We Can Do It (Education) Better: An Examination of Four Secondary School Approaches for Aboriginal Students in Northwestern Ontario

• Main Author: Landon, Rocky
• Other Authors: Restoule, Jean-Paul, Curriculum, Teaching and Learning
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aboriginal education; Teaching Pedagogy; First Nations; Teaching Approaches; Medicine Wheel as methodology; Aboriginal success in school; Collective Case study; Native Education; Public education for Aboriginal students; Internet Schooling; Teaching in First Nation communities; Professional Development; Teacher voices; Voices of Educators; Educational practitioners; How to be successful teaching Aboriginal; Aboriginal circle methodology; School assessment; Program assessment; Medicine Wheel and school; First Nations education counsellors; Small schools and success; Small First Nations schools; Aboriginal; Native American; Aboriginal Medicine Wheel as Methodology; Aboriginal research; Aboriginal pedagogy; First Nations schools; Educational change; Educational practices; Educational strategies; Education; Distance; Education in Ontario; Native; Native American Studies; Native Peoples; Pedagogical approaches; Pedagogy; Teacher development; Teacher education; Teacher attitudes; Teacher effectiveness; Teacher improvement; Teacher professional development; Teacher strategies; Teacher student relationship; Teacher approaches; Teacher training; Teaching methods; Teaching techniques
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1807/34776

The following study is an exercise in understanding how educators can improve their professional practice in terms of addressing the needs of Aboriginal high school students. The study was delimited to four different high schools in Northwestern Ontario in order to develop a broader understanding of best practices used by various school communities. Interviews were conducted with students and educational professionals such as teachers, administrators, guidance personnel and school board members. The study was completed over a period of one week, where one day was spent in each school completing interviews. This study is unique in two ways: it presents the voices of secondary school educators (which had scarcely been reported or heard in the academic community) outlining the direction in which Aboriginal education should go and secondly, as a researcher I attempted to use the medicine wheel as a model for completing and conducting research. There were a number of findings that appeared through the interviews. Teachers and administrators agreed that in order for Aboriginal students to succeed they needed to have involved parental support. It was important to teachers that parents take an active role in the educational life of their child. Additionally, it was acknowledged that First Nation communities were ideal settings for schooling of Aboriginal students as they were supported by family and community kinships. Yet in this study, it was also acknowledged that First Nation schools suffered financially in comparison to provincial schools. They were not able to provide programming comparable to provincial schools and iii were limited to a barebones program with compulsory courses being offered. In some cases, if students failed a course, they were not able to participate in the rest of the school program, until the course was re-taught in two years. Despite these shortcomings, students might do better in First Nation based schools if they were adequately funded with current resources and adequately compensated teachers. This study offers some suggestions on how to improve the practice of educating First Nation secondary students. EDD