food sovereignty’ in their community. As a settler Canadian I aim to conduct my work and my research in a decolonizing manner mindful of my positionality by depending on the community to help guide me through the research process including how the research will be collected, which questions will be relevant, and whose stories I will fortunate enough to learn from.
I am grateful to be able to complete this unique co-op placement with the help of the Gallant Y.T. Ho Scholarship in International Development Studies and the support of CCDS, family and friends and am excited for the year ahead!