Considering-Inuit-Early-Childhood-Education

---The purpose of this document is to provide information that will assist the National Committee on Inuit Education with making informed decisions on strategic directions for Inuit Earl

April 8, 2010

Prepared for the National Committee on Inuit Education

By: Mary Caroline Rowan, Tagataga Inc

-The purpose of this document is to provide information that will assist the National Committee on Inuit Education with making informed decisions on strategic directions for Inuit Early Childhood Education

Introduction

The present document will start with an update on Inuit Early Childhood from the

regional perspective Drawing on reports from the Inuit Early Childhood Development Working Group (IECDWG) meeting in December, I will briefly highlight updates by region, and reflect on gaps I will then summarize the key messages from the National Inuit Early Childhood Gathering, and consider implications for policy and practice for the strategy In the next section I will identify and reflect on critical points from the

document titled, Inuit Early Childhood Education and Care: Present Successes –

Promising Directions, A discussion paper the National Inuit Education Summit (Tagataga

Inc., 2007) In drawing on the content of the document I will consider successes, and the factors for success as well as gaps and barriers Throughout the paper I will make

connections between current literature and the key messages in order to put forward policy insights and evidence and to make links with practice

Highlights from the Inuit Early Childhood Development Working Group Meeting

The Inuit Early Childhood Development Working Group (IECDWG) shares a vision for the future of Inuit children which is for happy, healthy and safe Inuit children and

families Currently the group is a sub-committee of the ITK health committee Its

members come from the regional Inuit organizations which are signatories of the

Aboriginal Human Resource Development Agreements, now called the Aboriginal Skills Education Training Strategy (ASETS) The regions are: Nunatsiavut, Nunavik,

Qikiqtaaluk, Kivalliq, Kitikmeot and Inuvialuit Other representatives identified in the terms of reference include one representative from Pauktuutit and another from Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK), which is the secretariat for the group The IECDWG has been meeting formally each year, since 2004, when the Inuit Early Childhood Development Strategy was finalized This strategy which is reviewed and updated annually provides a vision, principles and goals for Inuit ECD (ITK 2004, 2006) The last meeting was held

in December of 2009 Four regions were present, and each participant presented a regional report I present highlights from the meeting notes (ITK, 2009) next

In Nunatsiavut two communities: Hopedale and Nain have licensed centres with a total

of 47 licensed places At one point the other three communities all had licenses – but they do not now Rigolet and Makkovik both lost their licenses Postville has a building, but they do not have a qualified person to run the program An operator requires a two year college (level 2) certificate, so without qualified staff the Postville centre can not be licensed In Makkovik, there is a level 2 graduate hired, but there isn’t any available space to run the program

In Nunatsiavut there are problems with capacity, staff retention, and licensing Jenny Lyall explained that the regulations are not meeting the needs of the community

Jenny’s presentation offers three key points 1 Infrastructure – capital investments are needed to provide for child care centre buildings especially in Makkovik where there isn’t anywhere to run a program 2 Capacity – trained staff are needed to operate programs, as

in Postville and Rigolet 3 Provincial/territorial regulations are a barrier to providing culturally appropriate programs and services

In Nunatsiavut the provincial investment is negligible and yet as the regulator the

Government of Newfoundland and Labrador demands compliance to regulations, 20% of which have been analyzed to be problematic (Rowan, 2003) Currently in Nunatsiavut the regulations prevent programs from operating and interfere with Inuit appropriate practice Regulations are a significant way in which Euro-western views are imposed on Inuit Linda Tuhuwai Smith (1999) writes about the “globalization of knowledge” and how “ Western culture constantly reaffirms the West’s view of itself as centre of

legitimate knowledge, the arbiter of what counts as knowledge and the source of civilized knowledge” (p 63) I think NCIE might consider positioning Inuit knowledge as the foundation of Inuit early childhood education and call for the development of Inuit specific regulations, which for example could provide for community Elder’s as country food inspectors, as one of the barriers in the regulations is serving country food

In Nunavik, according to the Kativik Regional Government representative, Sylvie St

Hilaire, there are 16 operating child care centres, with a total of 725 places and 214 trained educators There is a problem with staff retention

Staff retention is a major problem in many Inuit communities In Nunavik Educators are paid on a scale which is determined by the provincial government and includes benefits such as: pension plan, and a remoteness supplement I believe that as long as the

Educators benefits and wages are not equal to school teacher’s, early childhood Educators will continue to jump jobs – which seriously compromises overall quality in the centre Coffman and Lopez (2003) write, “Preschool teacher compensation is associated with program quality Poor pay and poor benefits make for high turnover that, in turn, weakens the social and emotional relationships between children and teachers Learning is a social activity and does not occur divorced of its context Less than optimal results can be expected when social relationships lack the trust and nurturance that stability brings” (p.14)

In Qikiqtaaluk, Hanna Kilabuk, reported that there are 16 centres operating in the region

with funding from Kakivak At the time of the IECDWG meeting in December the Qikiqtarjuak centre was closed due to problems with the fuel tank, and two new centres

in Arctic Bay and Resolute Bay were not operating due to funding issues Hanna noted that increasingly centres are operating at full capacity and programs are growing and expanding but Kakivak’s funding is stagnant with no new federal funds Three main needs were identified: trained early childhood educators, funding for capital, funding for operational expenses

Funding for licensed child care in the three regions of Nunavut, which include

Qikiqtaaluk, Kivalliq and the Kitikmeot is separated between the Inuit regional

organizations, which receive funds from the First Nations Inuit Child Care Initiative; the Government of Nunavut which receives federal transfer funds and distributes these through the Department of Education; PHAC, which enters into agreements with

community organizations, often education authorities to disperse money to local

programs; and parents who invest thousands of dollars in child care fees each year The distribution of early childcare funding in Nunavut is fragmented John Bennett (2007) from the Organization for Economic and Community Development explains that, “weak systems are so because of the fragmentation of responsibility for children” Several years ago a plan was developed with leadership from the regional Inuit organizations to create a one window model for childcare funding in the territory The plan assigned roles to the key players, with the regional Inuit organizations being the funders and the territorial government taking the role of monitor and licenser The plan was never realized –

however it could provide valuable insights to the NCIE, when considering the possibility

of integrated funding as a means of strengthening early childhood education

Alice Thrasher, from the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation (IRC) gave the report for her

region Five community programs are operating: 3 day care and 2 Aboriginal Head Starts There are a total of 113 places: 79 are fulltime and 34 are part-time They have six graduates of the distance program which took 4 -5 years to complete The program could

be done in 8 months if attended full time There are issues of retention in the region because the system hires educators on 10 month contracts, which leads to staff turnover

Barnett (2003) has written about preschool policy and describes the “real preschool teacher crisis” Two points he makes include

1.” Poor pay and scant benefits prevent preschool programs from hiring and keeping effective teachers”

2 “Inadequate teacher compensation lowers preschool program quality and leads to poorer cognitive, social and emotional outcomes for children” (p.1)

Every region noted staff retention and/or training as important issues Both Nunatsiavut and Qikiqtaaluk underlined the need for capital investments to create new spaces In the next section I will examine the five key messages from the National Inuit Early

Childhood Education Gathering

Nutaquvut Sivuniksavut – National Inuit Early Childhood Education Gathering

In March 2010, 100 Early Childhood Educators who work in Inuit child care centres, communities, regions and in the urban centres of Ottawa and Montreal gathered to share successes, exchange knowledge, showcase Inuit specific materials, attend workshops, and celebrate Inuit Early Childhood Education The meeting was hosted by the

Nunatsiavut Government Department of Social Services This was the first time that a national conference was held specifically for Inuit Early Years teachers It took eleven years to make this event happen What were the factors that contributed to making an event that was so long on the wish list happen?

1 Individuals unrelentingly talked about the possibility of a national conference of Inuit Early Childhood Educators with potential funders

2 Aboriginal Head Start (AHS) created the national strategic fund

3 KRG, which is a recognized Aboriginal Head Start sponsoring organization, wrote the proposal, which was approved by the AHS national committee, with input from the IECDWG

4 There was a wide base of support through Aboriginal Head Start with regional Public Health Agency of Canada, Program Consultants actively involved and taking action needed to help make the project come together

5 Nunatsiavut Government assumed the role of project coordinator and funding

administrator

6 Inuit regional and urban reps became involved, coordinated through the IECDWG – so there was a wide base of regional and urban input and involvement in the planning

7 The Committee – made up of childcare administrators from the various regions and PHAC staff met regularly

8 The main pot of money from PHAC through the AHS strategic fund was supplemented

by regional contributions and some additional federal funding

9 Individuals including, but not limited to: Anna Claire Ryan at ITK; Michelle Kinney at Nunatsiavut Government; and Isabelle Renaud at PHAC worked with dedication and collaboration to make sure that the event came together

During the gathering I facilitated a session in which participants were asked to consider five things that the Prime Minister of Canada should know about Inuit Early Childhood Education At the end of that session a call came from the floor to send a letter to the Prime Minister with our concerns I will now identify each of these key messages and consider the implications for policy and practice for the strategy

1 Demonstrate the value of Inuit ECE through investment The first goal of the

IECDWG is to ensure that all Inuit communities have equal opportunity and access to ECD programs and services (ITK, 2006, p.7) This includes investment in: buildings; people – teachers, administrators, cooks, janitors, bus drivers, and resources – Inuit specific materials and resources This comprehensive investment requires long term, integrated, multi-year funding agreements

How can equal access to programs be attained? Peter Moss (2010) writes that, “Early childhood education and care has moved far up the policy agenda in recent years” (p.8)

Yet how can the needed funding be secured? In New Jersey the Supreme Court case of Abbott vs Burke, involved representatives from one of the state’s poorest districts suing the state The case which carried on over a period of 22 years was used as a tool to get equal educational opportunity and programming in early childhood education (Coffman

& Lopez, 2003)

In Canada – Inuit are faced with jurisdictional realities in which early childhood

education falls within the regulatory supervision of provincial and territorial

governments Each government has their own early childhood regulations and funding priorities This creates huge differences in quality and accessibility and results in big disparities For example: parents pay $7.00 a day for child care in Nunavik compared with $39.00 a day in Qikiqtaluuk (Tagataga Inc 2007, p 22) Is it possible that the NCIE would propose a pan Inuit child care program, which sets out to ultimately achieve equal access to childcare services for all Inuit?

2 Invest in infrastructure Some of the child care facilities in Inuit communities do not

meet minimum building codes, which is why some centres are closed In other places because of a lack of buildings – no childcare services can be offered Funding is required for new buildings for new spaces and renovation of existing spaces to enhance and bring

to code Goal 2 of the IECDWG strategy states: To ensure that resources and

infrastructure are readily available so that Inuit children have the opportunity to develop

to their full potential (ITK, 2006, p.7)

In 1995 the federal government created the First Nations Inuit Child Care Program in order to bring the number of licensed child care spaces available in First Nations and Inuit communities to equal the % of licensed child care spaces available in mainstream Canada The program framework included two phases The first phase was

developmental and provided funding for development of programs and included the infrastructure dollars which made possible the construction of child care centres in many Inuit communities The second phase provided for ongoing operational funds, which are managed by the Inuit regional organizations through the ASETS agreements A new infusion of capital is needed to create new spaces and to bring buildings in some

communities up to par Further more, as the import and desire for accessibility to

childcare programs is increasing, additional federal allocations for ongoing operational and maintenance expenses are required

To date, in the Inuit regions outside of Nunavik, federal funding has been the most important source of revenue Federal contributions have financed the construction and renovation of buildings and have also provided for ongoing operational expenses This federal commitment needs to be expanded How can Inuit make this happen?

3 Recognize and support Inuit languages This message addresses the need to build

curriculum, create teaching and educational resources and materials that are linguistically and culturally appropriate and that are grounded in Inuit knowledge, world view and ways The vision for Inuit ECE encompasses Inuit languages, Inuit culture and Inuit

ways Principle 2 of the Inuit Early Childhood Development Strategy states, the Inuit

strategy is based on Inuit culture and Inuit values (ITK, 2006, p.5) The fifth goal is to

“provide culturally appropriate, consistent and continuous support to Inuit families” and the ninth goal is, “To ensure that resources and documents are available in Inuit

languages” (ITK, 2006, p 6).

At the Inuit Early Childhood Education Gathering in Goose Bay, children from

Makkovik drummed and sang Inuttitut language songs at the opening and closing

ceremonies According to the ECE Regional Coordinator for the Governemnt of

Nunatsiavut, Jenny Lyall “We would not have seen this ten years ago” (personal

conversation March 18, 2010)

Despite the fact that Inuttitut is spoken in 90% of Inuit homes in Nunavik, Inuttitut is in grave danger of demise According to Duhaime (2008) 83% of Inuttitut mother tongue speakers in Nunavut speak Inuttitut at home compared to 23% in Nunavtsiavut and 14%

of Inuit language speakers in the Inuvialuit region Taylor & Wright (2003) provide four main concerns 1 Inuttitut is mainly a spoken language and to gain authority needs to be viewed with a status similar to mainstream languages like English To obtain this status Inuttitut needs to become a language which is both spoken and written 2 English is the lingua franca – the language that connects English, French and Inuit language speakers of varying dialects This leads to the more frequent use of English at the expense of Inuttitut

3 Inuit speak Inuit languages on the land and at home, but are speaking less at work In fact English was the predominant language at the gathering For Inuit languages to remain strong – they must be spoken in the work place – including at the child care centre and at future Inuit educator gatherings 4 Finally English is the main language of the media and the internet

Strong policy directions and commitments need to be made if Inuit languages are going

to survive Implications for policy include making Inuit languages the official language

of the Inuit child care centre, taking steps to use the Inuit language in all communication between staff, parents, children, administrators and advisors It requires hiring staff who speak the Inuit language, and training staff and parents and children to speak the Inuit language It means creating print documents in Inuit languages and ensuring that

culturally and dialectically appropriate Inuit language materials are available and used in all aspects of early childhood education

Will NCIE adopt language policy recommendations for Inuit early childhood education that set out to ensure the survival of the Inuit language?

4 Recognize early years teachers and administrators: support training and

professional development; pay and benefits on par with teachers; and, create permanent positions with long term contracts Also, take steps to attract more men It took eleven years to bring together the finances and resources which made possible the first national gathering of Inuit Early Childhood Educators

Policies are required to bring the pay of the Early Childhood Educator to par with the school teachers Peter Moss (2010) writes about the urgent need to address “the

scandalous pay and working conditions and inadequate basic and continuing education of many ‘child care workers’” He reminds the reader of the OECD’s 2006 “ call for a well-educated early years educator, qualified to work with children from birth to six years and enjoying a parity of education, pay and other conditions with school teachers” (p.8) It is shocking to think that there are teachers of young Inuit children working in Nunavut for

as little as $11.00 per hour with no benefits and little training

A key component of quality childcare is a stable and trained staff Early years teachers should be paid well because, “Studies find preschool teacher compensation is directly associated with educational quality Studies that link compensation to teacher

qualifications, teacher behaviours, morale and turnover explain this association” Barnett,

2003, p 2) The impact of high turnover should not be underestimated; teacher turnover raises the cost of professional development It also disrupts child/educator/family

relationships Barnett writes, “The consequences of poor pay and benefits are that many teachers and assistant teachers are poorly qualified, morale is low and turnover is high The educational effectiveness of the program suffers as a result” (p 3)

Policies for early years teachers in New Zealand, Sweden, France, Spain, provide for pay and training qualification parity with school teachers (Moss &Bennett, 2006; Peer, 2003) and include a mandated requirement for university education

Williams (2009) advocates for mandatory bachelor degrees in early childhood education

or related fields for all early years teachers She writes, “Research has shown that there is more interaction between the teachers and children if the teachers have more training Highly educated teachers create a more stimulating environment” (p.10) She concludes

by saying that with educated teachers young children are better positioned to maximize their learning in the early childhood setting

The implications of this information about training and pay for Inuit ECE are complex Many Inuit centres would like to be able to hire unilingual staff members who do not have ECE certification At the Language Nest in Hopedale, the number of participants in the program is kept to three because the staff is not trained and a provincial license can not be obtained (Tagataga Inc., 2007) Another dimension is that university level training programs imported from the south are not positioned in Inuit knowledge of Inuit early childhood education or Inuit world view, and are not available in Inuttitut Finally, fundamental policy level change is required to augment budgets in order to meet the financial requirements of pay parity with teachers

It should also be noted that recognizing Educators and administrators in addition to pay and qualification considerations also involves ongoing professional development and networking

5 Programs in partnership with stakeholders: involves accessing, involving, and

implicating voices of the community including, Elders, parents, and children with special

needs The vision statement of the Inuit Early Childhood Development working Group includes the following two statements:

Inuit families are recognized and honour their important role as the child’s first teacher Inuit families provide culturally rich, secure, healthy environments in which to raise children

Inuit Elders provide the foundation and knowledge The advice of Inuit Elders is sought and offered in guiding Inuit ECD activities to ensure Inuit culture and values are

promoted and preserved.

The IECDWG and the Educators at the gathering fundamentally value the input of Elders into early childhood programs Sometimes getting Elders involved can be difficult Identifying funds to pay Elders for their contribution can be problematic Many of us believe it is of critical importance that Elders be engaged in programs in order to ensure the presence of Inuit culture and values in the child care centre One success involves the story of Mary Akoakhion, an Elder and Inuinaqtun speaker who has been the language teacher at the Ulukhatok Child Care Centre for 14 years Mary speaks to the children and staff only in Inuinaqtun She teaches the children: crafts, Inuinaqtun language, stories about Inuit from long ago and hunting skills including: cutting country food, fleshing skins, preparing skins for sewing, skin tent making, drumming and singing (Tagataga Inc

2007, p.p 19 -20)

In the spring of 2009, I delivered a training workshop with two colleagues in the

community of Kangiqsujuaq At the end of each day we invited elder Minnie Itidlouie to spend an hour with our class to answer questions and reflect with us on the days

proceedings Minnie’s participation added value to our work and helped to ground us by providing a layer of insight from her base of Inuit knowledge and experience, that was invaluable

The research team for the Unikkaangualaurtaa/ Let’s Tell a Story project involved an Elder – Elisapee Inukpuk working in partnership with a young Inuk researcher (Avataq, 2006) There are many ways in which Elders can and do contribute to licensed Inuit child care, I wonder how NCIE might develop policy directives which truly support Elder engagement and involvement in Inuit child care?

“When we talk about ECD there has to be a flavour for parental involvement We have

to figure out how to get parents valuing and supporting this and getting them to come around” Jenny Lyall, Nunatsiavut Government ECE Program Coordinator (Tagataga Inc,

2007, p.23)

In Ulukhaktok there are nine parents on the childcare committee Parents drop in at lunch time; they bring country food to the centre In the fall of 2006 the centre ran a weekly evening program for parents and children where family members gathered to learn songs and rhymes in Inuinaqtun and English Elders told Inuinaqtun stories The parents were delighted to be informed of their children’s activities This centre has successfully made

links with parents and community members On Fridays the children sing at the local radio station and the parents appreciate hearing the songs (Tagataga Inc, 2007, p 20) What are the policy implications? This centre has an open door policy, they extend program to evening hours to connect with parent availability and meet with parents in a variety of ways – such as through the radio Parents also contribute to the centre, which has an Elder and culturally rich activities and Inuinaqtun language programming Is it possible that this centre reflects the values of the community – which makes it accessible

to parents?

Summary

The concerns and issues voiced by participants at the 2010 gathering of Inuit early childhood educator’s, should be included in discussions concerning an Inuit education strategy which includes early childhood education Five key messages are listed below

1 Comprehensive investments in buildings, people and resources culminating in equal access to ECD programs for all Inuit children and families in the north and

in urban areas are needed now

2 New investment in infrastructure is essential

3 Policies, programs and plans to preserve and protect Inuit languages are critical to the survival of the language

4 Inuit educators deserve pay and qualification parity with teachers

5 Quality programs include the voices of Elders, parents and children

Inuit Early Childhood Education and Care: Present Successes – Promising Directions

In this section of the paper I will pull out key messages from the Present Successes – Promising Directions paper (Tagataga Inc., 2007) which was originally written as a discussion paper for the National Inuit Education summit I will underscore the critical factors for success, enumerate gaps and sum up the key findings in five main areas These are integrated funding, availability of licensed spaces, parental involvement, culturally and linguistically appropriate programming and qualified staff

Integrated funding

Integrated funding had been achieved in Nunavik where there is a 23 year agreement with the Government of Quebec and KRG which provides about 80% of the total funding for child care operations in the region Quebec has also transferred all provincial powers related to licensing, monitoring, funding and supporting child care centres to KRG Nunavik is regarded as a model for integrated funding

What are the critical factors for success? A key factor has been the willingness of the provincial government to enter into a major multi-year, bilateral funding agreement with Kativik Regional Government Furthermore, the ASETS agreement with Human

Resources Development Canada and the Aboriginal Head Start agreements with the Public Health Agency of Canada are all coordinated through the regional government This access and control of child care funding has positioned KRG to pool provincial and federal child care dollars and coordinate a comprehensive regional child care strategy It should be noted that in Nunavik in the development phase there was a base of regional cooperation which was facilitated by the establishment of a committee composed of representatives from regional organizations These organizations actively and

meaningfully contributed to child care in Nunavik in many ways including: Makivik Corporation – in the building phase; Kativik School Board – educator training; Avataq Corporation – curriculum and material development, the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services – Nutrition project

Furthermore in 1997 the Quebec Government initiated a family policy which set out to prioritize the accessibility of licensed child care services throughout the province The provincial child care policy provides funding for child care at a level which is much greater than what is available in other provinces and territories

Funding for child care from the two main federal funding programs, which are Aboriginal Head Start and the First Nations Child Care Initiative, is coordinated in Nunatsiavut through the Department of Health and Social Services and in the Inuvialuit region

through IRC This is a success – however in both of these jurisdictions the small

investment from the province and territory and the lack of support are problematic Also

as noted earlier in Nunatsiavut the provincial regulations act as a serious barrier – and cause significant problems in operating services responsibly and in a culturally and linguistically appropriate manner

In Nunavut the integration of funding has not been achieved This is a huge gap that needs to be addressed Determining the barriers which have contributed to this lack of a coordinated approach to funding in Nunavut might help to unblock the stalemate and restart the process initiated by the Nunavut Regional Inuit organizations in 2000, 2001 and 2002

Integrated funding makes sense; Inuit responsibility for child care programs and services for Inuit children makes sense Can the example of Quebec and Nunavik be used by policy makers in considering pan Inuit policies?

Availability of licensed Childcare spaces

Approximately 50% of children in Nunavik have access to licensed child care This has been made possible due to the provincial commitment to early childhood education and care combined with the regional coordination of funding from all sources In

Nunatsiavut less than 10% of children have access to licensed care In Nunavut the