Abele-and-Graham-Inuit-Centred-Curriculum-BIBLIOGRAPHY-FINAL

The authors build their argument from the premise that Inuit control over these practices, and the education system in Nunavut more generally, is necessary in order to make “good decisio

Annotated Bibliography Inuit-Centred Curriculum and Teaching Approaches

Frances Abele and Katherine Graham

March 24, 2010

Alaskan Native Knowledge Network Alaskan Standards for Culturally Responsive Schools Adopted by the Assembly of Alaska Native Educators Fairbanks, Alaska: Alaska Native

Knowledge Network, 1998.

As part of the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative, the Alaskan Native Knowledge Network has compiled a comprehensive set of standards for students, educators, curriculum, schools, and communities in rural Alaska These cultural

standards are rooted in the “belief that a firm grounding in the heritage language and culture indigenous to a particular place is a fundamental prerequisite for the development of culturally-healthy students and communities.” These standards are meant to complement, not replace, existing standards set out by the State government The

objective is to foster a connection between learning inside and outside of school; and to teach/learn through local culture rather than about it The 5 target groups and their associated standards are:

1 Culturally-knowledgeable Students:

 Are well grounded in the cultural heritage and traditions of their community.

 Are able to build on the knowledge and skills of the local cultural community as a foundation from which to achieve personal and academic success throughout life.

 Are able to actively participate in various cultural environments.

 Are able to engage effectively in learning activities that are based on traditional ways of knowing and learning.

 Demonstrate an awareness and appreciation of the relationships and processes of interaction of all elements

in the world around them.

2 Culturally-responsive Educators

 Incorporate local ways of knowing and teaching in their work.

 Use the local environment and community resources on a regular basis to link what they are teaching to the everyday lives of the students.

 Participate in community events and activities in an appropriate and supportive way.

 Work closely with parents to achieve a high level of complementary educational expectations between home and school.

 Recognize the full educational potential of each student and provide the challenges necessary for them to achieve that potential.

3 A culturally-responsive Curriculum:

 Reinforces the integrity of the cultural knowledge that students bring with them.

 Recognizes cultural knowledge as part of a living and constantly adapting system that is grounded in the past, but continues to grow through the present and into the future.

 Uses the local language and cultural knowledge as a foundation for the rest of the curriculum.

 Fosters a complementary relationship across knowledge derived from diverse knowledge systems.

 Situates local knowledge and actions in a global context.

4 A culturally-responsive School:

 Fosters the on-going participation of Elders in all aspects of the schooling process.

 Provides multiple avenues for students to access the learning that is offered, as well as multiple forms of assessment for students to demonstrate what they have learned.

 Provides opportunities for students to learn in and/or about their heritage language.

 Has a high level of involvement of professional staff who are of the same cultural background as the students with whom they are working

 Consists of facilities that are compatible with the community environment in which they are situated.

 Fosters extensive on-going participation, communication and interaction between school and community personnel.

5 A culturally-supportive Community:

 Incorporates the practice of local cultural traditions in its everyday affairs

 Nurtures the use of the local heritage language.

 Takes an active role in the education of all its members.

 Nurtures family responsibility, sense of belonging and cultural identity

 Assists teachers in learning and utilizing local cultural traditions and practices.

 Contributes to all aspects of curriculum design and implementation in the local school.

Battiste , Marie Ann “Indigenous Knowledge and Pedagogy in First Nations Education A Literature review with recommendations” prepared for the National Working Group on Education and the Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Ottawa, ON 2002.

A comprehensive and practically-minded literature review, followed by twenty-three recommendations that seek to generate action at the federal level with respect to Indigenous educational reform Part one

“clarifies the theoretical frameworks that have been developed to understand Indigenous and Eurocentric ways of knowing” highlighting some of the challenges that the tension between the two bring to the education system in the Canadian context Eurocentric knowledge has been set up as the binary opposite

of indigenous knowledge, where indigenous knowledge (the “other”) is inferior There has been a trend in the last 40 years toward placing more value on indigenous ways of knowing (this is the “postcolonial” period) although the author acknowledges that this has been more prominent in other countries, such as the USA This movement has necessitated a rethinking of the conditions for indigenous education A

“transdisciplinary quest” to balance the two ways of knowing is necessary but first, Battiste suggests, there must be more work on understanding indigenous knowledge (recognizing that knowledge is living and is not homogenous across indigenous groups)

Part two examines educational pedagogy, both indigenous and Eurocentric approaches and offers several examples of innovative programming that exists to address the challenge of indigenous knowledge Indigenous educational pedagogy is primarily based on the understanding that learning (and therefore knowledge) is experiential and personal; “knowledge is not a commodity to be possessed and controlled… but it is a living process to be absorbed…” (p 15) Knowledge is inextricably linked to language and thus, language must be the primary principle upon which indigenous education plans is built going forward Battiste’s work shows there are many fundamental differences between Eurocentric and indigenous knowledge One of particular interest for curriculum development and the importance of language in teaching/learning: in indigenous knowledge, the empirical and the normative are inseparable In this context, indigenous knowledge presents several goals for educational reform: acknowledging the

sacredness of life and experiences; generating hope through connecting with others, generating a meaning

of work as a vocation and as a mission of life; to develop an open space in which communities can discover themselves and affirm their heritage

Berger Paul, and Juanita Ross Epp "PRACTICES AGAINST CULTURE THAT "WORK" IN NUNAVUT SCHOOLS: PROBLEMATIZING TWO COMMON PRACTICES." McGill Journal of Education 41.1 (2006): Feb 3, 2010

Building on his 2001 study of teaching practices in Nunavut, Berger and co-author Ross Epp discuss the

dangers of using Qallunaat teaching strategies that may well be “effective” but are counter to Inuit culture

and tradition Two specific teaching practices are explored in the article to illustrate the argument: the use

of strict discipline codes; and praise and rewards systems The authors build their argument from the

premise that Inuit control over these practices, and the education system in Nunavut more generally, is

necessary in order to make “good decisions” and to avoid “practices against culture” that represent the

legacy of colonialism and the policy of assimilation, and may be harmful to communities in the long run

Berger and Ross Epp provide context through a brief overview of the history of education in the North,

highlighting the differences between traditional Inuit learning strategies (in which education was

integrated into every day life and young people learned by watching and imitating their older family

members) and EuroCanadian learning strategies (in which young people are segregated from life in the

“artificial environment” of schools); and the use of education as tool towards the assimilation of

Aboriginal people Despite the current reality that the education system in Nunavut is still based on

western values and practices, there is recognition among many Inuit that in order for young people to

succeed in Nunavut, they must have an education Recognizing that Inuit control over and total reform of

the Nunavut education system may take many more years, the authors question whether culturally

appropriate education is possible within the framework of a EuroCanadian model Bicultural education,

they stress, must honour local culture and practices The article gives two examples of teaching/discipline

strategies in use in Nunavut today that seem to “work” but that may both be incongruent with Inuit values

and traditions The authors try to show a particular technique may achieve the desired outcome but can

be interpreted differently depending on one’s cultural perspective, or may be undesirable and unintended

consequences The potential for the negative impacts of Qallunaat teaching strategies on Inuit students

highlight the importance of having more Inuit teachers in Nunavut schools In the meantime, Berger found

that Elder and parental involvement in schools has had a positive impact on finding a cultural balance

Ultimately, the authors conclude that until there is Inuit control over education in Nunavut, teachers and

administrators must approach all aspects of teaching from curriculum choices to classroom management

and discipline with caution and openness

Berger, Paul “Some Thoughts on Qallunaat Teacher Caring in Nunavut.” Journal of Teaching and Learning 4.2 (2007).

The article is predicated on defining what constitutes ‘caring’ behavior of Qallunaat teachers in the context of working with Inuit, and given differences in ‘caring’ across cultures Berger contends that ‘true caring’ can only occur when the education system is informed by Inuit, and the teacher is committed to, and an advocate for, Inuit Author posits a move from a colonial, Qallunaat-based education system to an education system controlled by Inuit, and offers some historical perspective on the imposition of Qallunaat schooling, replacing Inuit traditional ways, negative social and community effects, and attempts to reform the educational system to include Inuit values (IQ), culture, language, and community input Berger argues that in the current context, true caring is impossible;

he offers some ideas for teachers to be ‘caring’, and that true caring will occur after systemic change His ideas include: advocating for the values of Inuit (becoming un-neutral) as a way of de-colonizing, questioning curriculum and designing materials that enable the expression of Inuit values/culture/language (breaking rules), understanding cultural values that are tied to teaching methods, and adopting (after observation and consideration) more Inuit-centred teaching approaches (accepting learning role in different cultural environment), and studying Inuktitut and learning about Inuit culture and how it is demonstrated in the classroom These ideas are offered also as policy directions for change at a systemic level

Blesse, Diann S “Aboriginal Teacher’s Perceptions of Classroom Learning Environments.” Master’s thesis, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, 1997.

Blesse’s study of Aboriginal teacher’s experiences in the classroom (Northwest Territories) finds that they integrate traditional cultural values learned through their primary socialization experiences with their development of classroom learning environments The classroom environment reflects their culture and compliments community

interactions Their goal is to draw compatibilities between classroom learning and the life learning outside of it Her study is based on 3 questions:

1 Are there traditional Aboriginal socialization practices that influence Aboriginal teachers’ perceptions, attitudes and choices when developing their classroom learning environments?

2 Is there a connection between Aboriginal teachers’ articulated values and traditional teachings?

3 Which aspects of Aboriginal teachers’ classroom learning environments and the accompanying value-based rationales would they recommend be included in both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal teachers’ training?

Castellano, Marlene Brant, Lynne Davis , and Louise Lahache Aboriginal Education : Fulfilling

the Promise Vancouver: UBC Press, c2000

Education is at the heart of the struggle of Canada's Aboriginal peoples to regain control over their lives as

communities and nations Based on hearings and research generated by the Royal Commission on

Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP), this collection of articles documents recent progress in transforming Aboriginal

education to support self-determination, language revitalization, and cultural maintenance, as well as the

institutional and governmental obstacles that continue to impede progress Contributors emphasize

Aboriginal philosophies and priorities in teaching methods, program design, and institutional

development With the exception of the chapter by Sheila Watt-Cloutier, the emphasis in this collection is

on First Nations and Metis The 13 chapters are: "Towards a Shared Understanding in the Policy Discussion

about Aboriginal Education" (Frances Abele, Carolyn Dittburner, Katherine A Graham);"Voices of Winter:

Aboriginal Languages and Public Policy in Canada" (Mark Fettes, Ruth Norton); "The State of Aboriginal

Literacy and Language Education" (Yvonne Hebert); "Telling Our Own Stories: The Role, Development, and

Future of Aboriginal Communications" (Gail Guthrie Valaskakis); "Culturally Negotiated Education in First

Nations Communities: Empowering Ourselves for Future Generations" (Brenda Tsioniaon LaFrance);

"Honouring Our Past, Creating Our Future: Education in Northern and Remote Communities" (Sheila

Watt-Cloutier); "Urban Aboriginal Education: The Vancouver Experience" (Lorna Williams); "The Information

Legacy of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples" (Marlene Brant Castellano); "Issues of Pedagogy in

Aboriginal Education" (Kathy L Hodgson-Smith); "Metis Post-Secondary Education: A Case Study of the

Gabriel Dumont Institute" (John Dorion, Kwan R Yang); "First Nations House of Learning: A Continuity of

Transformation" (Ethel Gardner); "First Nations-Controlled University Education in Canada" (Eber

Hampton); and "Electronic Highways, Electronic Classrooms: Distance Education in Canada" (Lynne Davis)

An appendix presents RCAP recommendations regarding education

Chance, Norman "Premises, Policies and Practices: A Cross-Cultural Study of Education in the

Circumpolar North" In Education in the North - Selected Papers of the First International

Conference on Cross-Cultural Education in the Circumpolar Nations and Related Articles, edited

by Darnell, Frank, Arctic Institute of North America and University of Alaska (College) 1973

Chance examines the value assumptions and premises that have shaped relations between Northerners

and government bodies from contact to the ‘present’ (1973), resulting in exploitation and cultural

devaluation He reviews, briefly, the assumptions and rationales enabling exploitation of Northern

Canadian and Alaskan peoples, from religious superiority, to social darwinism, to economic drivers for

resources, and government funding for ‘equal’ status Chance argues that Aboriginal people are falling

behind in standard of living, educational achievement, and social and cultural development; this condition

is maintained by discrimination, perpetuated inferiority, and a lack of culturally reflective education He

argues for the conference workshops to entail a focus on efforts to restructure the education system to

reduce discontinuities in learning, sustain positive parental roles, strengthen students’ image and

self-esteem, and prepare Aboriginal peoples to be economically and socially competent in dealing with North

American institutions He suggests: a) real Aboriginal representation on school boards and other

organizations responsible for policy and content of school programs, b) inclusion of Aboriginal language in primary grades and c) development of effective adult education

Chance briefly compares Northern Canadian and Alaskan experiences with Native inclusion in Russia – in education and economy and variation in Scandinavian approaches to northern education

Churchill, S The Education of Linguistic and Cultural Minorities in the OECD Countries

Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters, 1986.

Provides a comprehensive (although summative) report of case studies completed in the OECD countries regarding policy development in the area of the linguistic and cultural minority education, with ample statistical and interview data The findings show consistent patterns across all the OECD countries

throughout the process of developing and reforming education policy for minorities The focus is on the government “story” rather than the indigenous peoples’ “story.”

Clifton, Rodney A., and Lance W Roberts Social psychology dispositions and academic

achievement of Inuit and non-Inuit students Alberta Journal of Educational Research 34, 8 pp 332-43, 1988.

Using empirical data, this article examines differences between Inuit and non-Inuit students, at the elementary school level, in activism (social attitude), self-concept, and academic achievement Inuits scored lower in activism and self-concept than non-Inuits Suggests teachers create personalized

classroom environments to positively affect activism and self-concept, and thereby enhancing

achievement

Dicker, Joan, Ewan Dunbar and Alana Johns Developing Intermediate Language Learning Materials A Labrador Inuttitut Story Database

http://www.ling.umd.edu/~ewand/DickerDunbarandJohns2009.pdf

This paper describes the collaboration between two linguists and a public school language teacher in the making of a story database for use in the second language learning of Labrador Inuttitut in Canada It is an illustration and useful example

Douglas, Anne S "There's Life and then there's School" Montréal: McGill University, 1999.

Douglas examines the relationship between the community and school in Arctic Bay (North Baffin Island) from the perspective of the community and illustrates that Inuit have been able to maintain organizing elements of their kinship traditions However, social and inter-relational experiences learned at school by younger Inuit contradict some of the kinship traditions, and responsibilities that Inuit adults are asked to perform at school impinge on kinship obligations Douglas’ conclusion is that school, and its socialization processes, increasingly impinges on the values, social relations, and cultural practices that the Inuit have maintained

Eriks-Brophy, Alice and Crago , Martha B Transforming Classroom Discourse: an Inuit

Example Montreal : McGill Univ., School of Human Comm Dis., 1992

This paper offers case studies on the early years of elementary school whereas many of the other sources

on this list focus on the high school level or just on curriculum more broadly

This paper presents primarily quantitative data regarding forms of classroom discourse and turn allocation that emerged from a larger ethnographic study examining Inuit classroom interactions and discourse patterns in three kindergarten and three first grade Inuit-taught classrooms in three Ungava Bay

communities The focus is on the transformational effects of the incorporation of culturally-congruous

social interaction patterns and the promotion of traditional values on these two aspects of Inuit classroom conversations A model of mainstream classroom interactions based on the work of Mehan (1979) is used

as a point of comparison to illustrate the extent to which the transformation of discourse has occurred in these six classrooms

Iseke-Barnes, Judy M “Pedagogies for Decolonizing.” Canadian Journal of Native Education

Edmonton: 2008 Vol 31, Iss 1; pg 123

This article provides examples of introductory activities that engage students in initial steps in

understanding the systemic structure of colonization Examples of student group responses to the

activities are provided The understandings explored by students through these activities are then taken

up through Indigenous literatures in university contexts in order to contribute to the ongoing

decolonization of knowledge in the university and to explore indigenous understandings of pedagogies The author explores various themes important to the decolonizing of educational practices through discussions of (a) colonizing and decolonizing agendas, (b) disrupting government ideology, (c)

decolonizing government and reclaiming Indigenous governance, (e) decolonizing spirituality and

ceremony, (f) disrupting colonizing ideologies and decolonizing minds, (g) reconnecting to land, (h) decolonizing history, and (i) community-based education and decolonizing education Conclusions drawn include the importance of engaging students in Indigenous pedagogies so that they can find support for transforming understandings through Indigenous literatures and understand strategies and opportunities

to decolonize education

Isherwood, Geoffrey B., Knute Sorensen, and Eric Colbourne "Educational Development in the North: Preparing Inuit Leaders for School Board Control." Education Canada 26.3 (1986): 9.

Describes the organization, content, and outcomes of a program to train Inuit leaders to be effective school board members for the Baffin Divisional Board of Education when the Inuit first assumed control of that region's schools Topics include school board role and formulation of educational goals and policies

Joan, Russell "What's to be done with the Fox? Inuit Teachers Inventing Musical Games for Inuit Classrooms." Curriculum Inquiry 36.1 (2006): 15.

This paper explores the issue of culturally responsive music curriculum content in the context of a music course taught by Joan Nunavut Arctic College’s Teacher Education Program (NTEP) The article also offers a brief overview of the historical evolution of education and education policy in the Eastern Arctic and the legacies from those policies that are present today; and a discussion of the importance of myths and story-telling in Inuit culture The paper was inspired by a course assignment that asked the Inuit students to invent and peer teach a musical activity that adapted some of the concepts, materials, and skills the author brought to the course to something traditional to Inuit culture Three questions emerged from this assignment: What themes would their musical activities address? What values and traditions would be embedded in these themes? How would these themes relate to the themes expressed in the wider culture

—in Inuit-produced carvings, printmaking, weaving, legends, and poetry? A thematic analysis (along a continuum with “preservation of tradition on one end and development on the other”) of the student-designed activities revealed a connection to the “land” in ways that is not seen in Eurocentric music curricula, and the chosen themes were consistent with those that are present in other Inuit cultural products One student’s assignment is presented as an example of a musical activity that positions the Inuit relationship with the land at the core of the activity, while drawing on ideas from both Inuit and

qallunaat traditions Joan, recognizing that curriculum is based on ideology and is thus political, offers interesting advice for policymakers: “the decolonization movement in education that is taking place in different parts of the world understands curriculum development as a political activity, in the sense that it strives to place the accumulated wisdom, interests, values, aspirations, learning styles, and traditions of a particular group of people at the center of the curriculum.” The article also recognizes another challenge of

creating a “culturally-responsive” curriculum is that culture is fluid and always changing Music, the author posits, can be a useful tool because it can “engage past and present” Joan concludes that Inuit-created musical activities that are derived from Inuit experience have a role to play in decolonizing the curriculum for Inuit students and, until a comprehensive Inuit curriculum is developed, music (and, presumably other expressive activities) can be a useful starting point for moving Inuit experience to a more central place in Nunavut schools

Kanu, Yatta, “Curriculum as Cultural Practice: Postcolonial Imagination,” Journal of the

Canadian Association of Curriculum Studies 1.1 (2003), 67-81

** Kanu also has a book published under the same name The argument in the book is the same Each chapter is a case study from a different country Her work after this article is focused on curriculum development in First Nations communities in Canada.

This article’s intent is to re-imagine and re-theorize the metaphor “curriculum as cultural practice” and the

function of this metaphor in a postcolonial context Postcolonialism is defined inclusively to include the

experiences of minority populations in first and third world countries; in essence postcolonial can be understood as a stance against Eurocentrism and as a site “where a variety of assumptions accepted on individual, academic and political levels are called into question in the struggle for more democratic social

relations.” Imagination (a term increasingly employed in discourses on education and globalization) is

defined as they in which people come to know, understand and experience themselves as members of a community and citizens of a nation-state.” Thinking about these two concepts provides a framework for an historical analysis of “curriculum as cultural practice” (specifically as it related to colonial relationships, assimilation and the creation of the “other”); and it opens up a space for proposing reform “where curriculum could be reconstructed to become more responsive” to today’s diverse cultural context Kanu traces the overall approach of the colonizer to use schools and curriculum as a means to assimilate and neutralize colonized populations, heralding “national unity” and the development of the citizenry Power and control are generated through the “inculcation of the dominant groups’ ‘official knowledge’” Several international examples are given using different colonizing nations, including the use of residential schools

in Canada to assimilate Aboriginal people by teaching children how to be hard-working Canadian citizens Rote-learning, often employed in colonizers schools, was useful because it eroded critical and creative thinking among pupils and fostered a greater acceptance of “official knowledge” Although the use of curriculum to develop citizens and create national unity was a cross-Canada policy in the post-war years, it has been the case that “curricular encounter with ‘the other’ has been unequal, unethical and anchored in racism and violence.”

With respect to curriculum reform in the postcolonial context, Kanu notes that the introduction of

curriculum internationalization to the reform discourse has the potential to deeply reshape the ways in which individuals and communities see themselves, each other and how they can interact as a collective, creating knowledge together In this globalized context, Kanu stresses the importance of “hybridity”, or the

“third space” in curriculum development and reform since it “embod[ies] fluid, pragmatic and multiple power relations, unlike the relations of domination [colonization]” In the third space, there is no “other” Thinking in this way allows for the inclusion of many types of “knowledge” and different ways of

transmitting knowledge and finding links between the different types

Kort, Barry and Rob Reilly Evolving Educational Pedagogy in Developing Nations M.I.T Media Laboratory No date.

Kort and Reilly purport that the developing world has a unique opportunity with respect to educational infrastructure; rather than importing the education systems of the developed world, developing nations can instead develop their systems using a different model, one which seeks to develop adult citizens as opposed to skilled “game show contestants” Notably, the authors suggest that perhaps too much

emphasis has been placed on teaching methodologies rather than on learning Kort and Reilly’s work seeks

to fill this gap by developing an understanding of learning and learners The authors distinguish between

two models of thinking: rule-based thinking and model-based thinking Kort and Reilly argue that the

developed world’s education system has become information (teaching and testing) rather than

knowledge focused (reasoning and insight) Learners need to “learn how to learn” so that this process can

become life-long The authors present two interrelated models that they suggest can be used by

developing countries when designing their education systems The first – the foundation - is the “novel

model of educational pedagogy” which the authors compare to putting together a jigsaw puzzle

Knowledge – the Big Picture – in this model is informed by and interpreted through value systems, which

vary by culture The second model is used to understand the affective (emotional) state of the learner

through the learning cycle Many students in developing countries may have strayed from the “path of

learning” and must be brought back Educators who are aware of the emotional state of their students

may be more successful at this The Emotion Model has four quadrants representing the phases related to

learning (sidenote: the model looks like a medicine wheel!) The model represents the cycle of learning

whereby students move, for example, from a state of anxiety to one of confidence and vice versa as they

navigate different learning activities Kort and Reilly stress that it is important (for keeping students on the

path) that students understand the cyclical nature of learning and are given tools for coping with the ups

and downs The authors conclude stating that they are conducting empirical tests of their models on

elementary school children

Okakok, Leona “Serving the Purpose of Education” Harvard Educational Review 59.4 (1989): 405.

Okakok outlines the change from Inupiat Eskimo traditional ways – e.g elders as resource – as beginning with the introduction of another culture’s (Western) educational system and beliefs (Christianity) in the 1920’s, which served

to displace the Inupiat educational ways and traditions In the 70’s, the Inupiat Eskimos regained control of their education system (North Slope Borough, NW Alaska) and incorporated aspects of their history and culture, striving

to balance scholastic achievement on par with other US states, with cultural identity and values They found that academic success was tied to the inclusion of Inupiat Eskimo knowledge Okakok outlines, with personal examples, how cultural differences between Inupiat and Western lifestyles made learning in a Western environment a struggle; their native language was not allowed to be used, and English, in the absence of the 1st language, even more difficult to comprehend The negation of Inupiat culture in the Western school system made learning a struggle; Inupiat Eskimo control of education, and schooling – from infrastructure to curriculum – enabled

academic achievement, survival education, and personal and cultural, lifelong, learning of Inupiat Eskimo values Innovations that Okakok offers, juxtaposing them with their valuation in Western society, are: enabling community members to act as teachers in the classroom, to foster one-one relationships and learning experiences, nurturing of individual interests, and the use of these interests toward learning other subjects and practical roles in the

community, inclusion of cultural activities and encouragement of parental involvement She outlines changes – policy related and curricular – and difficult decisions that the board has made in their desire to create a viable educational system for Inupiat Eskimo students

Philpott, David, Dennis Sharpe and Rose Neville Participation of high school students in the isolated aboriginal

communities of coastal Labrador in web-delivered learning The current context:

Perspectives, successes and challenges

http://www.mun.ca/killick/home/DSharpe_KillickPaper.pdf

Phillips, Susan and Helen Raham, Sharing Our Success: Promising Practices in Aboriginal Education

Proceedings of a National Conference Society for the Advancement of Excellent in Education Winnipeg,

November 23-3, 2007

[EXECUTIVE SUMMARY]

Sharing our Success: Promising Practices in Aboriginal Education was a national research and

policy conference convened by the Society for the Advancement of Excellence in Education (SAEE) on November

23-24, 2007 at the York Hotel and the University of Winnipeg in Winnipeg There were over 375 participants from

regional and national Aboriginal1 organizations, federal government departments, provincial/territorial departments

of education, schools, universities and other organizations The conference was designed to engage stakeholders from across Canada in examining and sharing promising practices in aboriginal schooling Over 70 presentations by more than 85 researchers, practitioners and policymakers at every level provided many opportunities for participants to explore constructive solutions to systemic challenges Among the many issues addressed over the course of the two days were literacy and language; cultural programming; the assessment and reporting of results; governance and leadership; funding; the supply, training and retention of quality teachers; and community supports for learning In addition to formal presentations, dialogues in the form of sharing circles and issue roundtables promoted further cross-pollination of effective strategies, policies, and resources

This groundbreaking national conversation was a powerful catalyst for creating shared understandings to improve aboriginal student success Formal and informal feedback was highly positive both for the calibre of the presentations and for bringing together all major stakeholders to examine the research and policy issues

Rasmussen, Derek "Qallunology: A Pedagogy for the Oppressor." Canadian Journal of Native Education 25.2 (2001): 105.

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the evolution of the European perspective on education and the use of education (and literacy) as a tool of colonization in Canada’s north Rasmussen’s argument is rooted

in the belief that the indigenous (Inuit) and the Rescuer (Qallunaat) worldviews are fundamentally incongruent and that these approaches are the result of different historical experiences Using Polanyi’s theory of the Great Transformation, Rasmussen shows how social relations became disembedded from economic ones, resulting in the “new non-social economy.” European society became “monetized and literatized” – a paper-based society The concept of education evolved through this process as well Literacy in this context became synonymous with knowledge and intellect European society became alphabetized – the process through which symbols (paper, letters, books, libraries) were developed to represent and replace their real-life counterparts Education was disembedded from life, just as social relations were disembedded from economic ones Rasmussen argues that two western institutions -education and economy - have been, and continue to be, used as the primary tools of colonization by

“the Rescuers” Colonizers believed that development would come if indigenous people learned to “spell and spend” Rasmussen uses Friere’s (1970s anthropologist) work to illustrate how the western ideology of literacy became a tool of colonialism Friere’s “liberatory pedagogy” was based on the assumption that if only “primitive” people could become literate that they would be freed from their oppressors and the many societal ills that plagued them Friere did not question, however, the causes of those societal ills (which Rasmussen sees as the imposition of European institutions and the introduction of “welfare colonialism” of the mid 20th century in the North) Rasmussen concludes by pointing out that over the course of history, Qallunaat have approached development (education, economy) of Inuit society as a good (heroic) deed; helping to “progress” the Inuit toward civilization Instead, he argues, the Rescuers should seek to understand their own behaviour and the motivations behind it For the purposes of education policy, this article emphasizes the significant differences between EuroCanadian and Inuit concepts of knowledge (and therefore learning by extension)

Rasmussen, D "Forty Years of Struggle and Still no Right to Inuit Education in Nunavut." Our Schools, Our Selves 19.1 (2009): 67.

The article opens with two questions: why, after forty years, does Nunavut still lack an Inuit-centred school system and what can be done to make this happen? The primary focus of the article is on the relationship between the Government of Nunavut and the Inuit organizations with respect to education and language policies; and the roles and responsibilities held by each in this regard Rasmussen starts by tracing the

“battle” fought by Inuit leaders in the early days of the land claims negotiations to gain control over education and language rights and to entrench these rights in the land claim He highlights that even very early on the debate with respect to education revolved around the issue of language rights and the ramifications of a system in which Inukititut was the language of instruction; and what it meant to have an

“Inuit-centred” school system The federal government felt that language rights fell outside the scope of the comprehensive claims process Ultimately, the issue of language rights was reduced to the clause that now comprises Article 32 of the claim NTI and the regional organizations are thus responsible for ensuring that Inuit are in fact involved in the development, design and delivery of social policies The second part of the article, focused on governance issues, outlines the many ways that the GN has failed in its obligations

to Inuit, as set out in the claim; namely, how it limited participation by Inuit organizations in the drafting of legislation related to education The lack of Inuit senior managers in the Department of Education is also cited as a factor limiting Inuit participation in decision-making Notably, Inuit recommendations for changes to the education system have been always been related to Inuit control, Inuktitut instruction and culturally appropriate curriculum; consistently, these three areas have been left out of agreements or rejected as recommendations by the GN

With respect to human resources, Rasmussen takes issue with the federal government’s removal of funding after 1999 for a successful teachers training program started in the NWT that, he argues, would have increased the number of Inuit teachers dramatically He also highlights the disproportionately high number of Newfoundlanders teaching in Nunavut, suggesting that if the GN spent as much money on training “local hires” as it does on travel and living costs for imported teachers, Article 23 may succeed! Ultimately, Rasmussen argues that neither the federal government, nor the Government of Nunavut has fulfilled its obligation to Inuit as laid out in the NLCA To answer the second question posed in the

introduction – “what can be done to support Inuit education rights? - the Rasmussen suggests six

solutions: implement the Mahe rights (as determined by the 1990 Supreme Court of Canada decision) to ensure local Inuit control; implement Thomas Berger’s 2005 recommendations to tackle drop out rates by increasing bilingualism and funding a handful of core programs; Revise the Education Act as per Article 32 (meaningful Inuit participation in policy process); form an Inuit teacher’s union as an alternative to the Nunavut Teachers’ Association; enforce Article 23 job descriptions; employ 85% Inuit in teaching and principle positions

Roland, Greta “A university in the Fourth World': the self-determination of the Norwegian Saami” In Dialectical Anthropology Volume 18, No 1, 1993

The paper seeks to show “how education can affect social change on behalf of a minority in the long run, especially when brought about at top levels of governance.” The paper traces the development of the Saami education reform movement across the homelands of the Saami, focusing primarily on Norway Roland refers to the Saami as “active Fourth World peoples” and likens their recent experience in Norway

to that of the indigenous peoples in North America Building on existing models from social movement and education literature, Roland asks “how has [the Saami’s] social movement assisted the development

of a specialized teacher education program and, in turn, how has this educational program helped the movement?” Roland provides a socio-historical overview highlighting the struggle the Saami endured in asserting their own indigeneity – a necessary first step for an ethnic social movement linked to language and cultural rights One important characteristic of the shift in attitude toward Saami status in Norway is that the changes tended to come from the down (albeit shaped by democractic processes) The top-down forces came from both the nation-state (Norway) and the Saami elite (in the form of cross boundary Saami organizations and then eventually the Saami Parliament) Corporatist post WWII Norway allowed for the participation of local teachers in the decision making process and this created an avenue for Saami participation, as long as there were Saami teachers Once Saami received constitutional status, it was possible to assert their language and cultural rights, including the right to speak and study in their “home language” As a result of the assimilationist policies of the previous decades, language loss was substantial These factors contributed to movement prioritizing Saami teacher education programs A Taskforce was commissioned – The Hoem Committee” to determine whether specialized Saami teacher’s training was necessary Citing Saami cultural and language rights, the committee determined that indeed, special training was necessary to serve the Saami population of Norway better A Saami department was created

at Alta Teacher’s College but over time, the department was reduced to only a subject area in the General