Teachers address Aboriginal issues

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'How do we address Aboriginal educational issues and needs in Saskatchewan as we enter the 21st century?'

The question will be part of the theme for the morning session at the Kitchener Community School's teachers' convention on Feb. 18, which will be held at Saskatchewan's Centre for the Arts.

Juanita Tuharsky said it will be the first time a teachers' convention in Regina has ever looked at Aboriginal educational issues.

"Half of the day's convention will be Aboriginal based. Normally these conventions do not do this. This is the first time. The convention has never addressed Aboriginal issues on such a large scale as this before. The teachers convention committee wanted to do something different this year so we decided that we wanted to address Aboriginal issues in education for the new millennium," said Tuharsky, co-ordinator for the Aboriginal component of the convention. "The convention committee usually decides what kinds of workshops that they are wanting to look at. Usually what they do at the conventions is have one day where the public is invited to attend the workshops."

The day's schedule will begin with a pipe ceremony, breakfast, a grand entry, a traditional morning based on the sacred circle, and various displays.

Elder George Terry will do the opening prayer and start things off by discussing the value of education and culture. Four Aboriginal educators using the sacred circle as a guide will speak to the four directions while addressing the question. Winston Walking Bear will speak to the east, using the color yellow which represents a new beginning, Rita Bouvier from the Saskatchewan's teacher's federation will speak to the south, using the color blue, which represents renewal and transformation. Calvin Racette from the Gabriel Dumont Institute will speak to the west, using the color red, which represents emotions and inter-relatedness, and Dr. Marie Battiste will speak to the north, using the color white, which represents relations, contemplation and action. On closing the morning ceremony, Moose Jaw Elder Betty McKenna will summarize all the information that they've gathered at the conference and will make a speech to mother earth.

Tuharsky, claims that she played a part in the decision to include Aboriginal content at the convention.

"I'm on the teachers' convention committee. I was working on my thesis, and my thesis is on the sacred circle," said Tuharsky. "I'm an Aboriginal teacher. I've graduated from the Saskatchewan urban Native teachers education program and I've been in the system for about 13 years. One of the issues that we've always encountered is trying to keep Aboriginal students in school without having them drop out before Grade 12."

According to Tuharsky, a large number of Aboriginal students are not making it in school. The education system is some how not able to keep them in.

"There are a lot of factors out there that play into whether a student is successful or not. As educators, we have to realize that our Aboriginal youth population in Saskatchewan is growing, that in probably approximately five years time we could have anywhere up to 30 per cent of Saskatchewan's Aboriginal youth in our schools. So we decided that it was time that we addressed this issue," she said.

The afternoon sessions will include a question and answer session and an audience participation period. A speech by Jim Melenchuk, the Minister of Education, and presentations from the Saskatchewan Teachers Federation will round off the day.