Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
City University
Closing the gap2
Abstract
Why is there a gap in the provincial achievement test scores of first nation’s students and what
can be done to close that gap? After taking a new position this year as a vice principle of a
school in Ponoka this year, which includes one third Cree students, I have begun to see the
disproportional graduation rates between “white” and “first nations” students. This has caused
me to look deeper into the root of the problem as well as try to come up with some ideas on ways
that we can begin to close the learning gap starting in our elementary school.
In my leadership role, I am looking for tangible things that can be done in the school that
I am responsible for. I believe that if we can give first nation’s students a solid start to their
educational years, it will carry them through into high school and improve both provincial test
scores and graduation rates. Understanding the history of residential schools, the Sixties Scoop,
the culture of first nation’s students, and researched based teaching techniques can help us to
become agents of change. The goal is to reverse this crisis of intergenerational trauma that is
negatively affecting our first nation’s children. Although this may seem a very lofty goal, I
believe through trying innovative ways of changing programming and school culture, we can
truly make the difference needed to start closing the achievement gap of first nation’s students.
Residential Schools
To truly understand the reason why many of our first nation’s students are performing
poorly in school, we need to go back into our history of the residential schools. In Canada’s
Residential Schools: The Legacy The Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission
of Canada reports, “The closing of residential schools did not bring their story to an end. The
legacy of the schools continues to this day. It is reflected in the significant educational, income,
and health disparities between Aboriginal people and other Canadians—disparities that condemn
many Aboriginal people to shorter, poorer, and more troubled lives.” (p. 3). It is now ever too
apparent, the damage that was caused by residential schools and the intergenerational suffering
that continues on in a vicious cycle that is difficult to break. When kids were taken away from
their own families, they were not cared for in the loving, bonding, caring and nurturing way that
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parents care for their own children. The government tried to “take the Indian out of them,” by
taking away their clothing, not allowing them to speak in their native tongue, and by separating
them from all family contact, customs, and culture. They were stripped of their “Family Funds
of Knowledge. (Anderson, Kendrick & McTavish, 2017) shares, “Funds of knowledge have been
described as “the essential cultural practices and bodies of knowledge and information that
This TRC article makes it very clear that our Canadian government has caused/contributed to
a damaged native society for generations causing “intergenerational trauma.” The adults that had
a difficult life in the residential schools went on to have children of their own, raising them the
best way that they could. Unfortunately, because of shame, drug and alcohol abuse and without
great modelling, or a solid family/community support system, they didn’t have a lot of success in
raising successful children. The truth and reconciliation commission reports, “Tim McNeil felt
the impact of residential schools when his children were older: “I was a good parent until my
kids turned thirteen, and when my kids turned thirteen then I started parenting them the way that
I was when I was in school. So suddenly my love was gone, my affection was gone, my time was
gone. I started treating them the way I was treated in the dorm. And that was with strict rules,
strict discipline, you had to follow a certain order, there was no love, there was no affection.”
These survivors suffered in residential schools. Their children suffered because of their
The government made a huge mistake creating residential schools and absconded
children to “cultural genocide.” To make matters worse, the government had to deal with the all
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of the ramifications of the residential schools. Once again, our Canadian government messed
things up further by, what is referred to now as, “the sixties scoop.”
What is the Sixties Scoop and what does it have to do with intergenerational trauma
amongst Canada’s first nation’s population? Provincial social workers, with little to no training
in Aboriginal culture were assigned to assess child safety on the reserves. They passed their own
judgement on what they considered to be poor parenting. They did not understand anything
about the trauma that was related to residential schools. “As a result, beginning in the 1960s,
provincial child welfare workers removed thousands of children from Aboriginal communities. It
Once again, with no attempt to preserve their culture and identity, mass adoptions
continued for 30 years, and still continue today, placing Aboriginal children in non-Aboriginal
homes throughout Canada, the United States and even overseas. Dislocated and denied of their
Aboriginal identity caused identity confusion, low self-esteem, and addictions. This in turn led to
lower levels of educational achievement and unemployment. The sixties scoop was a
continuation of the trauma that was created and felt in the residential schools because the child
was adopted, but not the child’s culture. And, unfortunately, many were also abused. I
ntergenerational trauma leads to cultural genocide. Where does a displaced society go from
here? What can schools do to make a difference in lives of first nation’s adults and children?
How can the rebuilding of a culture possibly begin? There are a lot of questions and luckily
there are some answers too. Let’s start with the adults.
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According to Lickers (2003), in order to teach a Native, you must also help them to heal
their spirit. She has successfully implemented a literacy program that not only teaches literacy,
but life skills as well. The Six Nations Achievement Literacy Center has a 90% success rate for
adults finding jobs, returning to school, or starting their own business. Lickers (2003) has a
much different approach to education than the The Ministry of Training, and Colleges. The
MTCU looks at language, lack of transportation, need for babysitting services, and lack of
money as barriers to Native Literacy. Although there is money to support many literacy
programs, not many of them that were run were successful. Lickers (2003) would argue, “The
MTCU does not recognize the greatest barriers of all: mental, emotional, and spiritual
dysfunction. These barriers are the greatest hindrance to the success of Native students. The
effects of these barriers reflect Native reality: Natives have the highest school dropout rate,
alcoholism rate, drug addiction rate, suicide rate, and the highest percentage of people in jails.”
(p. 56). She goes on to share how the program is set up with instruction in literacy and math
skills, training in social skills, as well as assignments such as resume writing, adults attain the
(Anuik, Baptiste, & George, 2010) also shares how the spirit must be nourished for First
people, and Indigenous scholars believe that to identify, comprehend, and nourish the learning
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spirit requires educators to recognize that all learners are "spirit, heart, mind, and body" a part of
creation, and have a purpose that is, most importantly, driven by their spirit.” ( p. 65). The just of
the article was that there are programs currently running that teach in a very holistic way.
The three programs that were looked at in depth was the Kapachee Training Centre’s
Little Tots program, The Seven Generations Institute Camps, and Integrative Science and
Mi’kmaq Studies. The theme that was integrated in all of these educational settings was that the
spiritual, emotional, mental and physical aspects of the learner was creatively and socially
nurtured through mutual respect. The programs brought back the joy of learning through rich,
cultural experiences. As I read about the programming in these centers I wondered how much of
One reoccurring theme in successful literacy programming is to bring back the joy of
learning. Janet Mort, a retired school superintendent appealed to my quest to find the way to
close the achievement gap. At the Vulnerable Reader’s Conference in Calgary last month, she
spoke passionately about her research and school pilot projects, including a First Nation’s
School. She designed her literacy projects specifically to catch children up in the skills that they
were deficient in at the kindergarten to second grade years. Her book is full of fun, playful,
holistic activities that focus specifically on the skills that children must have by grade two to be
successful in literacy in their future years. Mort (2013) states, “Implementing this integrated
model effectively will provide us with the opportunity to close the experiential gaps for the
children who enter school “unlucky in literacy.” Research is our guide. All of our decisions must
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be research-driven so we can create optimal opportunities for our most vulnerable but capable
children.” (p. 5). The same urgency is also shared by (McIntosh, Mathews, Mackay, et al.,
(1988), which indicated that strong readers in Grade 1 have 87% chance of staying strong readers
in Grade 4, when compared to poor readers, who have 88% chance of remaining poor readers.
Thus, early intervention for students at risk of future learning problems can begin in kindergarten
to ensure that all students become literate and experience early school success (Daly, Chafouleas,
& Skinner, 2005; Foorman, Breier, & Fletcher, 2003), and more intensive and explicit curricula
reduce risk more effectively than typical literacy curricula (Torgesen, 2002)” Through very
strategic, critical assessments, teachers will get a precise understanding of the skills that they
need to reinforce through play based learning activities. This sounds too good to be true, but
through a “literacy blitz,” more than 90% of children in the pilot schools were successful in
A “literacy blitz” is a phrase that Mort (2016) uses to refer to the structure of the joyful
literacy interventions. In her book Putting on the Blitz, Mort (2016) wrote, “We now have proven
that our aboriginal children can learn at the 90% success level just like everyone else- when
teachers do “the right things.” (pg.vii). The literacy blitz takes place over and above the time and
teaching in the regular classroom. It is intended to be a short term top up such as a two week
period. The look of the blitz would vary from school to school but the concept is fixed. During
this block of time, students would “play” in literacy rich games/activities that specifically
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address their literacy needs. Mort has prepared circle charts to help teachers address the essential
foundational skills. Through the play based activities, students are so engaged that they don’t
even realize they are learning. I am very eager to try and get a blitz going at our school.
In conclusion, my vision and hope for closing the achievement gap amongst our first
nation’s students has been resurrected. Although we all need to understand the intergenerational
trauma and the effect that the past has had on today’s Aboriginal children, we need to start with
them to reverse the negative cycle. Creative approaches that evolve out of researched based
studies like the literacy blitz offer hopeful literacy solutions. The authors that have referred to
teaching the whole child: Anderson, Anuik, Grotberg, Lickers, McIntosh, and Tileston, make it
impossible to ignore the cultural differentiation that we need to be cognizant and nurturing
towards. Schools that embrace diversity and culture must include creative approaches that show
In Ponoka, we have two Elders who visit weekly to interact, model, and teach
traditional ways to all of our students. We have partnered up with the Outreach school to include
one of their native students as my intramural partner. Lori interacts with students through play
and having another indigenous role model in our school sends a powerful message to all of our
staff and students. We have set up a tipi in our courtyard to create another outdoor learning
space. I also have plans to create all signage in Cree as well as English so that we are truly
“bilingual.” There is so much that can be done to enhance the experience of our first nation’s
students. I want to learn more so that all children in our school will feel welcome and respected.
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We can truly celebrate the diversity and the beauty of their culture each day. We also teach
character development skills like resiliency, grit, compassion, empathy and kindness.
As educators it is our job to learn about the culture and history of the first nation’s
children that we are teaching. When we know their story, we can gain the compassion that is
needed to reach their soul. Listening to stories from children, their parents, and Elders helps us
to understand and empathize. I like what I heard elder Mary Moonias, who was one of the
residential school survivors, say at our recent administrative P.D. day, “I turned my anger into
determination.” Our hope is that our students will internalize the positive messaging in our
school and will continue to grow up becoming strong, resilient first nation’s people. Grotberg,
(2003) says, “Resilience gives children skills that allow them to face, overcome, be strengthened
and sometimes even transformed by adverse incidents, adverse events, and adverse
environments. Resilience is essential for children during their school years.” (p. 106).
The “white” culture in Canada needs to close the “ignorance gap” about our disrespectful
Canadian history. The achievement gap can definitely be closed with excellent teaching on the
fundamental literacy skills using a holistic approach that reaches the head, heart and spirit.
Tileston (2008) states, “The highest predictor of academic achievement is the proficiency of the
teachers in effective instructional practice.” (p. 19). Tileston and Mort have very similar
optimistic views. I totally agree with them. It is a daily journey about learning and growing for
all Canadians. But we can “get there,” together, one step at a time.
References
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Anderson, J., Horton, L., Kendrick, M., & McTavish, M. (2017). Children’s funds of knowledge
in a rural northern canadian community: A telling case. Language and Literacy, 19(2),
http://proxy.cityu.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.proxy.cityu.edu/docview/19
17373723?accountid=1230
Anuik, J., Battiste, M., & George, P. (2010). Learning from promising programs and
http://proxy.cityu.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.proxy.cityu.edu/docview/86
4885237?accountid=1230
Grotberg, E. H. (2003). Resilience for Today: Gaining Strength From Adversity. Westport, CT:
Lickers, E. (2003). Healing the spirit. Canadian Journal of Native Education, 27(1), 55-n/a.
Retrieved from
http://proxy.cityu.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.proxy.cityu.edu/docview/23
0304362?accountid=1230
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McIntosh, K., Mathews, S., Gietz, C., MacKay, L. D., Pelser, J., Mah, I., Edgcombe, J. (2011).
Retrieved from
http://proxy.cityu.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.proxy.cityu.edu/docview/90
3202624?accountid=1230
Moonias, Mary. Wolf Creek P.D. Day. 15 Nov. 2017. Lacombe Memorial Centre. Survivor of
Mort, J. N. (2014). Joyful Literacy Interventions Part One: Early Classroom Essentials. San
Mort, J. N. (2016). Joyful Literacy Interventions Series Part Two: Putting on the Blitz. San
Tileston, D. and Darling, S. (2008). Why Culture Counts. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree.
Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. (2015). Canada’s Residential Schools: The
Legacy The Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, (5).
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Retrieved from
http://nctr.ca/assets/reports/Final%20Reports/Volume_5_Legacy_English_Web.pdf
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