Post-colonial school opens

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A dual-track school offering Cree immersion, and English and basic Cree, plans to open its doors in Thompson this September.

Eastwood School will be converted into a Cree bilingual community school. Cree language programming will be offered for kindergarten only for the 2001-2002 school year, but the intent is to add such programming at successive grade levels each year.

The concept for a Cree bilingual school began taking shape about three years ago following adoption of a policy by the School District of Mystery Lake called 'Toward Cultural Restoration, Healing and Unity.' About 42 per cent of the district's students are Aboriginal.

Since then two surveys of parents have indicated support for the school and provided feedback on the form the school should take. (The second survey, done last fall, indicated 85 per cent support for the school with a potential enrolment of 300 students). Board approval for the school was given at a meeting earlier this year.

The level of Aboriginal involvement in debates about the school and its programming throughout has shown that education is finally moving into a post-colonial phase, said William Dumas, Aboriginal educational consultant with the School District of Mystery Lake.

Assistant superintendent Dave Hutchinson agrees. When the floor was opened up to questions at a public information meeting following the board's decision earlier this year, Hutchinson said the most significant thing was that "Aboriginal people were debating this concept and raising issues," and that the language of debate was Cree.

"It gave us an opportunity to begin debating important educational changes in Cree. It was Cree people debating publicly, so we know we're getting into a post-colonial mode," Hutchinson said.

And what are some of the issues? As with other immersion programs, some parents have worried they would be unable to help their children with their homework if they do not speak the language of instruction.

Another fear that's been expressed, said Dumas, was that with the language of instruction being Cree, it would weaken the children's ability to effectively learn and absorb the curriculum.

"There are studies out now proving the opposite," said Dumas, citing, for example, research work done by Marie Baptist of the University of Saskatchewan.

"I think sometimes the fear comes from having no information, or statistics."

Provincial curriculum and guidelines on bilingual language programming are being strictly followed, addressing another fear, Hutchinson said.

Finally, some concerns ranged toward being "a little more political," with some parents expressing their feelings that a Cree bilingual school represented a move toward segregation.

"We made it clear in the board motion that we'd be developing a community school, where everyone is welcome. Our goal is to benefit every child, regardless of ancestry," Hutchinson explained.

A community school, he continues, is one that "serves community members from the cradle to the grave, providing educational opportunities for infants and Elders and everyone in between." It's a holistic approach that also offers other opportunities and programs, like those related to health and justice, for example, from a central location.

Dumas is excited about the direction the new school will take, seeing it as "an investment for Native kids to start turning around those stats so that they can function holistically, bilingually and culturally.

"From my perspective, there's nothing we can do about the past. There is something we can do about today."

From a strictly educational perspective, development of the school is a groundbreaking venture in creating a curriculum template for Cree language instruction in Manitoba.