This project examines the popular belief that integration of Aboriginal content will ensure Aboriginal student success in schools in Saskatchewan. Given that a high percentage of the teaching population is white identified, it is important that the author, along with these teachers, understand the continuing significance of race and how it continues to matter in education despite the notion that Canada, as well as schools, are race neutral. The primary goal of this project is to provide a race analysis of education using Critical Race theory as a theoretical framework, problematizing the emphasis on Aboriginal culture in dominant educational discourse. Secondly, this project examines the potential of anti racist pedagogy (accompanied by a knowledge base in CRT) to provide professional development for white teachers to assist us in meeting the needs of not only Aboriginal students but non-Aboriginal students as well.

A chasm exists between science curriculum offered within K-12 and post-secondary education systems, and the needs of national and international decision-makers with respect to the inclusion of Indigenous knowledges within processes aimed at protecting global biological diversity. World governments seek to protect biodiversity through the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity and consideration of Indigenous knowledges has emerged in governing texts. Yet, sustaining Indigenous knowledges as global wisdom will not be possible if young people lack opportunities to learn Indigenous traditional environmental knowledge as an integral part of their education experience. Métis traditional environmental knowledge can be a modality of science education that will engage learners in understanding relationships with the natural world and the importance of developing sustainable lifestyles within holistic lifelong learning.<p> In advancing this contention, a series of interviews were conducted with Métis traditional land users from North West Saskatchewan. The interviews provided data in 17 thematic areas including: balance, economic, environment, harmony, health, Indigenous knowledge, political, social, spirituality, values, land, language, people, self, imagination, tradition, and learning. Results were used to respond to the four primary research questions: According to traditional land users in North West Saskatchewan, what is Métis traditional environmental knowledge? How does Métis traditional environmental knowledge in North West Saskatchewan align with established theories of Aboriginal epistemology and supporting principles? What evidence and arguments exist that support the development of Métis traditional environmental knowledge as a modality of science education? How can Métis traditional environmental knowledge be developed as a modality of science education?<p> Findings support development of holistic education processes that comprise a broad scope of knowledge integral to understanding our environment. Métis traditional environmental knowledge requires learners engage in activities outside the classroom, participating in experiences that facilitate an understanding of holistic thinking in intellectual, physical, affective and spiritual domains. Traditional environmental knowledge and practices of Métis People can inspire learners in science education, improving their engagement, understanding and decision-making abilities concerning the natural environment.

This dissertation investigates writing practices attuned to northern places. Eight experienced teachers from six regions in Canada’s Northwest Territories agreed to think-together in a study which took a hermeneutic approach to the focusing, gathering, and the analysis of data. Writing was both the subject for the inquiry and the methodology, as I asked participants to engage in ten workshops designed to move conversations away from familiar answers to the question: what practices invite northern students to write? In a place where the majority of students are Indigenous, I hoped that the writing workshops would invite the non-Indigenous teachers to consider their relationship to the many interconnecting dimensions of place. While writing seems to take one away from the particulars of experience to more universal concerns as one tries to capture meaning, paradoxically, writing returns to the particular. In the first four chapters, I use my 19 years of experience as a northern teacher as a heuristic for the study by contrasting the thinking of ‘the new teacher who has just arrived in the North’ to the voice of ‘the researcher.’ Four data chapters take up the ideas that emerged from the thinking-together with the teachers. I examine how the teachers used complexity thinking to approach their writing pedagogy. I consider how new literacies might overlap Indigenous pedagogies and Western writing pedagogies. I assert that the qualia of individual experience might serve as engaging subject matter for student writing. And finally, I explore how teachers might orient writing practices toward the development of voice rather than overemphasize procedural text-based approaches. This study will add to the literature on teaching writing with Indigenous students and to the literature on post-process pedagogy, particularly as it draws from Geography. Through example, this dissertation may illustrate how non-Indigenous educators can draw from Indigenous education in a way that respects and integrates its philosophical foundations. / Thesis (Ph.D, Education) -- Queen's University, 2011-09-29 11:38:17.767

In Australia, non-Aboriginal people have been involved in Aboriginal education since the end of the 19th century. There has been ongoing criticism of non-Aboriginal involvement in Aboriginal education and a movement towards Aboriginalisation in education. This study addresses the issues faced by six non-Aboriginal teachers in remote Aboriginal communities in the 1990's. The purpose of this study is to explore the experiences and perceptions of non-Aboriginal teachers living and working in remote Aboriginal communities in the 1990's. Through this research I found that the non-Aboriginal teachers faced difficulties living and working in remote Aboriginal communities. They talked about the distinctive lifestyle and living conditions. They reported a need for pre-service and ongoing professional development focusing on aspects influencing their lives. The discussion topics included: their living circumstances; Aboriginal world view; Aboriginal health issues; community issues; Aboriginal teaching and learning styles and school policies. The study is consistent with previous research about non-Aboriginal teachers living and working in remote Aboriginal communities. It argues that pre-service and ongoing professional development is vital for the success of non-Aboriginal teacher in remote communities. Community based educational programs for non-Aboriginal teachers are needed. These programs should include non-Aboriginal teachers learning about Aboriginal culture, Aboriginal learning and teaching styles and the development and implementation of educational policies. These programmes need to include discussion of aspects of living in isolated settings. Schools and governing bodies involved need to develop closer liaison with non-Aboriginal teachers to support their living in this setting. It is also important that policies in place address the problem of the high turnover of non-Aboriginal staff experienced by remote community schools. This study also poses the question what is the future for non-Aboriginal teachers in remote Aboriginal communities? Aboriginalisation in remote Aboriginal communities is highly recommended.

Since 1999, Aboriginal Education policy in British Columbia requires School Districts to collaborate with their local Aboriginal communities to establish appropriate definitions of success, set measureable goals and actions plans to enhance Aboriginal student’s educational achievement. Together these groups produce five-year Aboriginal Education Enhancement Agreements. This study employs Indigenous Methodology and Institutional Ethnography to learn whether and how process of working together to create these agreements contributes to relationship-building between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples. Key findings demonstrate that an engaged a dialogue between Indigenous peoples and education policy-makers changes the way that Aboriginal education is approached in BC school districts. Participants reported that the process changed them, touched their soul, and left them feeling humbled and renewed. The Enhancement Agreements hold promise as a process that works from within the institutional processes to address the unequal social relations of education for Aboriginal students. / Graduate

Two primary, interdependent goals of the NSW Higher School Certificate Aboriginal Studies course are enhancing Indigenous students’ self-concepts and educational outcome. It was considered that these would lead to increased Indigenous student participation and retention to Year 12. Yet recently there has been a decline in enrolments. Despite the introduction of Aboriginal Studies over a decade ago, no rigorous research has been undertaken to determine the impact of the course or the extent to which the aims of the course have been achieved. Research in Aboriginal Education has identified that Indigenous students are still not achieving at the same level as their non-Indigenous counterparts. However, the majority of studies to date have been theoretical and descriptive in nature. The primary purpose of the present investigation was to address some of the above issues by elucidating the (a) factors that influence Indigenous students’ decisions to participate in the HSC Aboriginal Studies course; (b) impact of the course on Indigenous students’ self-concepts and educational outcomes; and (c) strengths and limitations of the course. The research was undertaken in three NSW Department of Education and Training secondary schools, located in rural, north coast, and south coast areas. Results indicated that Indigenous students choose Aboriginal Studies based on their need to understand more about their own culture. There were also clear educational benefits in that Aboriginal Studies was considered to be a motivational factor that encouraged attendance at school and enhanced their academic self concept. Both staff and students suggested that the academic rigour of the Aboriginal Studies course contributed to declining enrolments. Overall the findings suggest that whilst the current course has some limitations, there are also many strengths; this implies there is a need to continue to refine the course to meet the needs of Indigenous students. / Master of Education (Hons)

An overview of Aboriginal education in the last two hundred years reveals that Aborigines have had a depressingly inadequate education, also marked by inequity of opportunity and participation. The developmental pattern of Aboriginal education has been characterised by four broad periods or eras related to specific government policies. These periods are identified successively as The Protection Era, the Segregation Era, The Assimilation Era and The Integration Era. The Protection Era began with the early frontier settlement of Europeans in Australia and extended until the 1860's. The Segregation Era marked the full development of Aboriginal reserves from 1860 to 1940. The Assimilation Era extended from the 1940s to the mid 1960s. Finally the period of Integration began in the late 1960s and gathered momentum in the 1970s. Throughout the periods of protection, segregation and assimilation very little effort was expended in the provision of adequate education for Aborigines. It was not until the late 1960s that concerted attempts were made to redress the many decades of neglect and apathy. Researchers uncovered glaring problems needing urgent redress. Aboriginal pupils persistently achieved very poorly in comparison with others and left school at an earlier age. As a consequence Aborigines left school lacking the knowledge and skills to compete with other Australians and had much poorer prospects of employment. In the early 1970s the National Aboriginal Education Committee and the state Aboriginal Education Consultative Groups, combined with support and funding from DAA, Commonwealth Education and The Schools Commission, were very influential in establishing programmes. In response to the growing numbers of Aborigines who were denied adequate schooling, three general types of adult programmes were developed: a) enclave/support systems; b) pretertiary/bridging courses and c) off campus centres. It was these programmes operating at WACAE that DEET commissioned me to evaluate. The existence of these programmes is the result of WACAE's prompt response to the need for redressing Aboriginal educational imbalance. The programmes developed following the commencement of the Aboriginal Teacher Education Programme at Mt Lawley College in 1973. The first enclave was established in 1976, external AEEC commenced in 1978 and G.E.C. in 1980, the first off campus centre was set up in 1983, and the Tertiary Preparation Course (internal AEEC) began operation in 1985. Commonwealth money has provided the financial basis for the programmes, but WACAE was the first institution in Australia to implement programmes and its achievement is significant. The terms of reference for this project required that the method of research should be through data gathering by means of interviews and examination of documentary evidence during a three week period in Perth. The evaluator consulted DAIS staff, students and, as particularly requested in the brief, Aboriginal community members. Findings revealed that WACAE's enclaves, on campus and off campus, have made progress towards educational equity for Aborigines, provide good support and are valued by students and Aboriginal community members. Aboriginalisation was found to be essential to maximum enclave effectiveness. Staff, students and Aboriginal community members would like to see increased Aboriginal representation, contract hiring of staff not being conducive to employment security or staff continuity. It is recommended that rationalisation of enclaves would achieve a more efficient pooling of resources. During the last thirteen years considerable amounts of external funds have been injected and it is recommended that WACAE take greater institutional responsibility for enclaves, using funds from normal Commonwealth sources, as distinct from special course funding. The existing staffing patterns and conditions of employment should be regularised in regard to salary, tenure, study leave, superannuation, etc. Such a measure is necessary to ensure staff continuity, security and inclusion in the power structure of the institution. WACAEs external pretertiary courses (AEEC and GEC) have achieved a small measure of progress towards equity of access and participation in education for Aborigines. The wide geographical distribution is significant in providing availability of courses. The courses are valued by Aboriginal community members and there is a need for external courses of this nature to continue in the future. However, progress towards equity has been extremely slow and time taken for completion of courses is unduly long considering the basic nature of GEC, and the fact that the courses are designed for completion in one year. The courses are preceived as enhancing employment performance and prospects as well as being preparation for tertiary study. There has been a shift in opinion regarding Aboriginal education during the 1980s towards the view that education should not be seen in isolation but in combination with employment and training. It is recommended that DEET take immediate steps to implement the Aboriginal Employment Development Policy in Western Australia, considering how best the benefits of external AEEC and GEC can be maintained and expanded. On the other hand, the Tertiary Preparation Course (internal AEEC) has achieved commendable results and is assessed as being worthy of increased resources and energy. Difficulty was encountered in efforts to determine exactly how DEET funding was used. It seems that this type of enquiry would necessitate the services of a qualified accountant. Enclave/support systems and pretertiary/bridging courses will be needed for some time to come. Many Aboriginal people stated that they envisage the time when these programmes will no longer be needed, 'when inequity of education has been addressed' and 'equality' achieved. Until this goal is reached the programmes will remain necessary. The achievement of the broad objectives of the AEDP, i.e. employment and income equity with other Australians and equity of participation in all levels of education, will see Aboriginal aspirations becoming a reality.

Two primary, interdependent goals of the NSW Higher School Certificate Aboriginal Studies course are enhancing Indigenous students’ self-concepts and educational outcome. It was considered that these would lead to increased Indigenous student participation and retention to Year 12. Yet recently there has been a decline in enrolments. Despite the introduction of Aboriginal Studies over a decade ago, no rigorous research has been undertaken to determine the impact of the course or the extent to which the aims of the course have been achieved. Research in Aboriginal Education has identified that Indigenous students are still not achieving at the same level as their non-Indigenous counterparts. However, the majority of studies to date have been theoretical and descriptive in nature. The primary purpose of the present investigation was to address some of the above issues by elucidating the (a) factors that influence Indigenous students’ decisions to participate in the HSC Aboriginal Studies course; (b) impact of the course on Indigenous students’ self-concepts and educational outcomes; and (c) strengths and limitations of the course. The research was undertaken in three NSW Department of Education and Training secondary schools, located in rural, north coast, and south coast areas. Results indicated that Indigenous students choose Aboriginal Studies based on their need to understand more about their own culture. There were also clear educational benefits in that Aboriginal Studies was considered to be a motivational factor that encouraged attendance at school and enhanced their academic self concept. Both staff and students suggested that the academic rigour of the Aboriginal Studies course contributed to declining enrolments. Overall the findings suggest that whilst the current course has some limitations, there are also many strengths; this implies there is a need to continue to refine the course to meet the needs of Indigenous students. / Master of Education (Hons)

The Saskatchewan Indian Community College (SICC) is an institution of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN) having the mandate to deliver occupational training progams to Indian people in Saskatchewan. For the years of this study, 1976-1981,the SICC delivered approximately 250 occupational training programs to nearly 3000 students.This study is the first attempt to evaluate the effectiveness of these training programs in a systematic manner. The purposes of this study were to evaluate the effectiveness of the SICC occupational training programs and to make recommendations regarding the future operation of these programs.<p> The main goal of SICC occupational training programs is to provide their recipients with skills to advance to either further levels of training or to employment, As a result,the Decision Making Model of evaluation was utilized in order to gain adequate information on the results of SICC training in relation to employment. In order to obtain a broader perspective in terms of all the impacts of SICC training, the Goal Free Model was also used.<p> Data for this study was collected through interviews administered by research assistants. Research assistants were trained in a week-long orientation and skill session to prepare them to conduct student follow-up interviews. The research assistants travelled to reserves to interview as many former SICC students as possible. A total of 806 of 2909 former SICC students were interviewed for this study between June,1982 to August,1982.<p> The Adult Basic Education student completion rate was 60.8 per cent and it was 70.5 per cent for skills training. The pre-training Adult Basic Education employment rate was 33.5 per cent as compared to 33.3 per cent after training. The pre-training skills training employment rate was 33.3 per cent as opposed to 54.6 per cent after training. While SICC training is one variable affecting the employability of students, the difference may be the result of a number of variables of which SICC training is only one.<p>Former SICC students generally were satisfied with and perceived their training to have been of high quality but found the training to be of limited value in gaining employment. The training was of limited benefit in such unintended areas of increasing the respondents' self-confidence, their involvement in band affairs, their incomes and their children's attendance in school by their example.<p>There are a number of structural barriers limiting the effectiveness of the College's occupational training programs . These include(a)the lack of positive definition of the type of institution that the College is or should be, b)a complicated program identification, request, and approval process,(c)lack of accreditation of skills and trades programs,d)lack of a student support system and strategy, and (e) inadequate linkages between training and economic development and employment opportunities. Recommendations from the study include ensuring (a) that the nature of the SICC as an educational institution be positively defined and that this definition take into account the complex set of factors affecting the College, (b) that SICC training fits into a larger strategy of economic and employment development, (c) that a comprehensive set of occupational training opportunities exist, (d) that training be fully accredited and recognized, and (e) that links be made between Adult Basic Education programs and skill programs and employment.<p>This study provides a baseline of information on the SICC and the effectiveness of its occupational training programs . There needs to be further research in this area to develop a model for the delivery of occupational training that can be generally applied .

The purpose of this study was to describe how three pupils in the senior room of Wandering Spirit Survival School in Toronto responded behaviorally to the cultural and academic experiences provided. Participant observation was used to collect data for the study during the period of September 10 to November 15, 1981. Information concerning pupil behavior was gathered during: periods of total-class instruction and periods of individual instruction by the regular classroom teacher; individually-assigned task time; class sessions with visiting resource persons; free time; Ojibway and French language instruction; instruction at Winchester Public School; Sacred Circle feasts; and recess. Pupil seatwork was collected and studied. Additional information was obtained through interviews with the three Subjects and with the director.<p>The study was conducted over a period of ten weeks and totalled ninety-seven hours fifty-one minutes of observation time. The Subjects were students in the senior room of Wandering Spirit Survival School, an alternative school for native children in Toronto, and their class consisted of thirteen pupils from grades five to eight. The procedures of this study yielded descriptive data of each Subject's behavior during the various types of activities observed. From the behavioral data, an account described each S's behavior over the ten-week study period, as it occurred in various situations and with various instructors/resource persons.' Frequency of behavior and changes in behavior were noted. The behavior of Ss was also discussed in light of the cultural and academic goals of the school. The data suggested that the school was partially meeting its cultural goals and was failing to meet its academic goals in the case of the three Ss studied.<p>Wandering Spirit Survival School aimed at providing a safe, nonthreatening environment for its pupils. The atmosphere of the school and the cultural activities of the Sacred Circle, feasts, and Ojibway language instruction were found to be useful in creating a sense of pride in being Indian for the three Ss of the study. More could have been done in providing pupils with a knowledge and understanding of native heritage, native history, and contemporary native issues. Although Ojibway language was taught three times a week, the three Ss of the study had not learned to read, write, or speak any of the language during the ten weeks of this study.<p>A second goal of Wandering Spirit Survival School was to prepare pupils academically so that, if they chose, they could successfully continue their education beyond grade eight. Observations suggested that the three Ss of the study were not being academically prepared for high school according to this study. The Ss spent a great deal of class instruction time engaged in other activities: talking, drawing pictures, walking around, playing with articles at their desks, leaving the room Their behavior was the same regardless of who the instructor was. The Ss were most attentive during audio-visual presentations and during lessons involving activity on the part of pupils. However, the teaching done at the school involved, for the most part, the use of textbooks and workbooks.<p>The teacher appeared to hold higher expectations for Jim than for Donald and Agnes. These expectations were reflected in the small amount<br> [Abstract truncated. Pages iv - v missing from thesis.]