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By Don Peebles, Prince George Citizen (British Columbia, Canada) An aboriginal choice school would either be a dark monument to racism or the pearly gates of educational salvation.
These two philosophies have emerged from the movement to establish such a school in Prince George. School District 57 trustees have given approval to transform Carney Hill elementary - a school that already has an 80-per-cent aboriginal student population - into a choice school that would teach the standard provincial curricula from kindergarten to Grade 7, but would be dedicated to infusing aboriginal content into general school life and elective aspects of learning. The context would be one of aboriginal cultural celebration. “Sally Erickson, my mother, was told at Lejac residential school that Indians couldn't get Grade 12, and that was true, it was not offered for years afterward,” said Marlene Erickson of the Aboriginal Education Board and co-chair of the steering committee to establish the aboriginal choice school. “There are still, to this day, systemic barriers that prevent aboriginal children from reaching Grade 12, just as there were for my mother three generations ago.” The work is underway to design what would be taught, how it would be taught and by whom. Erickson and Charlotte Henay, SD57's aboriginal education principal, are at work finding tools for the school's tool chest: staff, programs, materials, formats, the resources the new school will use. They are looking far and wide at other schools that do a similar thing, seeking best practices. There are plenty of best practices to borrow from, said Henay, citing the Oneida Centre of Learning in Ontario, the Niji Mahkwa School in Winnipeg, Amiskwaciy Academy in Edmonton, and a number of schools in B.C. that are not explicitly First Nations schools, but are aboriginal in location, so they can also be examples to draw from. Each of these places has advantages and liabilities of their own, and Carney Hill has its unique qualities also, Henay said, but much could be built on existing successes. While Toronto school trustee Josh Matlow said their own aboriginal school was “a disaster,” Henay said her research said otherwise. Her contact with educators there suggested the aboriginal population of Toronto was dispersed differently and lived much different lifestyles than in Prince George, where there was much support for urban natives from their home bands in the outlying areas, as well as powerful supports within the city as well. “A lot of us attended Lejac residential school or other Catholic-based schools in the area,” said David Luggi, elected chief of the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council. He lives on the Stellako Reserve at Fraser Lake, but said the Prince George school was on everybody's radar screen across the region and had the blessing of the wider aboriginal population regardless of which local First Nation one belonged to. “From my experience, going to school with my own nationals, so to speak, I felt much more comfortable in that environment than I did in my public school experiences. There seemed to be some intimidation to it, and still does today. I think it is an excellent idea overall, considering the numerous options that have been attempted to have aboriginal students achieve in school. Trying out this avenue is an exciting opportunity for parents and students.” Ray Gerow of the Aboriginal Business Development Centre agreed that although there are many different subcultures among northern First Nations, the overarching aboriginal background had plenty of universal elements, and stylizing a school on those principals would turn a lot of kids on to education, and a lifelong stream of esteem who might otherwise be lost to functional society altogether. “It is very, very needed in this community, that's unarguable from a learned perspective, although many without any knowledge on the matter will oppose it without any basis in research,” Gerow said. “It is a combination of fear, which is natural when change happens, and being uneducated from a holistic perspective about what this can do for the whole community. This format is proven to work and is endorsed heavily by the aboriginal population at large, so let's get on with it.” He said he would not be surprised if the current aboriginal to non-aboriginal ratio at Carney Hill (right now 80-20) even widened, with more non-aboriginal students enroled there to take advantage of the education style the school would use. “My only concern is that it doesn't become a target for racism,” he said. Bill McIver, a former vice-principal at Carney Hill and a veteran administrator in SD57, said the plan is a good one and the choice of Carney Hill is the right fit. The current student population of about 180 kids might even grow as a result of this change. “I know there is a large contingent of aboriginal residents in the area and there should be few transportation issues. It is a large school, so there is lots of space and the Carney Hill Neighbourhood Centre onsite is another good reason it should be there,” McIver said. The results for aboriginal students are “dismal” across the district and province, so no one should stand in the way of trying something “innovative, maybe even radical,” he said. Opposing the school could be construed as racist, simply because the status quo is so clearly failing an ethnic population, he explained. “If it doesn't work out, you move on to another idea or set of ideas,” he said, warning the public it might take a few years to hit its stride. “You can't afford to fail, on this one (improving aboriginal student achievement). It's going to be really exciting for the person lucky enough to be the one to go there (as principal).” “The notion that culture, identity and academic success isn't a tripartite system is false; we know they are intricately linked,” said Henay. “If you're mainstream, you don't know that if no one has tried to take it away.” Erickson added that, “for aboriginal people that was taken away by the residential schools, so kids today don't have that (a sense of their background) in the home, it doesn't exist in their families, so it has to come from somewhere if these kids are going to be engaged with their roots, and therefore do well in school.” Proponents urge the public to consider the ways all students in the district might benefit by having aboriginal practices brought to the fore in this school district. They agree that elements of curriculum and instruction are being considered, as is communication between teachers and students which might help many others take bigger steps in their own schooling, and also, aboriginal history is the history of all kids from Prince George, and knowing those roots across the board is bound to engage all kids.
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