Indigenizing Education

What is indigenizing education? This question is gaining relevance as school districts across Canada strive to meet the calls to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Committee. Predictably, most schools reach for low-hanging fruit and populate a list of to-dos to meet the perceived needs of their First Nations communities. Although well-intentioned, this laundry list of seemingly culturally sensitive and relevant interventions misses the mark and, in doing so, absolves educators of guilt without meeting the diverse needs of Indigenous students. 

Indigenizing education is not a checklist of tokenisms. It is not just on-the-land instruction. It is not posters of the Calls to Action framed on the wall, and it is not land acknowledgements before school assemblies and board meetings. At its very core, Indigenizing education is a verb and a noun. Anchoring our intentions and actions in our values creates the authenticity that distinguishes contrived actions from genuine care. Indigenizing education is about relinquishing control and allowing Indigenous ways of knowing, doing and being to permeate everywhere, from the schoolyard and the classroom to the board office and the provincial and territorial Departments of Education. It is a paradigm shift that redefines education’s role in modern post-colonialism. 

The educational philosophy that frames our intention in the North recognizes Indigenous peoples’ inherent right to self-government and reimagines the meaning of the words to give Indigenous governments indirect and direct jurisdiction over their educational fate. Seizing this opportunity, Yukon Indigenous governments established a First Nations School Board in 2022, assuming shared responsibility with the territorial government to deliver public education reflecting First Nations worldviews. Similarly, but to a lesser extent, the Northwest Territories (NWT) government granted powers to District Education Authorities (DEAs) and Divisional Education Councils (DECs) to determine the governance of schools in their communities, decentralizing decision-making at the administrative and operational levels. Both territories, in recognition of the importance of self-determination and education’s role in this, relinquished control to empower Indigenous communities to determine their educational path: one cognizant of cultural worldviews and the role education plays in fortifying their identity. 

That is the first step in indigenizing education: enshrining the right to relevant, culturally appropriate education in legislation and ceding control of its creation and implementation to First Nations. 

Two documents were created in the NWT to support schools: Dene Kede and Inuuqatigiit. These are “curricula …informed by a number of philosophical perspectives or worldviews that shape understanding of Dene and Inuit core concepts as well as the traditions of lifelong learning.” The importance of these documents cannot be understated as they form the core from which all instruction, across grades and disciplines, emerges. Elders’ wisdom and teachings are the backbone of education in the North, encompassing the language, culture and indigenous people’s worldview. Their teachings lead to a capable person, “one who has integrity in relationships that honour the self, others, the land, and the spiritual world.” Through these relationships, a capable person grows and develops a more expansive understanding of the essential physical, mental, emotional and spiritual growth involved in the four parts of human development. Since the inception of Dene Kede and Inuuqatigiit, two additional documents have been crafted, the Our Language Curriculum and the Indigenous Language and Education handbook. These documents continue to support and frame the teaching of Indigenous languages in the North.  

That is step two: developing a supracurriculum that guides and gives rise to instruction at all implementation levels. The Dene Kede and Inuuqatigiit are not exclusive to one realm, discipline, or aspect of existence. They derive their genesis from all aspects of life: the individual, the community, the land, and the spiritual world—all essential elements of Indigenous education. 

Step three is simple: students need to see themselves reflected in schools. Research suggests that students are more engaged with learning when their teachers and school leaders are of the same ethnic background (Holt, Gershenson, and Nicholas, 2016). Gershenson, Hansen & Lindsay (2021) further argue that teacher diversity is critical to teacher quality and efficacy in the classroom, as learning is affected significantly by cultural sensitivity and relationship building. Lastly, Carter Andrews, He, Marciano, Richmond, & Salazar (2021) suggest that decolonizing the curriculum is critical to learning among minorities, thus advocating for cultural sensitivity in the teaching profession. This begs the question, who would be more culturally sensitive to Indigenous students than an Indigenous teacher?  

In 2023, the NWT published a committee report outlining steps to increase Indigenous representation in the NWT. This document was highly critical of the lack of progress in certain government areas and proposed more than superficial or cosmetic changes to hiring practices. It actively advocated for Indigenous representation at the highest operational levels, up to and including Assistant Deputy Minister positions as a minimum. Currently, Indigenous representation in the GNWT is approximately 30% (50% of the population in the NWT is indigenous).  

In the NWT, the Government has institutionalized many programs aimed at increasing Indigenous representation in all aspects of government. Each departmental agency is expected to map out its long-term strategic plan to increase Indigenous hires, including clear targets for priority hiring, qualification equivalencies, retraining and managerial coaching programs. In education, an affirmative action program exists to help support and prioritize Indigenous applicants to increase their representation in the classroom. This program gives preference to First Nations, Inuit and Metis people and to those who have resided in the NWT for over half their lifetime. Despite an abundance of teacher education programs specific to Indigenous students, such as ITEP at Queens University and Lakehead University, NITEP at UBC, ATEP at the University of Alberta and NSITEP and SUNTEP through the Universities of Regina and Saskatchewan, schools across the country still are unable to meet this very important benchmark of teacher representation. 

In the NWT, the throng of Indigenous teachers is primarily localized to Indigenous language teaching. These educators are a key element in Dene Kede and Inuuqatigiit curriculum instruction. They are identified, targeted and mentored early on, trained to become teachers and fast-tracked to support language instruction, an essential aspect of strengthening indigenous culture. Language is culture and culture is language, the two are intimately intertwined. A.L. Krober (1923) is credited with stating that “culture, then, began when speech was present, and from then on, the enrichment of either means the further development of the other.” As such, indigenous language teachers’ nurturing, support and encouragement are of primordial importance when building and fomenting Indigenous values in education. To further support and guide indigenous language instruction, the Department of Education developed materials and documents to (a) legislate the teaching of Indigenous languages and (b) develop criteria for the evaluation of proficiencies. 

In the same spirit of authentically bringing cultural teachings to the classroom, schools in the NWT invite the community to participate in the education of the next generation. Programs such as Elders in the Classroom, Culture Camp, On the Land Learning, and many others recruit community elders and knowledge keepers to share their wisdom with students in a non-threatening, open, and genuine manner. These are not one-off macro charismatic events but part and parcel of the school and classroom environment. The biggest challenge facing schools in the North is overcoming stigma and the legacy of trauma from residential schools. Elders are being called upon to become part of a system that, until recently, was a tool for subjugation and mistreatment.   

This is step four: Inclusion of the community in the development, implementation, and assessment of Indigenous education, including but not exclusively Indigenous languages. Only when a school accurately represents the community in content and instruction will Indigenous students see themselves reflected in a system that is traditionally at odds with their humanistic values.  

Indigenizing education is about more that cultural events, wall displays, and perfunctory statements and platitudes. While these actions are easy to implement and measure, they are superficial. Genuine Indigenization of education requires an overhaul of the system, starting with legislation and ending in the classroom.  A faithful commitment to the Calls to Action from the Truth and Reconciliation Committee is not measured in superficial gestures of cultural sensitivity but systemic change that enshrines change, protects change, nurtures change, and champions change for a sustainable future that celebrates indigeneity and northern culture. 

Images supplied by South Slave DEC 

References 

1. Carter Andrews, Dorinda & He, Ye & Marciano, Joanne & Richmond, Gail & Salazar, Maria. (2021). Decentering Whiteness in Teacher Education: Addressing the Questions of Who, With Whom, and How. Journal of Teacher Education. 72. 134-137. 10.1177/0022487120987966.  
2. Gershenson, Seth; Hansen, Michael; Lindsay, Constance A. (2021) Teacher Diversity and Student Success: Why Racial Representation Matters in the Classroom. Harvard Education Press 
3. Gershenson, Seth & Holt, Stephen & Papageorge, Nicholas. (2016). Who Believes in Me? The Effect of Student-Teacher Demographic Match on Teacher Expectations. Economics of Education Review. 52. 10.1016/j.econedurev.2016.03.002.
4. Kroeber, Alfred Louis. 1923 [1948].Anthropology. New York : Harcourt, Brace and Co. 

Additional Reading  

1. Dene Kede and Inuuqatigiit
2. GNWT Education Act  
3. GNWT HR Manual
4. ILE (Indigenous Language and Education) handbook 
5. Indigenous Development and Training Program 
6. Indigenous Career and Gateway Program
7. Language Proficiencies 
8. NWT Committee Report on Affirmative ACTION 
9. NWT Indigenous language policy
10. OLC (Our Language Curriculum)

Meet the Expert(s)

Dr. Souhail Raja Soujah

Superintendent SSDEC, South Slave Divisional Education Council

Dr. Souhail Soujah is an educator with many years of experience. He started his career in Education as an Educational Assistant in BC and moved through the system to his current position as the Superintendent of the South Slave Divisional Education Council in the NT.

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Devin Roberts

Superintendent, Beaufort Delta Divisional Education Council

Devin has a background in literacy, languages, Inclusive Schooling and administration. Devin worked at the South Slave Divisional Education Council office prior to coming Beaufort Delta Divisional Education Council as an assistant superintendent.

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