Precedent setting policy coming

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A ground-breaking First Nations education policy will be adopted by the Rainbow Board of Education in the near future.

The policy that will be in force throughout the Sudbury-Manitoulin district will recognize the diversity of needs and learning styles within a classroom.

Under the policy the board will acknowledge that each student brings unique characteristics to the classroom based on environmental background and cultural values. In addition, the school system will formalize its awareness and acceptance of First Nations as a legitimate group making a valuable contribution to society as a whole.

The policy is expected to be formally adopted this fall.

Robert Beaudin, a Manitoulin trustee representing First Nations communities on the Rainbow Board, reports that curriculum development initiatives are well under way. Now in his fifth year as a trustee with the amalgamated board, Beaudin has consistently lobbied for a more inclusive curriculum.

"The present board has been very receptive in acknowledging First Nations as a legitimate partner in curriculum development," he said.

"The new educational service agreements work better under the amalgamated board. Now there is a true collaboration between the Rainbow Board, the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation and Kenjgewin Teg."

Beaudin co-chairs the curriculum initiatives committee with Fred Law of the Rainbow Board. Their goal is to take Ontario Ministry of Education outcomes and expectations and marry them with the main tenets of an Aboriginal world view, Beaudin explained. Native studies should no longer be an isolated course, he argued. Instead, First Nations perspectives will be incorporated across the curriculum in history, math, science and other subjects.

The program is moving ahead quickly as the kindergarten to Grade 3 plan will be piloted this fall. The draft curriculum includes teacher tips, references and biographies of potential guest speakers.

"We try to use a blend of both formally and informally qualified teachers," Beaudin added. "An advisory board has been set up to offer advice on what material to deliver and how to deliver it."

Although the pilot project will follow ministry guidelines for skill development, a special emphasis will be placed on teaching traditional values such as respect.

Beaudin noted, "It is clear that parents want both included. In this way we enhance the ministry's minimum requirements."

Only partial funding is in place, Beaudin said. Although the Ministry of Education has endorsed the project and praised it as a role model, it has not funded it. Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, however, has contributed its promised portion.

Educator Bonnie Depencier is co-ordinating the pilot project in seven provincial schools and the First Nations schools under the Rainbow Board.

"A mini pilot was conducted in May and June," she said. "We did a Mother Earth unit with Grade 1 and kindergarten. The reception has been very good; people are waiting for the resources now. We still have to develop the online component to support the program."

Work on the project started last October with a writing team headed by Dr. Pamela Toulouse of Laurentian University. Gradually 28 units of study were drafted for use in K-3.

"A lot has been done in the first year," Depencier said. "We are looking at developing an integrated curriculum for secondary schools in the future."

"No other board in Ontario has this very unique partnership in place," Beaudin said. "We are hoping for full endorsement at the next board meeting in September."