Canada doesn’t have enough Indigenous teachers.
Growing up in Burns Lake, a small community in B.C., Dustin Louie never had an Indigenous teacher. This experience is familiar to many Indigenous youth, and it has detrimental effects, he said.
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Indigenous students are more likely to do better
Indigenous students are more likely to do better at school when they have Indigenous teachers, and not having those teachers influences students’ ideas about the careers they might pursue, said Prof. Louie, now 45 and director of the Indigenous Teacher Education Program at the University of British Columbia.
“That sets the expectation for those students about
“That sets the expectation for those students about what’s possible for them,” he said. Not having Indigenous teachers could discourage them from pursuing education as a career themselves, perpetuating the pattern.
Last September, the UBC program launched a field
Last September, the UBC program launched a field centre in Prince Rupert to deliver the university’s full bachelor of education program to more than 40 Indigenous students from the area, funded by a grant of nearly $1-million from the Rideau Hall Foundation.
“Within four years of getting those funds, there
“Within four years of getting those funds, there are going to be at least 25 new teachers in this school district that is 63 per cent Indigenous,” he said. “You cannot overemphasize the implications of this region having 25 new Indigenous teachers.”
When the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada
When the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada issued its 94 calls to action in 2015, among them was a directive to the federal government to work with Indigenous groups to “develop a joint strategy to eliminate educational and employment gaps between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians.”
One program that takes aim at both gaps
One program that takes aim at both gaps is the Indigenous Teacher Education Initiative, launched by the Rideau Hall Foundation, a non-partisan national charitable organization, in 2022.
The initiative has two overarching goals, said Annette
The initiative has two overarching goals, said Annette Trimbee, co-chair of the foundation’s national advisory committee on Indigenous teacher education.
The first is to understand how teachers move
The first is to understand how teachers move through the educational system, what inspires them to become teachers and what barriers they face.
“We’re trying to understand all the things that
“We’re trying to understand all the things that might be behind the underrepresentation of Indigenous teachers,” she said.
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Canada doesn’t have enough Indigenous teachers. This initiative aims to close the gap
Growing up in Burns Lake, a small community in B.C., Dustin Louie never had an Indigenous teacher.
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Source: Globe and Mail