Month: November 2011

Aboriginal Learning Knowledge Center

The Aboriginal Learning Knowledge Center is one of the five knowledge centers of the Canadian Council on Learning and  “was created to provide a collaborative national forum that would support the development of effective solutions for the challenges faced by First Nations, Métis and Inuit learners” (Canadian Council on Learning, 2011). The Center consists of more than 80 organizations and individuals from across Canada, dedicated towards finding solutions for the improvement of Aboriginal learning in Canada. Their website features a number of featured publications addressing Aboriginal learning, gender issues, the role of elders, Metis post-secondary education systems, and indigenous knowledge.

CTV Winnipeg: Officials Hope Education Program Will Help Preserve Aboriginal Language

I thought this was a great link because it shows that action is being taken to bring back aboriginal languages in Winnipeg. This link is for an article and a new clip talking about some schools in Winnipeg that have begun to offer students of all backgrounds the opportunity to learn the Ojibwe language. This a great means of reintroducing tradition culture from that region and a way of decolonizing.

http://winnipeg.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20101214/wpg_language_101214/20101214/?hub=WinnipegHomees

Dozens of Aboriginal Languages Near Death: UNESCO

The second link is for a video and article based on data from the United Nations cultural agency UNESCO. A linguistic professor who teaches Aboriginal languages talks about the data that has been collected around Aboriginal language loss. Many languages have already been lost and about 88 languages are endangering of extinction. There is a fear that these languages will be lost altogether or they will only remain in written format as no one will be able to speak the languages anymore.

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Canada/20091106/dying_languages_091108/

The Indigenous Studies Portal (iPortal) is a webpage that has been created as a venue for all types of electronic resources associated with Indigenous studies. This initiative has been taken on by the University of Saskatchewan. The website also consists of other artefacts such as pictures, etc. It has details about events at the University that are associated with indigenous people. There is also teaching tools available on this site.

http://iportal.usask.ca/index.php?sid=354430150&cat=804&start=50&t=sub_pages&rtype_limit=2

This article from the Canadian Journal of Native Education is based on a six month school ethnographic study that was conducted at an Intercultural Bilingual Education (IBE) program in Chile. The objective of this program was to show that schools could be a good venue for cultural, linguistic and ethnic identity reconstruction. This article shows that many indigenous groups are beginning to take a stand and develop programs to help address the problems they are facing and to reconnect with their cultures. This IBE program in Mapuche, Chile centered in on how the Kimun Indigenous knowledge and the Mapudungun language could be embraced to create culturally relevant pedagogy which would help in the process of decolonization. In this program, an ancestral educator was used as an agent for cultural and linguistic transmission through the process of using indigenous knowledge as his curricular objective.

http://bit.ly/rAhddD

This article from the Canadian Journal of Native Education talks about the importance of aboriginal languages and how language is a means of preserving knowledge. The article also highlights and challenges the practices and occurrences that have happened in the past which resulted in language and knowledge to be discredited and left behind. Aboriginal educational concerns are discussed and the importance of the presence of curriculum that is aligned to aboriginal culture is encouraged as a means of protecting and respecting these cultures.

http://www.cbu.ca/mrc/autumn-seed

This website is a conglomeration of different resources that have been put together as a means of reference for strategies for learning and education to aid in the development of individuals in Saskatchewan. The initiative of AERC is to work with schools, faculties, scholars, students, the government, etc., to build an inclusive relationship amongst all individuals who are associated with Aboriginal education. The aboriginal education research centre tries to address educational decolonization through their research project in an effort to develop tools that will help to increase Aboriginal students’ success.

http://aerc.usask.ca/index.html

Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage report was released on 25 August 2011. Starting in 2002, the Council of Australian Governments commissioned the Steering Committee to produce a regular report against key indicators of Indigenous disadvantage. This report has an important long-term objective. It is to inform Australian governments about whether policies and programs are achieving positive outcomes for Indigenous people. This will help guide where further work is needed. The report is composed of different topics related to Indigenous people. The report presents valuable information related to education and training, healthy lives, economic participation, home environment, safe and supportive communities, governance/leadership, and measuring multiple disadvantage of Indigenous people in Australia.

http://www.pc.gov.au/gsp/reports/indigenous/key-indicators-2011

The Center for World Indigenous Studies (CWIS) is an independent, non-profit research and education organization dedicated to wider understanding and appreciation of the ideas and knowledge of indigenous peoples and the social, economic and political realities of indigenous nations. The Center fosters better understanding between peoples through the publication and distribution of literature written and voiced by leading contributors from Fourth World Nations. One of the main goals of CWIS is to establish cooperation between nations and to democratize international relations between nations and between nations and states.

The CWIS website provides information on education programs for the First Nations (certificate program with a master degree option) in the States, including certificate programs and special institutes for the Indigenous People. CWIS also publishes a journal (Fourth World Journal) that explains world events or activities that address climate change and the environment, political change, history, education economics, social change, traditional knowledge systems and the creative arts, related to the Indigenous people and societies. The CWIS website also sells books that contain important research findings and analyses about indigenous peoples and their knowledge.

http://www.cwis.org

Dare to Lead is a commonwealth funded national project with a focus on improving educational outcomes for Indigenous students. Dare to Lead began in 2000 when representatives of the four peak principals associations met at a national forum and agreed that Indigenous education would be their highest priority. It is an initiative of the profession and specifically of Principals Australia acting on behalf of its members and their associations. The Project is funded by the Australian Government with the support of the Minister for Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. In general, Dare to Lead schools commit to improving the educational outcomes of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, and also to ensuring that all their students develop an informed understanding of Australia’s Indigenous culture.

http://www.daretolead.edu.au/servlet/Web?s=169694&p=DTL08_Home

To make Self Governance in Education a reality, several processes need to be put into place, including sustainable funding, the preparation of aboriginal educational leaders, and the development of educational systems that meet the needs of each community. First Nations Pedagogy Online is the culmination of a project funded by BC Campus that allowed education experts from Nicola Valley Institute of Technology and Kwantlen Polytechnic University to create an online resource that builds on research, consultation, and community-based activities. This site provides best practices and support for online learning initiatives that are intended for aboriginal students, elders, educators, curriculum developers, and educational leaders in the field of Indigenous education.

http://firstnationspedagogy.ca/index.html