Welcome to AMMSA.COM, the news archive website for our family of Indigenous news publications.

Education panel presenters stress importance of the child

Article Origin

Author

By Shari Narine Sweetgrass Contributing Editor EDMONTON

Volume

19

Issue

1

Year

2011

April Papequash jumped at the opportunity to talk to the National Panel on First Nation Elementary and Secondary Education when the three members were in Edmonton last month.

Papequash, a grade 12 student at Ross Sheppard high school in Edmonton, has a cousin who attends school in Hobbema.

“I kind of see the differences between me and her and our levels of knowledge. She doesn’t know as much as I do for that specific grade level. So I’m kind of thinking maybe they’ve got something not going right there, there’s not good enough quality of teaching, maybe there’s social factors involved. I’ve noticed a big difference there,” said Papequash, who is from Driftpile First Nation. “I think it’s very important for me to voice the things I’ve noticed.”

Students, administrators, teachers, parents and chiefs all made presentations to the national panel, which made stops in all three Treaty territories in a four-day tour of Alberta.

“Everywhere we go the same patterns emerge. There are consistent messages in every part of the country,” said panel chair Scott Haldane. “Two things stand out for me in Alberta.”

Placing the child first is the dominant message the panel has received.

“Put the child at the centre,” said Haldane. “In a lot of other places that hasn’t been as forcefully communicated as it has been in Alberta.”

That is the single message Victor Horseman, liaison for Grand Chief Richard Kappo of Treaty 8, wants the panel to take away with it.

“Let us not forget about the child in the child and let’s focus on that child,” said Horseman.

Piikani Nation Chief Gayle Strikes With A Gun sees part of that focus including presenting role models and materials that First Nations children can relate to.

“Our children need to feel that they are important in our schools. That they are the reason why we are there and it’s crucial for them, even in terms of what they’re taught. They need to be able to see themselves in the books they’re taught,” said Strikes With A Gun.  “We need to develop our curriculum but we need the funding to be able to do that.”

Adequate funding is a huge issue. Funding for on-reserve teaching comes from the federal government and is thousands of dollars below the funding the province provides for mainstream Alberta students.

“We need to have the funding formula changed to meet the needs of our students,” said Strikes With A Gun.

The second emphasis the panel received goes beyond First Nations education on the reserve. Presenters to the panel stressed the need to teach First Nations history in mainstream schools.

“We’ve heard it in other places. . . but it’s more strongly stated here in Alberta,” said Haldane.

Other issues that have been brought forward throughout the country include language and culture components, teacher retention and development, and secondary and tertiary supports to help students be successful.

While the national panel has only a federal mandate, many of the educational issues do overlap provincial jurisdiction. Haldane said he was pleased to see representatives from Alberta Education participate in discussions in Edmonton.

The panel is to table its final report with Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada and the Assembly of First Nations by the end of December.