Education achievements celebrated at conference

Successes and innovations in First Nations education across the province of Saskatchewan were recognized and celebrated during a conference organized by the Muskoday First Nation Community School in early February.
The "Celebrating Innovation in First Nations Education, New Paths ­ Best Practices Conference" was held Feb. 7 and 8 in Saskatoon. The sold-out conference was sponsored by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) and attended by more than 200 guests connected to education.
The conference focused on four areas: language and culture; literacy; partnerships; and, curriculum and teachers, explained Sharon Laflamme, principal of Muskoday Community school and organizer of the event.
"The purpose of the conference was to first of all showcase First Nations education in Saskatchewan, and it was also a gathering where we could highlight all the projects that have been developed or created at First Nations schools. It highlighted connections to educators, it developed networks, it celebrated partnerships that are taking place, it was a catalyst for new ideas and change and it was a time that we celebrated," Laflamme said.
"So often we are introduced to things that have been developed outside First Nations schools, perhaps at provincial level, but for the first time we're introducing things we've been doing at the First Nations level," she added, noting the conference was hosted and attended almost exclusively by First Nations.
Laflamme explained that her school was selected by INAC to organize the conference. The idea was to highlight some of the successful proposals for INAC's "New Paths ­ Best Practices" funding, which had been granted to more than 100 education-related projects across the province.
Laflamme's school had previously successfully applied for funding in relation to a project that highlighted teachings of the tipi pole.
A committee headed by Muskoday selected dozens of other projects from those that had received funding to be showcased in workshops at the conference.
"As a principal, I was quite elated and honoured," Laflamme said. "I quickly grabbed at the opportunity. Muskoday Community School is in its third year of operation, so it's one of the newest schools that has been developed by INAC and First Nations communities. That's something to celebrate as well, and I thought this would highlight Muskoday even more, and it did."
Laflamme, who is originally from the Beardy's Okemasis First Nation and has been principal at the Muskoday school since it opened its doors, was also the keynote speaker at the conference. She described how her generation was among the first to be allowed into provincial schools. Although she didn't attend residential school, she described the racism and ignorance as equally damaging and rarely as recognized as the abuse that occurred in those institutions.
"First of all, the teachers didn't know how to teach the Indian in the classroom," Laflamme said. "They didn't know how to integrate Aboriginal materials. I was taught to be ashamed of who I was as an Indian child.
"By high school, I was Chinese, I was Japanese, I was Hawaiian, I was anything but an Indian, because to me Indian was a dirty word. In the books I was given in social studies or math or reading there was nothing to celebrate who I was as an Aboriginal person. And I kind of pushed my heritage away until I went to university."
Laflamme entered the Indian Teacher Education Program (ITEP) and was surrounded by Aboriginal classmates and instructors whom she could consider role models. She also learned to have a voice for Aboriginal people, something that in part later led her to take the job as principal of the Muskoday school after having formerly been a principal in Saskatoon.
"We all need to be empowered within us to really wrap around Aboriginal education and be inclusive in our classrooms no matter where we're teaching," she said, noting the Aboriginal population in schools across the province is growing.
"We all need to get on board and look at ourselves and see how we need to integrate Aboriginal materials in our classrooms, in our everyday delivery, not only to help Aboriginal children discover and be proud of who they are but also for those around us who are non-Aboriginal to celebrate with us who we are so we can continue to grow together and we can all become better citizens in the future. Because right now our prison system, our health system, everything is not working. And to me, it comes down to education, No. 1."
The conference was a success, and much interest was expressed in holding one again, Laflamme said. She isn't sure what the plan for the future is, as the funding arrangement for New Paths ­ Best Practices has changed, she explained.
"Sadly, it was almost like a celebration to say goodbye to the funding that is no longer available," she said. "It has a new form of being dispersed to the First Nations communities. It's no longer grant-based from the First Nations schools; it's now only available at the tribal-council levels. So it's really taken a twist, which is kind of sad, but still at the tribal-council levels there are wonderful initiatives taking place, and they need to be celebrated."
The school on the Muskoday First Nation (located between Prince Albert and Birch Hills) has 138 children enrolled in pre-kindergarten through Grade 9. Laflamme works with a staff of eight classroom teachers and two special education teachers, one specialized in behaviours and the other specialized in academics.
The staff is trained in innovative practices focused on the students, and the school has embraced many unique partnerships with organizations such as the University of Saskatchewan.
Through those, students have been involved in special projects designed to provide opportunities for learning in areas such as archeology and health care, incorporating traditional and community-based components.