Annotated Bibliography
Inuit-Centred Curriculum and Teaching Approaches
Frances Abele and Katherine Graham
March 24, 2010
Alaskan Native Knowledge Network. Alaskan Standards for Culturally Responsive Schools.
Adopted by the Assembly of Alaska Native Educators. Fairbanks, Alaska: Alaska Native
Knowledge Network, 1998.
As part of the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative, the Alaskan Native Knowledge Network has compiled a comprehensive
set of standards for students, educators, curriculum, schools, and communities in rural Alaska. These cultural
standards are rooted in the “belief that a firm grounding in the heritage language and culture indigenous to a
particular place is a fundamental prerequisite for the development of culturally-healthy students and communities.”
These standards are meant to complement, not replace, existing standards set out by the State government. The
objective is to foster a connection between learning inside and outside of school; and to teach/learn through local
culture rather than about it. The 5 target groups and their associated standards are:
1. Culturally-knowledgeable Students:

Are well grounded in the cultural heritage and traditions of their community.

Are able to build on the knowledge and skills of the local cultural community as a foundation from which to
achieve personal and academic success throughout life.
 Are able to actively participate in various cultural environments.
 Are able to engage effectively in learning activities that are based on traditional ways of knowing and learning.
 Demonstrate an awareness and appreciation of the relationships and processes of interaction of all elements
in the world around them.
2. Culturally-responsive Educators
 Incorporate local ways of knowing and teaching in their work.
 Use the local environment and community resources on a regular basis to link what they are teaching to the
everyday lives of the students.
 Participate in community events and activities in an appropriate and supportive way.
 Work closely with parents to achieve a high level of complementary educational expectations between home
and school.
 Recognize the full educational potential of each student and provide the challenges necessary for them to
achieve that potential.
3. A culturally-responsive Curriculum:
 Reinforces the integrity of the cultural knowledge that students bring with them.
 Recognizes cultural knowledge as part of a living and constantly adapting system that is grounded in the past,
but continues to grow through the present and into the future.
 Uses the local language and cultural knowledge as a foundation for the rest of the curriculum.
 Fosters a complementary relationship across knowledge derived from diverse knowledge systems.
 Situates local knowledge and actions in a global context.
4. A culturally-responsive School:
 Fosters the on-going participation of Elders in all aspects of the schooling process.
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 Provides multiple avenues for students to access the learning that is offered, as well as multiple forms of
assessment for students to demonstrate what they have learned.
 Provides opportunities for students to learn in and/or about their heritage language.
 Has a high level of involvement of professional staff who are of the same cultural background as the students
with whom they are working.
 Consists of facilities that are compatible with the community environment in which they are situated.
 Fosters extensive on-going participation, communication and interaction between school and community
personnel.
5 A culturally-supportive Community:
 Incorporates the practice of local cultural traditions in its everyday affairs.
 Nurtures the use of the local heritage language.
 Takes an active role in the education of all its members.
 Nurtures family responsibility, sense of belonging and cultural identity.
 Assists teachers in learning and utilizing local cultural traditions and practices.
 Contributes to all aspects of curriculum design and implementation in the local school.
Battiste , Marie Ann “Indigenous Knowledge and Pedagogy in First Nations Education. A
Literature review with recommendations” prepared for the National Working Group on
Education and the Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Ottawa, ON. 2002.
A comprehensive and practically-minded literature review, followed by twenty-three recommendations
that seek to generate action at the federal level with respect to Indigenous educational reform. Part one
“clarifies the theoretical frameworks that have been developed to understand Indigenous and Eurocentric
ways of knowing” highlighting some of the challenges that the tension between the two bring to the
education system in the Canadian context. Eurocentric knowledge has been set up as the binary opposite
of indigenous knowledge, where indigenous knowledge (the “other”) is inferior. There has been a trend in
the last 40 years toward placing more value on indigenous ways of knowing (this is the “postcolonial”
period) although the author acknowledges that this has been more prominent in other countries, such as
the USA. This movement has necessitated a rethinking of the conditions for indigenous education. A
“transdisciplinary quest” to balance the two ways of knowing is necessary but first, Battiste suggests,
there must be more work on understanding indigenous knowledge (recognizing that knowledge is living
and is not homogenous across indigenous groups).
Part two examines educational pedagogy, both indigenous and Eurocentric approaches and offers several
examples of innovative programming that exists to address the challenge of indigenous knowledge.
Indigenous educational pedagogy is primarily based on the understanding that learning (and therefore
knowledge) is experiential and personal; “knowledge is not a commodity to be possessed and
controlled…but it is a living process to be absorbed…” (p. 15) Knowledge is inextricably linked to language
and thus, language must be the primary principle upon which indigenous education plans is built going
forward. Battiste’s work shows there are many fundamental differences between Eurocentric and
indigenous knowledge. One of particular interest for curriculum development and the importance of
language in teaching/learning: in indigenous knowledge, the empirical and the normative are inseparable.
In this context, indigenous knowledge presents several goals for educational reform: acknowledging the
sacredness of life and experiences; generating hope through connecting with others, generating a
meaning of work as a vocation and as a mission of life; to develop an open space in which communities
can discover themselves and affirm their heritage.
Berger Paul, and Juanita Ross Epp. "PRACTICES AGAINST CULTURE THAT "WORK" IN
NUNAVUT SCHOOLS: PROBLEMATIZING TWO COMMON PRACTICES." McGill Journal of
Education 41.1 (2006): Feb 3, 2010.
Building on his 2001 study of teaching practices in Nunavut, Berger and co-author Ross Epp discuss the
dangers of using Qallunaat teaching strategies that may well be “effective” but are counter to Inuit culture
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and tradition. Two specific teaching practices are explored in the article to illustrate the argument: the use
of strict discipline codes; and praise and rewards systems. The authors build their argument from the
premise that Inuit control over these practices, and the education system in Nunavut more generally, is
necessary in order to make “good decisions” and to avoid “practices against culture” that represent the
legacy of colonialism and the policy of assimilation, and may be harmful to communities in the long run.
Berger and Ross Epp provide context through a brief overview of the history of education in the North,
highlighting the differences between traditional Inuit learning strategies (in which education was
integrated into every day life and young people learned by watching and imitating their older family
members) and EuroCanadian learning strategies (in which young people are segregated from life in the
“artificial environment” of schools); and the use of education as tool towards the assimilation of
Aboriginal people. Despite the current reality that the education system in Nunavut is still based on
western values and practices, there is recognition among many Inuit that in order for young people to
succeed in Nunavut, they must have an education. Recognizing that Inuit control over and total reform of
the Nunavut education system may take many more years, the authors question whether culturally
appropriate education is possible within the framework of a EuroCanadian model. Bicultural education,
they stress, must honour local culture and practices. The article gives two examples of teaching/discipline
strategies in use in Nunavut today that seem to “work” but that may both be incongruent with Inuit
values and traditions. The authors try to show a particular technique may achieve the desired outcome
but can be interpreted differently depending on one’s cultural perspective, or may be undesirable and
unintended consequences. The potential for the negative impacts of Qallunaat teaching strategies on Inuit
students highlight the importance of having more Inuit teachers in Nunavut schools. In the meantime,
Berger found that Elder and parental involvement in schools has had a positive impact on finding a
cultural balance. Ultimately, the authors conclude that until there is Inuit control over education in
Nunavut, teachers and administrators must approach all aspects of teaching from curriculum choices to
classroom management and discipline with caution and openness.
Berger, Paul. “Some Thoughts on Qallunaat Teacher Caring in Nunavut.” Journal of Teaching and
Learning. 4.2 (2007).
The article is predicated on defining what constitutes ‘caring’ behavior of Qallunaat teachers in the context of
working with Inuit, and given differences in ‘caring’ across cultures. Berger contends that ‘true caring’ can only
occur when the education system is informed by Inuit, and the teacher is committed to, and an advocate for, Inuit.
Author posits a move from a colonial, Qallunaat-based education system to an education system controlled by
Inuit, and offers some historical perspective on the imposition of Qallunaat schooling, replacing Inuit traditional
ways, negative social and community effects, and attempts to reform the educational system to include Inuit
values (IQ), culture, language, and community input. Berger argues that in the current context, true caring is
impossible; he offers some ideas for teachers to be ‘caring’, and that true caring will occur after systemic change.
His ideas include: advocating for the values of Inuit (becoming un-neutral) as a way of de-colonizing, questioning
curriculum and designing materials that enable the expression of Inuit values/culture/language (breaking rules),
understanding cultural values that are tied to teaching methods, and adopting (after observation and
consideration) more Inuit-centred teaching approaches (accepting learning role in different cultural environment),
and studying Inuktitut and learning about Inuit culture and how it is demonstrated in the classroom. These ideas
are offered also as policy directions for change at a systemic level
Blesse, Diann S. “Aboriginal Teacher’s Perceptions of Classroom Learning Environments.” Master’s thesis,
University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, 1997.
Blesse’s study of Aboriginal teacher’s experiences in the classroom (Northwest Territories) finds that they integrate
traditional cultural values learned through their primary socialization experiences with their development of
classroom learning environments. The classroom environment reflects their culture and compliments community
interactions. Their goal is to draw compatibilities between classroom learning and the life learning outside of it.
Her study is based on 3 questions:
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1. Are there traditional Aboriginal socialization practices that influence Aboriginal teachers’ perceptions, attitudes
and choices when developing their classroom learning environments?
2. Is there a connection between Aboriginal teachers’ articulated values and traditional teachings?
3. Which aspects of Aboriginal teachers’ classroom learning environments and the accompanying value-based
rationales would they recommend be included in both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal teachers’ training?
Castellano, Marlene Brant, Lynne Davis , and Louise Lahache . Aboriginal Education : Fulfilling
the Promise. Vancouver: UBC Press, c2000.
Education is at the heart of the struggle of Canada's Aboriginal peoples to regain control over their lives as
communities and nations. Based on hearings and research generated by the Royal Commission on
Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP), this collection of articles documents recent progress in transforming Aboriginal
education to support self-determination, language revitalization, and cultural maintenance, as well as the
institutional and governmental obstacles that continue to impede progress. Contributors emphasize
Aboriginal philosophies and priorities in teaching methods, program design, and institutional
development. With the exception of the chapter by Sheila Watt-Cloutier, the emphasis in this collection is
on First Nations and Metis. The 13 chapters are: "Towards a Shared Understanding in the Policy
Discussion about Aboriginal Education" (Frances Abele, Carolyn Dittburner, Katherine A. Graham);"Voices
of Winter: Aboriginal Languages and Public Policy in Canada" (Mark Fettes, Ruth Norton); "The State of
Aboriginal Literacy and Language Education" (Yvonne Hebert); "Telling Our Own Stories: The Role,
Development, and Future of Aboriginal Communications" (Gail Guthrie Valaskakis); "Culturally Negotiated
Education in First Nations Communities: Empowering Ourselves for Future Generations" (Brenda
Tsioniaon LaFrance); "Honouring Our Past, Creating Our Future: Education in Northern and Remote
Communities" (Sheila Watt-Cloutier); "Urban Aboriginal Education: The Vancouver Experience" (Lorna
Williams); "The Information Legacy of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples" (Marlene Brant
Castellano); "Issues of Pedagogy in Aboriginal Education" (Kathy L. Hodgson-Smith); "Metis PostSecondary Education: A Case Study of the Gabriel Dumont Institute" (John Dorion, Kwan R. Yang); "First
Nations House of Learning: A Continuity of Transformation" (Ethel Gardner); "First Nations-Controlled
University Education in Canada" (Eber Hampton); and "Electronic Highways, Electronic Classrooms:
Distance Education in Canada" (Lynne Davis). An appendix presents RCAP recommendations regarding
education.
Chance, Norman. "Premises, Policies and Practices: A Cross-Cultural Study of Education in the
Circumpolar North" In Education in the North - Selected Papers of the First International
Conference on Cross-Cultural Education in the Circumpolar Nations and Related Articles,
edited by Darnell, Frank, Arctic Institute of North America and University of Alaska (College)
1973
Chance examines the value assumptions and premises that have shaped relations between Northerners
and government bodies from contact to the ‘present’ (1973), resulting in exploitation and cultural
devaluation. He reviews, briefly, the assumptions and rationales enabling exploitation of Northern
Canadian and Alaskan peoples, from religious superiority, to social darwinism, to economic drivers for
resources, and government funding for ‘equal’ status. Chance argues that Aboriginal people are falling
behind in standard of living, educational achievement, and social and cultural development; this condition
is maintained by discrimination, perpetuated inferiority, and a lack of culturally reflective education. He
argues for the conference workshops to entail a focus on efforts to restructure the education system to
reduce discontinuities in learning, sustain positive parental roles, strengthen students’ self-image and selfesteem, and prepare Aboriginal peoples to be economically and socially competent in dealing with North
American institutions. He suggests: a) real Aboriginal representation on school boards and other
organizations responsible for policy and content of school programs, b) inclusion of Aboriginal language in
primary grades and c) development of effective adult education.
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Chance briefly compares Northern Canadian and Alaskan experiences with Native inclusion in Russia – in
education and economy -- and variation in Scandinavian approaches to northern education.
Churchill, S. The Education of Linguistic and Cultural Minorities in the OECD Countries.
Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters, 1986.
Provides a comprehensive (although summative) report of case studies completed in the OECD countries
regarding policy development in the area of the linguistic and cultural minority education, with ample
statistical and interview data. The findings show consistent patterns across all the OECD countries
throughout the process of developing and reforming education policy for minorities. The focus is on the
government “story” rather than the indigenous peoples’ “story.”
Clifton, Rodney A., and Lance W. Roberts. Social psychology dispositions and academic
achievement of Inuit and non-Inuit students. Alberta Journal of Educational Research 34, 8
pp. 332-43, 1988.
Using empirical data, this article examines differences between Inuit and non-Inuit students, at the
elementary school level, in activism (social attitude), self-concept, and academic achievement. Inuits
scored lower in activism and self-concept than non-Inuits. Suggests teachers create personalized
classroom environments to positively affect activism and self-concept, and thereby enhancing
achievement.
Dicker, Joan, Ewan Dunbar and Alana Johns. Developing Intermediate Language Learning
Materials. A Labrador Inuttitut Story Database
http://www.ling.umd.edu/~ewand/DickerDunbarandJohns2009.pdf
This paper describes the collaboration between two linguists and a public school language teacher in the
making of a story database for use in the second language learning of Labrador Inuttitut in Canada. It is an
illustration and useful example.
Douglas, Anne S. "There's Life and then there's School". Montréal: McGill University, 1999.
Douglas examines the relationship between the community and school in Arctic Bay (North Baffin Island)
from the perspective of the community and illustrates that Inuit have been able to maintain organizing
elements of their kinship traditions. However, social and inter-relational experiences learned at school by
younger Inuit contradict some of the kinship traditions, and responsibilities that Inuit adults are asked to
perform at school impinge on kinship obligations. Douglas’ conclusion is that school, and its socialization
processes, increasingly impinges on the values, social relations, and cultural practices that the Inuit have
maintained.
Eriks-Brophy, Alice and Crago , Martha B.. Transforming Classroom Discourse: an Inuit
Example. Montreal : McGill Univ., School of Human Comm. Dis., 1992
This paper offers case studies on the early years of elementary school whereas many of the other sources
on this list focus on the high school level or just on curriculum more broadly.
This paper presents primarily quantitative data regarding forms of classroom discourse and turn allocation
that emerged from a larger ethnographic study examining Inuit classroom interactions and discourse
patterns in three kindergarten and three first grade Inuit-taught classrooms in three Ungava Bay
communities. The focus is on the transformational effects of the incorporation of culturally-congruous
social interaction patterns and the promotion of traditional values on these two aspects of Inuit classroom
conversations. A model of mainstream classroom interactions based on the work of Mehan (1979) is used
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as a point of comparison to illustrate the extent to which the transformation of discourse has occurred in
these six classrooms.
Iseke-Barnes, Judy M. “Pedagogies for Decolonizing.” Canadian Journal of Native Education.
Edmonton: 2008. Vol. 31, Iss. 1; pg. 123
This article provides examples of introductory activities that engage students in initial steps in
understanding the systemic structure of colonization. Examples of student group responses to the
activities are provided. The understandings explored by students through these activities are then taken
up through Indigenous literatures in university contexts in order to contribute to the ongoing
decolonization of knowledge in the university and to explore indigenous understandings of pedagogies.
The author explores various themes important to the decolonizing of educational practices through
discussions of (a) colonizing and decolonizing agendas, (b) disrupting government ideology, (c)
decolonizing government and reclaiming Indigenous governance, (e) decolonizing spirituality and
ceremony, (f) disrupting colonizing ideologies and decolonizing minds, (g) reconnecting to land, (h)
decolonizing history, and (i) community-based education and decolonizing education. Conclusions drawn
include the importance of engaging students in Indigenous pedagogies so that they can find support for
transforming understandings through Indigenous literatures and understand strategies and opportunities
to decolonize education.
Isherwood, Geoffrey B., Knute Sorensen, and Eric Colbourne. "Educational Development in the
North: Preparing Inuit Leaders for School Board Control." Education Canada 26.3 (1986): 9.
Describes the organization, content, and outcomes of a program to train Inuit leaders to be effective
school board members for the Baffin Divisional Board of Education when the Inuit first assumed control of
that region's schools. Topics include school board role and formulation of educational goals and policies.
Joan, Russell. "What's to be done with the Fox? Inuit Teachers Inventing Musical Games for
Inuit Classrooms." Curriculum Inquiry 36.1 (2006): 15.
This paper explores the issue of culturally responsive music curriculum content in the context of a music
course taught by Joan Nunavut Arctic College’s Teacher Education Program (NTEP). The article also offers
a brief overview of the historical evolution of education and education policy in the Eastern Arctic and the
legacies from those policies that are present today; and a discussion of the importance of myths and
story-telling in Inuit culture. The paper was inspired by a course assignment that asked the Inuit students
to invent and peer teach a musical activity that adapted some of the concepts, materials, and skills the
author brought to the course to something traditional to Inuit culture. Three questions emerged from this
assignment: What themes would their musical activities address? What values and traditions would be
embedded in these themes? How would these themes relate to the themes expressed in the wider
culture—in Inuit-produced carvings, printmaking, weaving, legends, and poetry? A thematic analysis
(along a continuum with “preservation of tradition on one end and development on the other”) of the
student-designed activities revealed a connection to the “land” in ways that is not seen in Eurocentric
music curricula, and the chosen themes were consistent with those that are present in other Inuit cultural
products. One student’s assignment is presented as an example of a musical activity that positions the
Inuit relationship with the land at the core of the activity, while drawing on ideas from both Inuit and
qallunaat traditions. Joan, recognizing that curriculum is based on ideology and is thus political, offers
interesting advice for policymakers: “the decolonization movement in education that is taking place in
different parts of the world understands curriculum development as a political activity, in the sense that it
strives to place the accumulated wisdom, interests, values, aspirations, learning styles, and traditions of a
particular group of people at the center of the curriculum.” The article also recognizes another challenge
of creating a “culturally-responsive” curriculum is that culture is fluid and always changing. Music, the
author posits, can be a useful tool because it can “engage past and present”. Joan concludes that Inuit-
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created musical activities that are derived from Inuit experience have a role to play in decolonizing the
curriculum for Inuit students and, until a comprehensive Inuit curriculum is developed, music (and,
presumably other expressive activities) can be a useful starting point for moving Inuit experience to a
more central place in Nunavut schools.
Kanu, Yatta, “Curriculum as Cultural Practice: Postcolonial Imagination,” Journal of the
Canadian Association of Curriculum Studies 1.1 (2003), 67-81.
** Kanu also has a book published under the same name. The argument in the book is the same. Each chapter is a case
study from a different country. Her work after this article is focused on curriculum development in First Nations
communities in Canada.
This article’s intent is to re-imagine and re-theorize the metaphor “curriculum as cultural practice” and
the function of this metaphor in a postcolonial context. Postcolonialism is defined inclusively to include
the experiences of minority populations in first and third world countries; in essence postcolonial can be
understood as a stance against Eurocentrism and as a site “where a variety of assumptions accepted on
individual, academic and political levels are called into question in the struggle for more democratic social
relations.” Imagination (a term increasingly employed in discourses on education and globalization) is
defined as they in which people come to know, understand and experience themselves as members of a
community and citizens of a nation-state.” Thinking about these two concepts provides a framework for
an historical analysis of “curriculum as cultural practice” (specifically as it related to colonial relationships,
assimilation and the creation of the “other”); and it opens up a space for proposing reform “where
curriculum could be reconstructed to become more responsive” to today’s diverse cultural context. Kanu
traces the overall approach of the colonizer to use schools and curriculum as a means to assimilate and
neutralize colonized populations, heralding “national unity” and the development of the citizenry. Power
and control are generated through the “inculcation of the dominant groups’ ‘official knowledge’” Several
international examples are given using different colonizing nations, including the use of residential schools
in Canada to assimilate Aboriginal people by teaching children how to be hard-working Canadian citizens.
Rote-learning, often employed in colonizers schools, was useful because it eroded critical and creative
thinking among pupils and fostered a greater acceptance of “official knowledge”. Although the use of
curriculum to develop citizens and create national unity was a cross-Canada policy in the post-war years, it
has been the case that “curricular encounter with ‘the other’ has been unequal, unethical and anchored in
racism and violence.”
With respect to curriculum reform in the postcolonial context, Kanu notes that the introduction of
curriculum internationalization to the reform discourse has the potential to deeply reshape the ways in
which individuals and communities see themselves, each other and how they can interact as a collective,
creating knowledge together. In this globalized context, Kanu stresses the importance of “hybridity”, or
the “third space” in curriculum development and reform since it “embod[ies] fluid, pragmatic and
multiple power relations, unlike the relations of domination [colonization]” In the third space, there is no
“other”. Thinking in this way allows for the inclusion of many types of “knowledge” and different ways of
transmitting knowledge and finding links between the different types.
Kort, Barry and Rob Reilly. Evolving Educational Pedagogy in Developing Nations. M.I.T. Media
Laboratory. No date.
Kort and Reilly purport that the developing world has a unique opportunity with respect to educational
infrastructure; rather than importing the education systems of the developed world, developing nations
can instead develop their systems using a different model, one which seeks to develop adult citizens as
opposed to skilled “game show contestants”. Notably, the authors suggest that perhaps too much
emphasis has been placed on teaching methodologies rather than on learning. Kort and Reilly’s work
seeks to fill this gap by developing an understanding of learning and learners. The authors distinguish
between two models of thinking: rule-based thinking and model-based thinking. Kort and Reilly argue that
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the developed world’s education system has become information (teaching and testing) rather than
knowledge focused (reasoning and insight). Learners need to “learn how to learn” so that this process can
become life-long. The authors present two interrelated models that they suggest can be used by
developing countries when designing their education systems. The first – the foundation - is the “novel
model of educational pedagogy” which the authors compare to putting together a jigsaw puzzle.
Knowledge – the Big Picture – in this model is informed by and interpreted through value systems, which
vary by culture. The second model is used to understand the affective (emotional) state of the learner
through the learning cycle. Many students in developing countries may have strayed from the “path of
learning” and must be brought back. Educators who are aware of the emotional state of their students
may be more successful at this. The Emotion Model has four quadrants representing the phases related to
learning. (sidenote: the model looks like a medicine wheel!) The model represents the cycle of learning
whereby students move, for example, from a state of anxiety to one of confidence and vice versa as they
navigate different learning activities. Kort and Reilly stress that it is important (for keeping students on the
path) that students understand the cyclical nature of learning and are given tools for coping with the ups
and downs. The authors conclude stating that they are conducting empirical tests of their models on
elementary school children.
Okakok, Leona. “Serving the Purpose of Education”. Harvard Educational Review. 59.4 (1989): 405.
Okakok outlines the change from Inupiat Eskimo traditional ways – e.g. elders as resource – as beginning with the
introduction of another culture’s (Western) educational system and beliefs (Christianity) in the 1920’s, which
served to displace the Inupiat educational ways and traditions. In the 70’s, the Inupiat Eskimos regained control of
their education system (North Slope Borough, NW Alaska) and incorporated aspects of their history and culture,
striving to balance scholastic achievement on par with other US states, with cultural identity and values. They
found that academic success was tied to the inclusion of Inupiat Eskimo knowledge. Okakok outlines, with personal
examples, how cultural differences between Inupiat and Western lifestyles made learning in a Western
environment a struggle; their native language was not allowed to be used, and English, in the absence of the 1 st
language, even more difficult to comprehend. The negation of Inupiat culture in the Western school system made
learning a struggle; Inupiat Eskimo control of education, and schooling – from infrastructure to curriculum –
enabled academic achievement, survival education, and personal and cultural, lifelong, learning of Inupiat Eskimo
values. Innovations that Okakok offers, juxtaposing them with their valuation in Western society, are: enabling
community members to act as teachers in the classroom, to foster one-one relationships and learning experiences,
nurturing of individual interests, and the use of these interests toward learning other subjects and practical roles in
the community, inclusion of cultural activities and encouragement of parental involvement. She outlines changes –
policy related and curricular – and difficult decisions that the board has made in their desire to create a viable
educational system for Inupiat Eskimo students.
Philpott, David, Dennis Sharpe and Rose Neville. Participation of high school students in the isolated aboriginal
communities of coastal Labrador in web-delivered learning. The current context:
Perspectives, successes and challenges
http://www.mun.ca/killick/home/DSharpe_KillickPaper.pdf
Phillips, Susan and Helen Raham, Sharing Our Success: Promising Practices in Aboriginal Education.
Proceedings of a National Conference. Society for the Advancement of Excellent in Education.
Winnipeg, November 23-3, 2007.
[EXECUTIVE SUMMARY]
Sharing our Success: Promising Practices in Aboriginal Education was a national research and
policy conference convened by the Society for the Advancement of Excellence in Education (SAEE) on November 2324, 2007 at the York Hotel and the University of Winnipeg in Winnipeg. There were over 375 participants from
regional and national Aboriginal1 organizations, federal government departments, provincial/territorial departments
of education, schools, universities and other organizations. The conference was designed to engage stakeholders from
across Canada in examining and sharing promising practices in aboriginal schooling. Over 70 presentations by more
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than 85 researchers, practitioners and policymakers at every level provided many opportunities for participants to
explore constructive solutions to systemic challenges. Among the many issues addressed over the course of the two
days were literacy and language; cultural programming; the assessment and reporting of results; governance and
leadership; funding; the supply, training and retention of quality teachers; and community supports for learning. In
addition to formal presentations, dialogues in the form of sharing circles and issue roundtables promoted further
cross-pollination of effective strategies, policies, and resources.
This groundbreaking national conversation was a powerful catalyst for creating shared understandings to improve
aboriginal student success. Formal and informal feedback was highly positive both for the calibre of the presentations
and for bringing together all major stakeholders to examine the research and policy issues.
Rasmussen, Derek. "Qallunology: A Pedagogy for the Oppressor." Canadian Journal of Native
Education 25.2 (2001): 105.
The purpose of this paper is to highlight the evolution of the European perspective on education and the
use of education (and literacy) as a tool of colonization in Canada’s north. Rasmussen’s argument is
rooted in the belief that the indigenous (Inuit) and the Rescuer (Qallunaat) worldviews are fundamentally
incongruent and that these approaches are the result of different historical experiences. Using Polanyi’s
theory of the Great Transformation, Rasmussen shows how social relations became disembedded from
economic ones, resulting in the “new non-social economy.” European society became “monetized and
literatized” – a paper-based society. The concept of education evolved through this process as well.
Literacy in this context became synonymous with knowledge and intellect. European society became
alphabetized – the process through which symbols (paper, letters, books, libraries) were developed to
represent and replace their real-life counterparts. Education was disembedded from life, just as social
relations were disembedded from economic ones. Rasmussen argues that two western institutions education and economy - have been, and continue to be, used as the primary tools of colonization by “the
Rescuers”. Colonizers believed that development would come if indigenous people learned to “spell and
spend”. Rasmussen uses Friere’s (1970s anthropologist) work to illustrate how the western ideology of
literacy became a tool of colonialism. Friere’s “liberatory pedagogy” was based on the assumption that if
only “primitive” people could become literate that they would be freed from their oppressors and the
many societal ills that plagued them. Friere did not question, however, the causes of those societal ills
(which Rasmussen sees as the imposition of European institutions and the introduction of “welfare
colonialism” of the mid 20th century in the North). Rasmussen concludes by pointing out that over the
course of history, Qallunaat have approached development (education, economy) of Inuit society as a
good (heroic) deed; helping to “progress” the Inuit toward civilization. Instead, he argues, the Rescuers
should seek to understand their own behaviour and the motivations behind it. For the purposes of
education policy, this article emphasizes the significant differences between EuroCanadian and Inuit
concepts of knowledge (and therefore learning by extension).
Rasmussen, D. "Forty Years of Struggle and Still no Right to Inuit Education in Nunavut." Our
Schools, Our Selves 19.1 (2009): 67.
The article opens with two questions: why, after forty years, does Nunavut still lack an Inuit-centred
school system and what can be done to make this happen? The primary focus of the article is on the
relationship between the Government of Nunavut and the Inuit organizations with respect to education
and language policies; and the roles and responsibilities held by each in this regard. Rasmussen starts by
tracing the “battle” fought by Inuit leaders in the early days of the land claims negotiations to gain control
over education and language rights and to entrench these rights in the land claim. He highlights that even
very early on the debate with respect to education revolved around the issue of language rights and the
ramifications of a system in which Inukititut was the language of instruction; and what it meant to have an
“Inuit-centred” school system. The federal government felt that language rights fell outside the scope of
the comprehensive claims process. Ultimately, the issue of language rights was reduced to the clause that
now comprises Article 32 of the claim. NTI and the regional organizations are thus responsible for
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ensuring that Inuit are in fact involved in the development, design and delivery of social policies. The
second part of the article, focused on governance issues, outlines the many ways that the GN has failed in
its obligations to Inuit, as set out in the claim; namely, how it limited participation by Inuit organizations in
the drafting of legislation related to education. The lack of Inuit senior managers in the Department of
Education is also cited as a factor limiting Inuit participation in decision-making. Notably, Inuit
recommendations for changes to the education system have been always been related to Inuit control,
Inuktitut instruction and culturally appropriate curriculum; consistently, these three areas have been left
out of agreements or rejected as recommendations by the GN.
With respect to human resources, Rasmussen takes issue with the federal government’s removal of
funding after 1999 for a successful teachers training program started in the NWT that, he argues, would
have increased the number of Inuit teachers dramatically. He also highlights the disproportionately high
number of Newfoundlanders teaching in Nunavut, suggesting that if the GN spent as much money on
training “local hires” as it does on travel and living costs for imported teachers, Article 23 may succeed!
Ultimately, Rasmussen argues that neither the federal government, nor the Government of Nunavut has
fulfilled its obligation to Inuit as laid out in the NLCA. To answer the second question posed in the
introduction – “what can be done to support Inuit education rights? - the Rasmussen suggests six
solutions: implement the Mahe rights (as determined by the 1990 Supreme Court of Canada decision) to
ensure local Inuit control; implement Thomas Berger’s 2005 recommendations to tackle drop out rates by
increasing bilingualism and funding a handful of core programs; Revise the Education Act as per Article 32
(meaningful Inuit participation in policy process); form an Inuit teacher’s union as an alternative to the
Nunavut Teachers’ Association; enforce Article 23 job descriptions; employ 85% Inuit in teaching and
principle positions.
Roland, Greta. “A university in the Fourth World': the self-determination of the Norwegian
Saami” In Dialectical Anthropology Volume 18, No. 1, 1993
The paper seeks to show “how education can affect social change on behalf of a minority in the long run,
especially when brought about at top levels of governance.” The paper traces the development of the
Saami education reform movement across the homelands of the Saami, focusing primarily on Norway.
Roland refers to the Saami as “active Fourth World peoples” and likens their recent experience in Norway
to that of the indigenous peoples in North America. Building on existing models from social movement
and education literature, Roland asks “how has [the Saami’s] social movement assisted the development
of a specialized teacher education program and, in turn, how has this educational program helped the
movement?” Roland provides a socio-historical overview highlighting the struggle the Saami endured in
asserting their own indigeneity – a necessary first step for an ethnic social movement linked to language
and cultural rights. One important characteristic of the shift in attitude toward Saami status in Norway is
that the changes tended to come from the top-down (albeit shaped by democractic processes). The topdown forces came from both the nation-state (Norway) and the Saami elite (in the form of cross boundary
Saami organizations and then eventually the Saami Parliament). Corporatist post WWII Norway allowed
for the participation of local teachers in the decision making process and this created an avenue for Saami
participation, as long as there were Saami teachers. Once Saami received constitutional status, it was
possible to assert their language and cultural rights, including the right to speak and study in their “home
language”. As a result of the assimilationist policies of the previous decades, language loss was
substantial. These factors contributed to movement prioritizing Saami teacher education programs. A
Taskforce was commissioned – The Hoem Committee” to determine whether specialized Saami teacher’s
training was necessary. Citing Saami cultural and language rights, the committee determined that indeed,
special training was necessary to serve the Saami population of Norway better. A Saami department was
created at Alta Teacher’s College but over time, the department was reduced to only a subject area in the
General Education Department. Administrative issues, a lack of political well at the national level and the
very real challenges of student retention, and the continued existence of socio-economic challenges in
Saami communities seemed to contribute to the demise of the Saami department. A new Hoem
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Committee was created in 1982, which reinvigorated the movement, reasserting the goals of the
movement; offering insights for curriculum development and for the necessary qualifications for Saami
teachers. Importantly, the report also criticized the national universities for allowing Saami research and
education to “fall to a low priority.” Roland concludes: “Once the Saami elite entered the democratic
process in the 1980 by participating in government committees with mandated Saami majorities, they
were able to advocate specialized teacher training for Saami. Their line of reasoning was that a program
to train Saami teachers would abate the shortage of teachers in areas with Saami populations. Yet their
intention was that such a program be only a stage toward the development of a Saami university. This
university in turn would be an intellectual home for Saami and non-Saami researchers whose work would
include synchronic and diachronic studies of Saami language, Saami religion, legends, history, etc. The
retrieval and preservation of Saami culture would ensue. In this way, Saami ethnic identity and status were
to be secured in Scandinavia.”
Salokangas, Raila Maarit. The Meaning of Education for Inuvialuit in Tuktoyaktuk, NWT,
Canada. MSc Rural Sociology University of Alberta, 2009. MA THESIS
[ABSTRACT]
This study investigates how the meaning of education has changed for the Inuvialuit in Tuktoyaktuk, NWT,
Canada, over a century. This is done by situating Inuvialuit educational experiences in the context of
government policies, socioeconomic and cultural changes, and Inuvialuit self-determination. The study
found that the meaning of education for the Inuvialuit has been and continues to be: acquiring the means
to support a family. A change has occurred from learning “the Inuvialuk way” in the 1930s to “striving for
the best of both worlds” in the 1970s to the dream of “becoming whatever I want” in the 2000s.
Unfortunately, the dreams that youth have are often cut short. Among other things, the level of
engagement in formal education by youth and their families is influenced by the family’s past experiences
and perceptions of the education system. The study identifies family, community, school, and policy
factors that increased student engagement.
Todal, Jon. "The Sami School System in Norway and International Cooperation." Comparative
Education 39.2, Special Number (27): Indigenous Education: New Possibilities, Ongoing
Constraints (2003): 185-92.
This article discusses the introduction of a separate curriculum for primary and lower secondary schools in
Sami areas of Norway. In addition, some jurisdiction over the school system has been transferred from
the national government to the Sami parliament. These developments occur against the backdrop of an
international movement toward involving “increasing articulation of minority rights, and a related desire
for autonomy, from national minority groups and indigenous people.” Todal argues that the achievement
of a Sami-specific curriculum was made possible by two main developments: the aforementioned
international movement and the willingness of the national government to take a new approach. The
focus of the article is on the former. Specifically, the countries to which Todal refers are Norway, Canada,
New Zealand and the USA. Todal’s analysis is based on five “common denominators”, which, he argues,
existed in all countries where this movement occurred: timing (starting in almost all cases in the 1960s
and 70s); (re)categorization of indigenous peoples; professionalization of political activitism; radicalization
(specifically to the left); and government response. Underlying these common characteristics was the
creation of (although Todal does not use this term) policy learning networks across the different
indigenous populations. In the case of the Sami, they were involved in three international relationships
that were important for their movement in Norway; the most significant in terms of its political impact
was the relationship with other Arctic indigenous peoples. These networks allowed for the sharing of
research, ideas and experience, knowledge and strategies. In particular, the network of Arctic peoples
resulted in the development of educational institutions and research centres across the Arctic, which have
contributed to knowledge generation and indigenous control over education.
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Tomlins-Jahnke, Huia. The place of Cultural Standards in Indigenous Education, MAI Review,
2008, 1, Article 1. http://www.review.mai.ac.nz/index.php/MR/article/viewFile/100/107
[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]
This article explores the development of cultural standards in Aotearoa New Zealand as a basis for
enhancing the learning pathways of Māori children through the infusion of indigenous history, language
and culture in the curriculum and milieu of primary schools. Rather than employing an ad hoc attachment
or merely incorporating experiences of localized knowledge, an infusion of indigenous perspectives in
every segment and module of the curriculum accepts the role Māori people have played in the history and
culture of Aotearoa New Zealand. The cultural standards plan offers a unique opportunity for schools,
Māori tribes and communities to develop a truly inclusive education for all children. It provides a way of
consolidating an identity as Māori and/or New Zealander within the context of Aotearoa New Zealand.
Furthermore, the development of a cultural standards plan brings into sharp focus the gaps in education
where so many children are educated without knowing the history of the land, language, environment,
flora and fauna specific to Aotearoa/ New Zealand. This paper highlights the issues and concerns that are
highly topical, but which have received little attention in the literature.
Watt-Cloutier, Sheila. “Honouring Our Past, Sharing Our Future: Education in Northern and
Remote Communities.” In Brant Castellano, Davies and Lahache, 2000.
Wihak, Christine. "Culturally Relevant Management Education: Insights from Experience in
Nunavut." Alberta Journal of Educational Research 51.4 (2005): 328.
Starting from the premise that curriculum is rooted in culture and values, the author argues that more
discussion about the impact of the globalization of education on culture is needed. The specific focus of
the article is on the author’s experience as Director of Nunavut Arctic College in developing a culturally
responsive business/management studies curriculum at the post-secondary level. The author traces the
evolution of the management studies curriculum pre- and post- creation of Nunavut and notes the
important impact that Article 23 has had on the development of the Nunavut Arctic College curriculum. In
her search for culturally responsive management curriculum, the author participated in the Council for
the Advancement of Native Development Officers’ (CANDO) standing committee on education. Wihak
draws on her own cross-cultural learning experiences to offer two “principles for reflecting culture in
institutional approaches”, which she argues are important for cross-cultural educators: nonessentialism
and cultural reciprocity. The nonessentialist approach refers to the recognition by cross-cultural educators
that culture is heterogeneous (and in the case of the North, that each individual and group had a different
historical and acculturative experience); and that it is important to “avoid superficial categorization of
individual members of a culture”. According to this principle, “traditional knowledge” is not a static
“monolithic corpus” but rather a living understanding of one’s environment. Cultural reciprocity suggests
that non-Inuit instructors “demonstrate an interest in and respect for cultural diversity, being highly
sensitive to students' expressions of friction about valued beliefs and behavior, articulating his or her own
experience of cultural conflicts, and examining the roots of such conflict in underlying differences in world
view.” This involves altering teaching strategies from purely written course material (taken from EuroCanadian textbooks) to a more oral style of teaching that can be more fluid and responsive to students.
Wihak refers to this as the “lived curriculum”. The author recognizes, however, that until more courses
are taught by Inuit, this lived curriculum may still tend to reflect western ideas.
In following both these principles, the author suggests that elders be involved in the development of
course curriculum for the management studies program; and that in her experience, this has proven to be
successful. That is, the author found that it was possible to integrate Inuit elder’s approach to
management and some of the written non-Inuit curriculum from southern management courses that was
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congruent with traditional knowledge. Ultimately, the author concludes that in a globalized world, it is
important to avoid a one-size-fits all (based on North American business and management models)
curriculum; not only because it is culturally inappropriate (and thus not particularly useful) but also
because there is much to learn from other cultural approaches. A collaborative approach is
recommended.
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