The First Nation Student Success Program (FNSSP) is a proposal-driven program designed to help First Nation educators on reserve (Kindergarten to Grade 12) and improve school results.

The Program supports projects that increase students’ achievement levels in reading and writing (literacy), mathematics (numeracy), and encourages students to remain in school (student retention).

The FNSSP is aligned with the Government’s long-term goal of providing First Nation youth on-reserve with access to a quality education that encourages them to stay in school and graduate with the skills they need to enter the labour market in order to pursue their career aspirations.

Projects funded through this program are required to include three interrelated components:

School Success Plans: First Nation schools are required to develop school success plans which set out goals, activities and targets for improving student achievement levels in the three priority areas of literacy, numeracy and student retention.

Student Learning Assessments: First Nation schools are required to conduct student learning assessments that will support the school success planning process. Assessment results should be used to identify areas to be targeted for improvement. Schools are to participate in their respective provincial standard testing process. The FNSSP will support First Nations schools in selecting and implementing student achievement testing tools.

Performance Measurement: First Nation schools are required to put in place performance measurement systems that allow schools to assess, report on, and take steps to accelerate progress made by students and by schools.

First Nation Student Success Program. (n.d.). Government of Canada; Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada; Communications Branch;. Retrieved November 4, 2013, from https://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1100100033703/1100100033704

An Article and video from 2009 addressing the benefits of high speed internet in remote First Nations Communities.

At the time the article was written 80 of the 203 First Nations in B.C. were still waiting for broadband.

The video can be watched below.

Denise Williams of the First Nations Education Steering Committee explains how Internet technology can strengthen First Nations education.

Hui, S. (2009, September 2). First Nations students need Internet technology, advocates say. Straight.com. Retrieved November 4, 2013, from http://www.straight.com/life/first-nations-students-need-internet-technology-advocates-say

The symposium confirmed that Western education was deficient in its application of scientific knowledge for all Aboriginal students, including those in the nursing program. Aboriginal ways of knowing were mostly missing from the science education curricula, which consequently offers a non-relevant science perspective for Aboriginal students.

However, the symposium shed light on Aboriginal successes in the scientific community and the field of education. In moving science education into the future, research efforts are necessary to in order to understand how to bridge the gap between Aboriginal Science and the current Western science education curricula, to address it, and to motivate and sustain Aboriginal student interest in the sciences.

Kulig J, Duke M, Solowoniuk J, Weaselfat R, Shade C, Lamb M, Wojtowicz B. (2010). Aboriginal science symposium: enabling Aboriginal student success in post-secondary institutions. Rural and Remote Health, 10. Retrieved online from http://hdl.handle.net/10133/1260

The main theme emerging from the data analysis was: Aboriginal Middle Years Students Beliefs About Factors That Help Them Succeed at School.

The sub-themes emerging from the main theme were:

1. Defining Success

2. Family Influence

3. Healthy Relationships with Teachers

4. Programming and Curriculum

5. Peer Support.

Based on the results of this research the following recommendations are offered to individuals concerned with the education of Aboriginal middle year’s students.

1. It is recommended that teachers look for ways to expand traditional thoughts and practices concerning success to more encompassing beliefs that actively embrace a wider range of students and honors diversity in its broadest sense. This can be done by giving students opportunities to explore and discover their thoughts about success. In turn they begin a process of redefining the conventional perception of what it means to be successful. The approaches teachers use to evaluate and assess students also need to be addressed in order to encompass this broader view of success. Teachers are encourages to take opportunities to more fully understand and implement the concept of multiple intelligences.
2. The significant impact of family on the success of Aboriginal middle year’s students cannot be underscored. It is recommended that teachers continue to incorporate strategies that enhance and support relationships between the home and the school. Student-led conferences allow students to share, demonstrate, and celebrate their learning with both teachers and family. Informal gatherings, initiated by the school community, that invite families into the school are encouraged. Cultural activities and celebrations provide opportunities for students and their families to honor their heritage together and to share it with others.
3. The influence middle year’s teachers have on their students is significant and the positive relationships that develop between students and teachers are fundamental to quality learning. It is recommended that teachers place priority on first cementing foundations and then constructing a framework for these relationships.
4. The curriculum and programming designed for Aboriginal students in middle years classrooms need to demonstrate an attitude of caring. In order to increase the chances of academic and life success teachers empower students by involving them in creating curriculum. Students thrive when learning experiences are expanded beyond classroom walls into the community. Itis recommended that teachers explore ways of involving community in the classroom and the classroom in the community.
5. Family and teachers play a significant role in the lives of Aboriginal middle year’s students. However, during adolescence there is a powerful drive to form relationships with peers that is less guarded and more accommodating than those they have with adults. It is recommended that teachers focus on providing opportunities that foster the building of peer relationships. This rapport can be cultivated by adopting instructional strategies and providing learning experiences that enhance symbiotic bonds.

Melnechenko, L., & Horsman, H. (1998). FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO ABORIGINAL STUDENTS SUCCESS IN SCHOOL IN GRADES SIX TO NINE. Saskatchewan Education.

The main questions discussed in this week are mostly about the aboriginal educational school system. Also there has been a lot of debate about the process of decolonizing the educational systems that are utilized by the aboriginal young learners. I see how creating or designing a learning base could contradicts the process of decolonizing it. Most of the discussions go around the schools. Here I found a good source that deals with the same problem but on a higher level, a university level in the Nunavut area. I brought this source here because it gives us a lot of information about the challenges facing educational designers who are trying hard to create a system that can cater for the needs of the aboriginal learners:

http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/848/1798