Exploring the Concepts of Traditional Inuit Leadership and Effective School Leadership in Nunavut (Canada)

The purpose of this paper is to document how educators living in Nunavut communities describe traditional Inuit leadership and effective school leadership. The data for this qualitative study were 24 semi-structured interviews, involving 14 teachers, vice-principals, and principals from Nunavut. Findings revealed that traditional Inuit leadership was about promoting the personal leadership skills, interests, and/or abilities of each community member, and it often involved Elders who fostered the linguistic, social, cultural, and spiritual wellness of students and school staff. Participants depicted an effective school leader to be someone who promoted teamwork. Also, participants indicated that effective school leaders were community and people-focused. The findings of this study align the Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ) principles, which incorporate important features of the Inuit worldview

Education for Aboriginal Learners: Challenges and Suggestions as Perceived by School Principals

According to school principals, the purpose of this paper is to identify issues that negatively influence the educational experience of Aboriginal students and to offer real-life examples focused on addressing these challenges.  This qualitative multi-case study encapsulates 14 semi-structured individual interviews conducted with five Saskatchewan principals and four Prince Edward Island principals. From the perspective of nine shcool principals, challenges were pedagogical and curricular issues, student transition and attendance, the legacy of residential schools and other parental issues, and financial resource issues. Implications of the study pertain to professional development of teachers and hiring procedures of school districts

A NARRATIVE INQUIRY INTO NLAKA’PAMUX (INTERIOR SALISH) CHILDREN’S RESPONSES TO ONLINE DIGITAL CURRICULUM FEATURING NLAKA’PAMUX (INTERIOR SALISH) PARENTS AND ELDERS

Abstract In this narrative inquiry, I posed the question: How will Nlaka’Pamux (Interior Salish) children respond to digital curriculum featuring Nlaka’Pamux parents, community members, and Elders? Non-Indigenous people have predominantly directed Canada’s Indian residential, Catholic, and public schools. Further, curriculum resources used within these institutions have largely been void of Indigenous ways of knowing. This research demonstrates that Indigenous people and educators can create curriculum resources that are directed by Indigenous people, serve Indigenous and non-Indigenous children, and meet Canada’s provincial educational outcomes. Using narrative inquiry methodology, my research design originated with my Indigenous father, Elders, Chief, Council, and parents both on and off the landscape of my First Nation. Students, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, whom I have taught since I started my teaching career in 1996, have also had significant influence upon this work. I inquired into the impact on students of curriculum resources that I initiated, designed, and delivered with Indigenous people and in respect to public school curriculum outcomes. The medium I used to design and deliver these resources was a web-based interactive platform capable of incorporating rich media. Paper resources were used sparingly. What I discovered is that children from our nation engaged strongly with curriculum resources created by our Elders, Chief, Council, parents, and myself, all members of our nation. The children expressed how much they liked seeing people they knew within curriculum and how they preferred using digital technology to solely paper based resources. This work demonstrates that First Nations can design curriculum for their children from an autonomous position while meeting current outcomes and indicators within Canadian provincial curriculum mandates

From Play to Creative Extrapolation: Fostering Emergent Computational Thinking in the Makerspace

Computational thinking (CT) has been hailed as a necessary competency that should be incorporated across the curriculum; however, research shows that CT is generally confined within programming curriculums. If we are to foster CT in areas like the humanities, we must extend our understanding of CT to include emergent and creative expressions of computational concepts. We explore the makerspace as a fertile environment for experimentation and play with CT concepts, which can then be extended through creative writing and imaginative extrapolation, during which learners metabolize and imaginatively project computational thinking beyond the confines of the actual and into rich potentiality

Education for Aboriginal learners

According to school principals, the purpose of this paper is to identify issues that negatively influence the educational experience of Aboriginal students and to offer real-life examples focused on addressing these challenges. This qualitative multi-case study encapsulates 13 semi-structured individual interviews conducted with five Saskatchewan principals and four Prince Edward Island principals. From the perspective of nine school principals, challenges were pedagogical and curricular issues, student transition and attendance, the legacy of residential schools and other parental issues, and financial and resource issues. Implications of the study pertain to professional development of teachers and hiring procedures of school districts