Aboriginal Canada Revisited

RESPONDING TO THE NEEDS OF POST-SECONDARY ABORIGINAL EDUCATION: THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE INDIGENOUS LEADERSHIP AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

Barbara Walberg RESPONDING TO THE NEEDS OF POST-SECONDARY ABORIGINAL EDUCATION: THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE INDIGENOUS LEADERSHIP AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM A boriginal peoples1 in Canada are presently engaged in a process of decolonization, in the restructuring of their societies through self-government and in the reaffirmation of their knowledge and worldview within the discourse ofmainstream society. Central to this project is the need to reform the formal post-secondary education system in away that will address these goals and aspirations. This reform must contemplate the possibility of a two-way exchange of knowledge, whereby Indigenous knowledge2 and more traditional Western knowledge are integrated to create a new paradigm of learning with relevance to both worldviews. It must also address the needs for critical examination of the central questions of where we are and where we are going in this post-colonial, post-modern, and global world. An analysis and case study of the grounds-up development of a new degree level program in Indigenous Leadership and Community Development demonstrates the considerations necessary in order to meet these challenges. 100 POST-SECONDARY ABORIGINAL EDUCATION BACKGROUND Participation by Aboriginal peoples in formal post-secondary education in Canada before 1970 was almost negligible. Joanne Archibald and Sheena Selkirk-Bowman suggest that this was a result of poor outcomes from years of residential schools, public education that did not meet the needs of Aboriginal children, and the legacy of legislative barriers, which discouraged Aboriginal peoples from pursuing higher education (1995, 161). Since that time, there have been many efforts to improve outcomes for adult learners in post-secondary institutions. Aboriginal institutions have been created; universities and colleges have attempted to address policies, curriculum and pedagogy in an effort to meet the needs of Aboriginal students and the aspirations of Aboriginal society. Yet, in spite of the structural, policy, curriculum and other improvements, the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP) reported in 1996that the post-secondary system was still not adequately meeting the needs ofAboriginal learners (Ministry of Supply and Services Canada 1996, 434). More recent census data confirms that there is a serious gap in completion of post-secondary education between Aboriginal and other Canadians. As of 2001, only 41percent of First Nations had completed high school compared to 68 percent of other Canadians. Completion of post-secondary education rates show a similar disparity, with 24 percent completion by Aboriginal Canadians compared to 41percent completion by other Canadians (Indian and Northern Affairs Canada 2001, online). While the reasons for thesefiguresare quite complex, recent critiques have focused on three main issues: the need to structure education for Aboriginal peoples in a way that will contribute to their existing project of decolonization , the need to recognize and integrate Indigenous knowledge and world views into the curricula, and the more fundamental need to replace the existing Eurocentric philosophy of education with an approach that educates for change and empowerment. In the winter of 2002 a group of faculty and staff from Negahneewin College of Indigenous Studies, at ConfederationCollege ofApplied Arts and Technology in Thunder Bay,and community members from First Nations in 101 BARBARA WALBERG Northwestern Ontario, began a collaborativejourneyto design adegree-level program in Indigenous Leadership. This program would address the need for a meaningful and relevant post-secondary program for Aboriginal people as well as the aforementioned concerns. DECOLONIZING EDUCATION The impact of colonialism on Aboriginal peoples in the past has been well documented. What is less recognized is the legacy of colonial practices that still remain within the institutions of education in this post-colonial era. Marie Battiste describes the challenges which exist, suggesting that "Postcolonialism is not only about the criticism and deconstruction of colonialism and domination but also about the reconstruction and transformation, operating as a form of liberation from colonial imposition" (Battiste 2004, i, online). She goes on to acknowledge that this will require the construction of "new relations, new frames of thinking and educational processes ... that engage each of us to rethink our present work and research" (Battiste 2004, i, online). The Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples echoes this call for a new approach as it calls upon Canadian academic institutions to "decolonize their traditional presumptions, curricula, research and teaching practices in order to live up to their obligations, mission statement and alleged priorities for Aboriginal peoples" (Ministry of Supply and Services Canada 1996,454). Paulo Freire's study of dispossessed peoples in Brazil...