FORT SIMPSON - Nineteen educators in the Deh Cho reversed roles for two weeks by becoming students in order to learn how to better teach youth.

From Feb. 5 to 15 the participants from Fort Simpson, Fort Providence, Wrigley, Fort Liard, Nahanni Butte, Jean Marie River and Trout Lake spent seven days a week in Deh Cho Hall taking the Introduction to Teaching course run by Aurora College.

Albertine Nadli, from Fort Providence, reads a story about ravens during a presentation as part of the Introduction to Teaching course held in Fort Simpson. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo

The primary goal of the program was for the educators to learn how to prepare and use a lesson plan similar to the ones teachers use, said instructor Richard Daitch.

"Being able to plan is an essential part of teaching," he said.

The course moved through the step by step process of planning, said Daitch.

To demonstrate what they learned, participants finished the course by creating a half-hour lesson plan and teaching it to the rest of the group who pretended to be students.

Participants had to show familiarity with Dene Kede and use appropriate resources.

Although some of the educators were nervous because this was the first school course they had taken in awhile, everyone excelled.

The participants enhanced the course by bringing with them their high levels of knowledge about their language and traditions, said Daitch.

The participants in the course, which is primarily designed for aboriginal language instructors, also included pre-school teachers and special needs assistants.

"It's been a pure pleasure for me to work with them," he said. "They feel they have learned things they can take back and actually use."

For Cawley Hardisty this was the first course of its kind he's taken.

"I had a lot of fun," said Hardisty, who's training at Wrigley's Chief Julian Yendo school to be a language and culture instructor.

During the course, Hardisty said he learned how to be a more effective teacher.

A lot of the knowledge was developed by personally planning and making a presentation and watching the other educators do the same, he said.

Other benefits from the course included learning about student behavior and how to strategize and address it.

"I would do a course like this again," said Hardisty.