Alberta promises future success for Native students

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The Alberta government has accepted 84 of the 95 recommendations made by its Commission on Learning, many of which will focus attention on the learning outcomes of Aboriginal students in the provincial school system.

The recommendations include greater involvement with First Nations communities in developing school curriculum and other learning resources for and about Aboriginal people. There is also a focus on encouraging First Nations and Metis people to become teachers, and on establishing strong lines of communication between Aboriginal homes and schools.

The recommendations were the result of a report produced by a nine-member commission appointed by Learning Minister Dr. Lyle Oberg. The members spent about 16 months traveling across the province collecting input from members of Metis and First Nations communities throughout Edmonton and the Lac La Biche region, as well as from treaty chiefs from treaties six, seven and eight. The findings from these consultations revealed that more government support was needed to assist Aboriginal students in furthering their education.

"We found that the general quality of Aboriginal education in Alberta had to be improved," said Thomas Erasmus, chairman of the Aboriginal subcommittee for the commission. "There is now more Aboriginal students graduating and becoming involved in post-secondary education, but it is not where it should be."

Erasmus and his colleagues identified that the tuition agreement needed to be resolved, and one of the recommendations insists that First Nations children living on reserve receive the same level of funding as any other student when they attend a provincial school.

Special education was also a particular concern to Aboriginal communities, he said. The commission recommended identifying at-risk Aboriginal children at an early age in order to make sure they receive the support they need before they begin school, as well as providing appropriate training and professional development for teaching assistants who work with children with special needs.

Erasmus said that improving "the relationship between school jurisdictions while maintaining respect for First Nations children in their particular regions" was another important part in the learning development of Aboriginal students.

Other recommendations aimed at improving Aboriginal students' learning outcomes include ensuring that First Nations parents play a role in the governance of the schools; establishing a provincial centre for excellence in Aboriginal education; ensuring that there will be a smooth transition for students that are moving from on reserve to public schools; providing continual support for Aboriginal parents in their choice of education for their children and developing and implementing expanded Aboriginal language and cultural programs.

The commission was an opportunity for the government to look at how it could improve things, "how can we build upon what we do well and how we can address the challenges that people were talking about," said Josepha Vanverstoop, spokesperson for Alberta Learning. "As with all the recommendations, it is really a focus on the future on continuing to improve what we're doing. I think it is a very positive step for Aboriginal students in Alberta."

Phyllis Cardinal, principal of the Amiskwaciy Academy, an all-Native high school located in Edmonton, agreed that the recommendations will be beneficial in helping Aboriginal students.

"I think they are good recommendations. But like anything, there's always room for improvement. When it comes to the best interests of kids, there has to be a well-focused, well thought out plan so it is not just another project. It has to be something that will actually work and those kinds of things take time."

An additional $90.6 million was approved by the provincial government and will go toward the kindergarten to Grade 12 education system this spring. Cardinal said that financial support plays significant role in the progress of Aboriginal students because it will provide learning resources that help ensure kids are reading and working at grade level.

Erasmus is optimistic that a strong emphasis on working with Aboriginal parents and communities will promote better learning outcomes.

"I think you will find that there will be a whole lot of improvement in the relationship between parents, communities and schools. For instance, the home school liaison training program that we are suggesting has tremendous potential to bring together parents and schools. We need to help families not just children. Also having a parenting centre where we will be able to help parents help their children will also have tremendous potential to improve the situation."

Plans to implement the recommendations are being developed and timelines for each will vary from several months to years. Putting the plans into action will be a collaborative effort between the provincial government and partners such as teachers, students, parents, community members and government organizations like the Alberta School Board Association.

Success of each of recommendation remains to be seen. But Vanverstoop said that learning outcomes will be measured through frequent analysis and review to see what is working and which areas need to be improved.

"If implementation takes place to the magnitude that we are recommending then I think you will see some dramatic changes. There were things that should have been done a long time ago that are going to take place now," said Erasmus.

"Certainly this is an action plan as to how it will be done over a certain period of time. When you think of what our statistics are like, they are not great. It's not something that can be readily fixed so it will take some time and effort to do that," said Cardinal.