A Hunger to Teach: Recruiting Inuit Teachers for Nunavut
We describe findings from participatory research conducted by a southern-based researcher from Thunder Bay, Ontario, and Nunavut Arctic College’s Teacher Education Program students. Together, they interviewed 128 high school students from 11 communities to determine what attracts Inuit youth to teac...
| Published in: | Études Inuit Studies |
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
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Centre interuniversitaire d’études et de recherches autochtones (CIÉRA)
2016
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1055431ar https://doi.org/10.7202/1055431ar |
| Summary: | We describe findings from participatory research conducted by a southern-based researcher from Thunder Bay, Ontario, and Nunavut Arctic College’s Teacher Education Program students. Together, they interviewed 128 high school students from 11 communities to determine what attracts Inuit youth to teaching and what might discourage them from becoming teachers. The research was based on the premise that Nunavut’s schools cannot be Inuit schools without many more Inuit teachers. We found that many Inuit youth have considered becoming teachers, but they face barriers to doing so. They expressed concerns about housing, finances, leaving their home communities, and their own academic preparedness. Many lacked information about teacher education programs. We recommend addressing these concerns, in part, by using Nunavut Teacher Education Program students to educate high school students about the program and to encourage them to become teachers. Nous décrivons les résultats d’une recherche participative menée par un chercheur de Thunder Bay en Ontario, et des étudiants du Programme de formation des enseignants du Nunavut (Nunavut Teacher Education Program, Nunavut Arctic College). Ensemble, ils ont interrogé 128 étudiants du secondaire provenant de 11 communautés différentes afin de déterminer ce qui incite ou décourage les jeunes inuit à devenir enseignants. Cette recherche se base sur la prémisse que les écoles du Nunavut ne pourront être qualifiées d’écoles « inuit » sans y augmenter le nombre d’enseignants inuit. Nous avons découvert que de nombreux jeunes avaient effectivement envisagé de devenir enseignants, mais qu’ils ont, ce faisant, fait face à certains obstacles. Leurs préoccupations concernaient le logement, le financement, le fait de quitter leur communauté d’origine ainsi que leur propre préparation scolaire. Plusieurs d’entre eux ne connaissaient pas les programmes de formation en enseignement. Afin d’adresser ces problématiques, nous recommandons d’engager les étudiants du Programme de formation des ... |
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