Exploring what Success Means from the Perspectives of Aboriginal Elders, Parents, and Educators in Aklavik, Northwest Territories

• Main Author: Wick, Meghan
• Other Authors: Drefs, Michelle, Poitras Pratt, Yvonne, Badry, Dorothy, Danyluk, Patricia
• Format: Master Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Graduate Studies 2016
• Subjects: Educational Psychology; Indigenous Education; Aboriginal Education; Community Based Research; Aklavik; Kerr; Northwest Territories; Gwich’in; Inuvialuit
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11023/3243; https://doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/26128

This project explores both Gwich’in and Inuvialuit perspectives of success in the remote community of Aklavik in the Beaufort Delta Region of the Northwest Territories. From the onset, this project has been completed in a collaborative partnership with the District Education Authority of Moose Kerr School in Aklavik, which involved constant collaboration regarding all aspects of this work. A group of 12 Aboriginal Elders, parents, and school educators collectively came together to participate in focus group sessions and semi-structured interviews with a goal to develop a common, balanced, and culturally-based vision of what constitutes success in learning for Gwich’in and Inuvialuit peoples in Aklavik. During focus group and interview sessions, themes emerged that reflect a deeper, more holistic understanding of success for the community. Through several direct quotes captured by community participants, the findings highlight strengths the community has in fostering success, as well as areas the community continues to work towards. The community was determined to achieve their own success in this work, which is reflected in both the insightful words brought forward by participants as well as in a working model of success created by the community. The visions of success brought forward in this project will provide a foundation for how the current education system can be understood, challenged, and transformed for generations to come.