The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Government initiatives to increase aboriginal education outcomes Ð including OntarioÕs new pilot project to bring more aboriginal culture into the curriculum Ð are fundamentally flawed. Such initiatives seem to be based on the flawed assumption that First Nations are failing academically because they are not learning enough about their culture, language and spiritual traditions. It is always positive to be proud of oneÕs culture. While courses should allow First Nation input, the injection of cultural programming into everything is not a panacea and actually segregates indigenous youth, while ignoring modern skills they need for life. There is also the question as to whether the parents of First Nations children are comfortable with what is being presented as aboriginal culture. Many come from homes where indigenous culture is not taught, so we could be imposing values they do not condone. IsnÕt it wiser to leave choices about cultural identity and spirituality up to families rather than impose beliefs? When culture becomes the focus of education, crowding out the crucial goal of preparing our youth for life and employment, arenÕt we asking for trouble? For First Nations, the disproportionate emphasis on culture has come at the expense of core subjects. For example, years ago, the Aboriginal Education Directorate in Manitoba introduced several initiatives Ð emphasizing aboriginal culture and languages, but low in core skills Ð in the provincial education system. This has led to a low level of high school completion among Manitoba First Nations students. First Nations are not failing because they lack culture. They are failing because our system places them in segregated groups and does not expect much from them, which is perverse when they possess so much potential. It is a sad truth that many come from troubled homes, but this should not prevent them from succeeding. Calvin Helin, an aboriginal author, writes of an elementary school in East Vancouver as a model. Located in a poor neighbourhood, the school has a student body that is half aboriginal, with the rest being from immigrant families. The reason for its success? The new principal and her staff decided to reject a model of a culturally-centred curriculum. Under such a curriculum, the principal argued, students were conscious of being treated differently and felt like failures. But by emphasizing the basics, student achievement accelerated. This recipe for success, among others, refutes the assumption that all First Nation parents want their children to have a culturally-centred curriculum. Policy makers should leave those decisions to families. This is an edited version of an editorial by Joseph Quesnel, Frontier Centre for Public Policy.
