Julien Gignac
APTN National News
Ontario teachers do not have access to adequate training required to teach First Nations, Metis and Inuit issues, according to a new report released in the province.
47 per cent of secondary schools and 29 per cent of elementary schools report they offer professional training for teachers surrounding Indigenous issues, states the People for Education’s 2015 annual report.
The report included responses from 1,196 Ontario principles.
Click here to read the report.
The research and advocacy group’s 2014 report states that one quarter of elementary schools and roughly one-third of secondary schools have teacher training related to Aboriginal issues.
However, Aboriginal students are found in 96 per cent of secondary schools and 92 per cent of elementary schools, states the latest release.
“Optics are a big deal here,” said David Cameron, research director of People for Education. “It’s not so teachers can help Aboriginal kids be more successful, it’s professional development so that the entire material of the learning experience in Ontario can reflect a diverse and somewhat troubled history with a lot of peoples.
“The school system is the exact place to think about this stuff,” he said. “It takes a lot of courage to do that as a teacher because it is cultural genocide.”
How to do that in a mixed classroom is key, Cameron added.
On June 2, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission called on all levels of government to revamp Canada’s education system as part of its 94 recommendations.
A number of recommendations stressed an annual commitment to “make age-appropriate curriculum on residential schools, Treaties and Aboriginal peoples’ historical and contemporary contributions to Canada a mandatory education requirement for kindergarten to Grade 12 students.”
Some circumstances are changing. The Ottawa Catholic School Board has been on a steady trajectory towards Aboriginal integration in its schools.
“Our curriculum is growing all the time,” said Katie Lewis-Prieur, arts consultant and Native studies advisor for the Ottawa Catholic School Board. “We want Aboriginal studies to be embedded and across the curriculum, not just our Native studies courses.”
Lewis-Prieur has seen growth in and enrollment in her courses during the last three years. There were eight secondary school classes then. Now there are 29 offered, spanning Indigenous art, history and current issues.
Teachers receive a full two-years of training as part of the board’s spiritual theme, said Lewis-Prieur. “It’s a whole two years of focus where we’re talking about the residential school system and restoring relationships with our Aboriginal communities.
“Our philosophy is that all students and all staff need to learn about Aboriginal issues,” she said.
