Tag Archives: Indigenous Education

Indigenous Education Protocol

After reviewing the video with Mary Simon, I became curious about post-secondary education for Aboriginal youth, specifically those living in remote areas. I cam across the College and Institutes Canada webpage which collaborates

with post-secondary institutes who actively recruit and create curriculum which encompasses a holistic, aboriginal centered approach. The To be a recognized member of the Indigenous Education Protocol, institutions must agree to seven core principles: some include making indigenous education a priority, employing aboriginal people, and commit to developing an indigenous center on campus.

The purpose of this is to improve access to post-secondary education for aboriginal students as well as to ensure these students needs are met in the institution. This website is geared towards post-secondary institutions and provides supports to these institutions to ensure the learner’s needs are met.

Mary Simon made some good points about connecting the Inuit population to future Northern jobs, the Indigenous Education Protocol may be a helpful in educating Northern populations.

To view the website: http://www.collegesinstitutes.ca/the-issues/indigenous-learners/approaches-and-exemplary-practices-to-guide-implementation/indigenous-education-protocol/

Ronaye Kooperberg (Module 2 – Post 4)

Martin Aboriginal Education Initiative (MAEI)

As one in three aboriginal people have not graduated from high school, the Martin Aboriginal Education Initiative (MAEI) is an organization which aims to provide support to elementary and secondary aboriginal students. Their goal is to raise education levels as well as graduation rates for the indigenous population within Canada. This website provides resources for educators in the form of successful programs and provides opportunities to participate in such programs. Opportunities such as Aboriginal Youth Entrepreneurial Program and the Accounting Mentorship Program are two examples which are aimed at a holistic education program and encouraging students to pursue post-secondary education. Ultimately, this program is in place to support “the social and economic strength of the Aboriginal people.” This program operates in conjunction with elders, but interestingly, the administration seems to be of non-aboriginal heritage.

Website: http://www.maei-ieam.ca/about.html

Ronaye Kooperberg (Module 2 – Post 1)

Urban Aboriginal Knowledge Network (UAKN)

The Urban Aboriginal Knowledge Network provides a voice for those Indigenous individuals and families choosing to live outside of traditional land (reservation). This website provides an interactive map illustrating breakdown of aboriginal populations per major center. Furthermore, this website provides interactive infograph on what the average aboriginal life is like within an urban center with respect to education, finances, and quality of life.

The research aspect of the knowledge network aims at providing a higher quality of life for urban aboriginals. Through partnerships with social organizations and educational institutions, they aim to develop policies to assist these members of urban communities. Research generated from this organization is quite diverse, from topics such as Truth in Indigenous Ways of Knowing to Transforming Education for the Urban Youth. These topics highlight the contrasting challenge of urban aboriginals such as social dislocation, assisting with family separation and how to combat racial discrimination. While this is a different dialogue, it is one that must be included within the Indigenous experience.

To access the website, click on: http://uakn.org/

(Module 1 – Post 4)

Learning Language Online Miromaa

http://www.miromaa.org.au/

While surfing around I found a site created by the Miromaa Aboriginal and Technology Centre to aid in educating people about a number of native aboriginal dialects in Australia.

This website is a great example of how the web can help aboriginal groups save and share their languages. It includes many blended resources such as a Youtube channel, saved voice clips and educational based resources to help learners and teachers alike. The site is very well designed and pulls your into it. I found myself spending more than a few minutes there and really felt engaged. The site does a great job in connecting people to the material and encouraging them to learn more.

Module 4 Post 5 – Indigenous Foundations

My last post (Module 4 Post 4) drew attention to the project “What I learned in class today“, because of my particular interest with the topic, but upon further exploration I found this project’s mother-site, “Indigenous Foundations“. The site describes itself as: a website project developed by the First Nations and Indigenous Studies Program. It provides an accessible starting point for instructors, researchers, and students in any discipline who want to learn more about Aboriginal cultures, politics, and histories. The information presented is concise and easily digestible, while still conveying the depth and complexities of the topics.”

On the left taskbar for the site is a run-down of past research initiatives, including “What I learned in class today”, and their current project called “Knowing the Land Beneath our Feet“. A short video made by the two coordinators provides the introduction to the project, which is about making the ‘unfamiliar’ land on which UBC resides (un-ceded Musqueam territory) once again ‘familiar’ to those who travel on it. At the moment they provide walking informational tours, but the website also says that the program plans on making a digital tour as well, which I am particularly happy to hear as I’m across the country!

When I went on a search to see if there are similar tours in Southern Ontario, the closest result I found was at the Woodland Cultural Centre, which is in Brantford and serves three support communities: Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte, Six Nations of the Grand River and Wahta Mohawks. They offer a wide range of activities for elementary grades, but I would easily take a grade 9 or 10 class on some of the workshops labeled 6+. I’m glad to have found a potential resource for future school trips, but at least I know now that searching and finding these kinds of centres nearby is more possible than I would have previously thought.

Module 4, Post 1 – Centre for inter generational learning

Yakshi is an organisation which, in their own words “supports adivasi visions of buen vivir ( manchi jeevitam- a good life) based on holistic co-existence and recovery of lost harmony between humans and mother nature.”

Yakshi mainly engages with the adivasi peoples over issues of – Law and Governance, Women empowerment, Youth Leadership and cultural action which includes theatre and folk art.

One interesting endeavour has been the setting up of Gotti – A creative space for young people to connect to social movements through critical dialogue and inter-generational learning. It also provides a space for nurturing life skills like organic food farming, sustaining local performing arts, reviving local crafts, exploring music, culture, arts, theatre and ideas and providing a creative learning space for children.

http://yakshi.org.in/

Module 3 | Post 4 A different view of ‘culturally responsible’ education

I lived and worked in Chiapas Mexico in the mid 1990s at the height of the Zapatista movement and worked in several Mayan villages throughout the province with ProNatura Chiapas who was trying to build sustainable farming practices for coffee growers in these communities. The Mayan face a great number of challenges and security, both physical and economic, is a primary concern for communities and individuals. An organization in San Cristobal is attempting to provide education that will allow Mayan youth to participate in the local economy and provide them with some sense of human rights and confidence. This is not the ‘voice’ or culturally distinct education that have been discussed in this module and though this will hopefully come to Chiapas one day, this form of education provided in this example, in this environment and political context, seems culturally responsible at this time for the Mayan people.

http://www.globalfundforchildren.org/providing-alternatives-for-indigenous-youth-in-chiapas-mexico-chantiik-taj-tajinkutik/

Module 3 | Post 3 First Nation Perspectives at BCIT

A colleague at BCIT, Derik Joseph, who is an education coordinator in the Aboriginal Services office, recently completed his MA in Communications at Royal Roads. His thesis centered around 10 First Nation students at BCIT who he interviewed in an effort to better understand the First Nation perspective of life at BCIT (2014). As a First Nation man himself, he has a unique connection to the students and provides a narrative and story of both his life, his role and place in the research and the themes that exist from the stories told to him by the 10 students who participated and contributed to the study. Here, as in the videos for this week, the goal is to give back and to create something of use to the aboriginal community. Derik identifies 5 themes in his study and these include: 1) family history; 2) First Nation identity; 3) culture; 4) work ethic and 5) role models.

BCIT. (May 8, 2014). Aboriginal Speaker Series – Derik Joseph. Accessed June 6, 2015 from https://youtu.be/zL-2hrlmwMk.

Module 3 – Post 2 Culturally Responsive Adivasi Education

There has been increasing awareness about imparting culturally responsive and inclusive education to the Adivasis (tribals / Native peoples) in India. More and more Native peoples’ associations are demanding preschool education in the native language and demanding that native cultures become a part of the curriculum. Following are the links to a few such efforts –

Pajhra – An organization working towards Promotion and development of Adivasi languages

http://www.pajhra.org/promotion-of-langauge-and-education/

Mother tongue based Multi-lingual Early Childhood Education – An organization demanding that multi-lingual early childhood education be made a right for the adivasi communities. Following is a link to their videos.

http://www.eceinmothertongue.in/resources/films-videos/

A report by the UNESCO on the case studies of ‘Improving the Quality of Mother Tongue-based Literacy and Learning’ in native peoples.

http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0017/001777/177738e.pdf

Module 3, Post 1 – The right to education act

The Right to Education act (RTE) was implemented by the government of India in 2010. Under this act, every child was to attend a government recognized school from the age of 6 onwards. However, the curriculum in all government recognized schools is uniform, with no special focus on including the Adivasi cultural elements. This act has brought the curtain down on all forms of informal schooling. It is therefore important to investigate the impacts of this act on Adivasi education. Following are some of the links which i read –

http://www.teacherplus.org/2013/march-2013/adivasis-education-and-the-rte-act

http://www.thealternative.in/society/one-teacher-tribal-schools-alternative-education-closing-rte/

https://www.oxfamindia.org/sites/default/files/PB-Right-to-Education-Act-Claiming-Education-120315-EN.pdf