The Education of Aboriginal Students

Partnership Development for Researching the Education of Aboriginal Students: A Youth Exchange through Arts & Technology - Stories of Culture, Identity, Community & Place (2013-present)

Co-investigator Dr. Dwayne Donald, collaborator Ramona Big Head and partner organizations 

Funders: SSHRC Partnership Development Grant; U of A’s Killam Cornerstone Grant; Kule Institute for Advanced Study

Graduate Research Assistants: Mandy Krahn, Adrianna Boffa, Mist Underwood, Dale Saddleback, Stacey Keeler

Summary

Challenges: Education for Aboriginal students across Canada is in dire need of enrichment given the legacy of residential schools and the persistent failure of mainstream curriculum to engage Aboriginal learners. Based on most recent statistics specific to Aboriginal youths' high school completion, "40% of Aboriginal people aged 20 to 24 did not have a high-school diploma, compared to 13% among non-Aboriginal Canadians. The rate was even higher for First Nations living on reserve (61%) and for Inuit living in remote communities (68%). These numbers are distressing given the importance of a high-school diploma in the pursuit of further education, training and employment" (Canada Council on Learning, 2009, p. 6). For these reasons, the education of Aboriginal students has become a national priority and there is increasing demand for teachers who understand the pedagogical implications of working with Aboriginal students. What is urgently called for is engagement rooted in Indigenous ways of knowing and histories to redress past inequities, nurture educational success and find practical solutions for meeting Aboriginal learners' diverse educational needs. Enhancing Aboriginal education has implications for all Canadians for repairing and renewing Aboriginal-Canadian relations, for economic and ecological sustainability, towards building our successful shared future.

Objectives: How can partnership development between university researchers, Aboriginal community schools, and organizations that support them for the co-creation of curriculum and knowledge mobilization help nurture the educational experiences and successes of Aboriginal learners? The objectives of our study are to 1) establish sustainable collaborations between three diverse Aboriginal community schools and organizations that support those schools; 2) undertake research development of co-created curriculum models, through arts, digital technology and youth exchange, for nurturing the educational success of Aboriginal learners; 3) build capacity within the communities to utilize and further develop the emergent curricular models; 4) disseminate learning from the study to schools, school authorities, and teacher preparation programs locally, nationally and internationally; 5) develop other partnerships for research into the education of Aboriginal learners. 

Partnership: Our collaboration involves University of Alberta researchers including a leading Indigenous scholar; three diverse First Nations schools including a community school in the Northwest Territories; a school on a Southern Alberta reserve, with the Principal as research collaborator; an urban Aboriginal school in Edmonton, Alberta; two school boards; a community council; a Northern community college; and a government department. Relationship building activities and consultation processes undertaken with the communities including a meeting of representatives from all three communities have indicated that education is a priority for all partners; they have identified the partnership development as aligning with their established goals. Partners will provide leadership for the research; analyze and evaluate the processes and products of the curriculum exploration, attuned to the specific cultural contexts of their communities and the educational goals of their regions. We acknowledge the diversity and richness of Indigenous cultures and knowledges, the support offered Aboriginal learners through maintaining cultural identity, and their need to work against the effects colonization for success that encompasses more than high school attainment.

Awards

2016 Conrad, D. & Donald, D. Alberta Teachers Association Research Award, for Researching Aboriginal Education. $5,000. 

Media

Faculty of Education. (2016, Jan. 20). Youth X-change links communities for learning partnership. Illuminate: Faculty of Education Magazine [Online].  

Publications & Presentations

       Moostoos Lafferty, E., Burns, N., Conrad, D. & Wentworth, A. (2020). Decolonizing educational practices through fostering ethical relationality in an urban Indigenous classroom. McGill Journal of Education 55(2), 486-495. https://mje.mcgill.ca/article/view/9863 

Conrad, D., Donald, D., Krahn, M. (2018). Provoking understanding through community mapping curriculum inquiry. In C. Leggo & E. Hasebe-Ludt, (Eds.),     Canadian curriculum studies: A Métissage of inspiration/imagination/interconnection (pp. 18-19). Canadian Scholars’ Press. 

Donald, D., Conrad, D., Big Head, R., Underwood, M., & Saddleback, D. (2017, July). A youth exchange through arts & technology:  Stories of identity, culture, community & place. World Indigenous Peoples Conference on Education, Toronto, ON. 

Conrad, D. (2017, Jan.). A youth exchange through arts and technology: Stories of culture, identity, community and place. UAlberta North, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB. 

Conrad, D., Donald, D., Boffa, A., Underwood, M. & Big Head, M. (2016, June). A youth exchange through arts & technology: Stories of identity, culture, community & place. CSSE, Calgary, AB. 

Conrad, D. (2016, Feb.). Youth X-change: Researching the education of Aboriginal students through arts & technology. Research Commons, Charles Darwin University School of Education, Darwin, AU. 

Conrad, D., Donald, D. & Krahn, M. (2015, May). An Aboriginal youth curriculum exchange through arts & technology – Stories of culture, identity, community & place. International Association for the Advancement of Curriculum Studies. Ottawa, ON. 

Conrad, D., Donald, D. & Krahn, M. (Feb. 2015). Provoking understanding through community mapping curriculum inquiry, Provoking Curriculum. Vancouver, BC.

Donald, D., Conrad, D. & Krahn, M. (May, 2014). Addressing Aboriginal education: Conditions, viewpoints, and aspirations across two diverse communities. CSSE. St. Catharines, ON. 

Conrad, D., Donald, D. & Krahn, M. (2014, March). Attending to community contexts: Understanding Aboriginal education in three diverse communities. Faculty of Education, UA.