Implementing the General Education Development (GED) Program in First Nations Communities: Struggles for Power ...

• Main Authors: Shields, Tracy Jill, Melville, Wayne
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Alberta Journal of Educational Research 2016
• Subjects: First Nations
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.11575/ajer.v61i2.56086; https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/ajer/article/view/56086

This paper describes an ethnographic case study of eleven First Nations adult learners in a Northern Ontario community attempting to earn secondary school equivalency through the General Education Development (GED) program. The paper maintains a focus on the power differentials at work in both the learners' prior educational endeavours and their experiences while working inside of the GED program. Based on the data, we argue that, despite appearances to the contrary, First Nations learners are subjected to a system of education that is failing to empower those learners to take advantage of educational opportunities that are available in mainstream Canadian society. Cet article décrit une étude ethnographique de cas auprès de onze apprenants adultes autochtones qui tentent, dans une communauté du Nord de l’Ontario, d’obtenir une équivalence d’études secondaires par des cours de formation générale (GED). Plus précisément, l’article porte sur les écarts systémiques de pouvoir qui entrent en ligne de compte tant ... : Alberta Journal of Educational Research, Vol. 61 No. 2 (2015): Summer ...