Aboriginal Education: Towards a brighter Future

Five important issues are briefly presented here as part of a recent national dialogue on strategies for increasing Aboriginal student success. A fuller discussion of significant systemic challenges and promising strategies for overcoming them is available in the Proceedings Paper.11

Structures

Canadian education structures are complex, involving jurisdictional issues among federal, provincial/territorial, regional and local bodies. Aboriginal education is even more complex, as its various constituents - on reserves and off, rural and urban, status and non-status, etc. - have different relationships with these jurisdictions for policy and funding.

Like other education sectors, Aboriginal education requires three levels of support: first-level support for classroom teachers, second-level support for schools and sets of schools, and third-level support for communities and school systems. Teachers in other schools have support through professional organizations, specialists and consultants; schools have the support of school boards with budget, human resources and management specialists; school boards have the support of Ministries of Education to provide legislative frameworks, curriculum guidelines, regulations, public relations and financial support.

If gaps are to be closed between Aboriginal education and other sectors of the education system, Aboriginal leaders, teachers, schools and communities need: (1) greater support at 2nd and 3rd levels, comparable to school boards and ministries, (2) coordination and shared information with other education sectors, (3) support and resources to meet provincial standards, (4) training for Aboriginal people to participate in different levels of structure, (5) opportunities to participate in policy making and coordination at different levels, local, regional and provincial/territorial and national.

Information

Information and the analysis of data are essential to success and improvement of education institutions and services. There are two kinds of information that are important: (1) organized knowledge of Aboriginal communities, historical and contemporary experience, culture, traditions, languages, ways of learning, needs and aspirations - which will form the content of Aboriginal philosophy of education, curriculum, and pedagogy; (2) systematic data on student performance, progress, achievement levels, and retention in relation to standard norms.

The first is based on experience and research and it is essential to describe the distinctive character of Aboriginal experience, learning, and education. This is necessary not only to provide support to teachers in Aboriginal schools to enrich the learning experience of their students but also to other schools that serve Aboriginal students. This would require more attention to Aboriginal issues in different departments of universities and other post-secondary institutions, as well as the creation of special research institutes, directed by Aboriginals and adequately funded, to develop the necessary knowledge, information and insight.

The second type of information involves collecting, analyzing, and disseminating valid and reliable data on the learning performance of Aboriginal students both on and off reserves. These data could be used to assess the level of performance, retention rates and transition rates of Aboriginal students in relation to the general student population; to determine areas of weakness or gaps; to provide solid information to communities, parents, and educators; and to suggest ways of improving the success rate of Aboriginal students at all levels.

Provincial/territorial governments and other agencies should make these data available to enable more effective monitoring of progress and better planning for improvement. It needs to be understood by everyone that these data are intended to reflect the ability of systems to meet the needs of Aboriginal students and to build up longitudinal and intergenerational data. This process requires a climate of trust among political authorities, educators, and communities.

It is important also to establish a variety of indicators of success and tools of measurement, beyond performance on standardized tests. One size does not fit all; there are many kinds of learners, many kinds of learning, and many ways of demonstrating our accomplishments. The objective is twofold: what counts is measured and what is measured counts.

Without better research and data, we won't know where we are, we won't know where we want to go, and we won't know if we are getting there.

Funding

The foundations of Aboriginal education are in treaty rights held by First Nations and in the various agreements and protocols that apply to off-reserve and non-status Indians. The significance of stable, adequate and predictable funding is clear for important issues such as the recruitment and retention of qualified teachers, the need for networks, the success of students, services to Aboriginal communities, the quality of governance, and the establishment of a knowledge and data base from which to plan the future development of Aboriginal education.

Funding issues require serious discussions among the major stakeholders. Funding is not just a matter of how much money, but of continuing funding policy, the capacity and accountability of managing resources, and the allocation of resources so that they promote the success of Aboriginal students at all levels.

Networks

Those concerned with Aboriginal education must find their paths through the rough terrain of complex and sensitive issues of hierarchies, jurisdictions and boundaries. It is through a variety of networks that common visions are created, isolation reduced, and the mutual benefits of shared ideas, standards of performance and best practices are enjoyed. These networks need to be among Aboriginal communities and between Aboriginal educational leaders and their counterparts in the education system. Networks are also needed to link education and other services, leaders and those who work directly with learners, and to link different groups of education professionals.

Defining policies and building structures are clearly important, but the forming of effective and flexible networks is no less important if there is to be a flow from vision to policy, from policy to practice, and from problems to solutions.

Governance

An essential principle of Aboriginal education is Aboriginal control of decisions, not just as a political practice but as part of governance founded in basic rights flowing from treaties and other agreements. This implies a will to assume responsibilities, an empowerment to make decisions as well as a capacity to act. Capacity building is an important part of autonomy, responsibility and accountability.

This requires both models of leadership and patterns of participation, for those who offer visions and ways of attaining these visions and for those who contribute in different ways to the realization of these visions - as parents, community leaders, professionals, administrators, public servants, teachers, and as learners.

The present context in Canada is favourable to moving forward on Aboriginal education. It is time to move beyond the failures of the past to a brighter future, from good intentions to promising initiatives supported by research, from talk to action.

Norman Henchey is Education Professor Emeritis, McGill University.

1 Moving Forward in Aboriginal Education. Proceedings of a National Policy Roundtable. February 22, 2005 at Concordia University. Norman Henchey (ed). www.saee.ca/movingforward