Educational Legislation
We call on the federal government to draft new Aboriginal education legislation with the full participation and informed consent of Aboriginal peoples. The new legislation would include a commitment to sufficient funding and would incorporate the following principles:
– Providing sufficient funding to close identified educational achievement gaps within one generation.
TRC, 2015 Final Report
– Improving education attainment levels and success rates.
– Developing culturally appropriate curricula.
– Protecting the right to Aboriginal languages, including the teaching of Aboriginal languages as credit courses.
– Enabling parental and community responsibility, control, and accountability, similar to what parents enjoy in public school systems.
– Enabling parents to fully participate in the education of their children.
– Respecting and honouring Treaty relationships.
Drafting New Aboriginal Education Legislation
This Call to Action is asking the Canadian federal government to basically re-legislate or recreate our school systems in a sense. If this Call to Action was met, then funding gaps would be closed, education gaps would be closed, curriculum would include Indigenous languages and knowledge, and Treaties would be included in the school system and curriculum.
This would be groundbreaking and would help to meet other Educational Calls to Action as well.
Progress
Currently, there has been no attempt to create legislation for this Call to Action. However, technically there is some progress, in that some of the principles in the Call to Action have been included in other government creations.
In 2017 and then in 2018, the Canadian government helped to create two First Nations school systems through collaboration with Indigenous groups. The Manitoba First Nations School System was created in 2017 in collaboration with the Canadian government, it is run entirely by First Nations leaders and was promised increased federal funding levels. As well, in 2017, the government of Canada worked with the Assembly of First Nations to develop a Memorandum of Understanding for transformation of K-12 education. Later, in 2018 a Cree education authority was created out of collaboration between the federal government and 4 Alberta First Nation communities. With all of these projects, the Canadian government committed to collaborating with Indigenous leaders and communities, which is a part of the requirements in theTRC’s Calls to Action.
As well, the Canadian government has committed more funding ($2.6 billion) for K-12 education on reserves (as mentioned in an earlier post). This funding included 55 million dollars per year dedicated to supporting language and cultural programming for K-12 students going to school on reserves. However, as mentioned in an earlier post, much of that funding has been withheld for later years or withdrawn due to expenses.
As for improving educational attainment levels and success rates for Indigenous students, the Canadian government committed to increasing funding for the Post-Seconday Student Support Program in 2017. This would entail $90 million dollars going into the program, which aims to help Indigenous post-secondary students with financial needs, over the course of two years. However, this is much less than the current Liberal government promised during their 2015 election campaign. They had promised $50 million dollars to the program annually, which did not happen.
Currently, there are no national standards for curriculum, as each province mandates their own curriculum and educational standards. So, there is no mandated Indigenous curriculum or inclusion of Indigenous knowledge and languages. This is definitely a big area to work on. It is important to protect Indigenous languages and to maintain the right to these languages, as the TRC’s Call to Action advocates for. As of 2017, there were around 12 School Boards making changes in their curriculum in response to the Calls to Action. The Canadian government has promised funding to “preserve, protect and revitalize Indigenous languages and culture”. In 2019, they promised $334 million for this over five years. As well, in 2019 there was an Act passed which all create an Office of the Commissioner of Indigenous Languages, which will aim to create supports and resources to learn/restore/maintain Indigenous languages.
What Can You Do?
Again, as an individual, it is hard to meet this Call to Action; however, advocacy does help! Advocate for your local school board to include more Indigenous viewpoints. Write to your MP and your province’s education minister to advocate for a curriculum change, one that would include Indigenous ways of knowing and teach Indigenous languages. Teach yourself about the Treaty Land you live on and the history of that Treaty. Go to Treaty Day celebrations. Engage with your Indigenous community.
If you are a teacher, like myself, then find ways to include Indigenous knowledge in your classroom! Invite Elders, parents, and community leaders into your classroom. Find resources to teach local Indigenous languages to your students. Make sure you are representing Indigenous history and stories in your classroom, even if it is not ‘required’ in the curriculum. Teach about your local Treaty. Hang your Treaty flag in your classroom. Engage your students with their local Indigenous community!
Resources:
Click here to find some resources for teaching and learning Indigenous Languages.
Click here for an Online K-8 Indigenous Education platform.