Module #4, Post #5

http://thetyee.ca/Series/2011/09/07/Successful-First-Nations-Education/

This website is an independent daily online newspaper about BC news, culture, and solutions. This page specifically is about Successful Practices in First Nations Education. It contains a series of news articles by reporter Katie Hyslop who takes a look at inspiring models of education done differently.

The series includes these articles:

• How Chief Atahm Elementary School Became a Success Story
• ‘Most Teachers Don’t Know Who First Nations Are’
• Welcome to Haida High
• Amidst the Big City, an Aboriginal Public School?
• Giving Aboriginal Students Words of Their Own
• A World of First Nations, Learning

As there are many articles to read, I will focus on one to give an idea of the success of doing things differently for aboriginal education. I read the article Amidst the Big City, an Aboriginal Public School?  This article is about how Vancouver’s school board sees potential in a school designed to appeal to urban First Nations youth. Their school involves aboriginal and aboriginal-aware teachers, parents, elders, and the community. This school proposal seems to be controversial because some see it as segregation. This article leads to another site, ALIVE (Aboriginal Life in Vancouver Enhancement), which is a non-profit organization working to improve the lives of urban aborginals.

I think that the series provided by The Tyee provides information on various educational opportunities that are out there for aboriginal youth and ideas about what can be done to improve and sustain aboriginal culture amongst the aboriginal youth.