Cherubini, Lorenzo

Engemann, Joseph

Kitchen, Julian

English

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The Alberta Journal of Educational Research Vol. 54, No. 3, Fall 2008, 355-358Research NoteLorenzo CherubiniJulian KitchenandJoseph EngemannBrock UniversityA Bi-epistemic Research Analysis of NewAboriginal Teachers: A Study Within the StudyIntroductionThe preparation and induction of Aboriginal educators is critical to educationalachievement among Aboriginal peoples in Canada (Royal Commission onAboriginal Peoples, 1996). Recent developments indicate that Aboriginal teach-ers who are culturally sensitive to their epistemologies will have an increasingrole in sustaining Aboriginal language and cultures while promoting self-determination among Aboriginal students. This research will inform educa-tional decision-makers both in reserve schools and in the mainstream toaddress the needs of new Aboriginal teachers and to consider how to supportthem during their professional induction.ContextThe literature suggests that new teachers who successfully negotiate the com-plex dynamics of the classroom and collaborate with colleagues to improvestudent learning have a positive effect on teacher retention (Darling-Ham-mond, 2003; Fulton, Yoon, & Lee, 2005; Smith & Ingersoll, 2004) and improveteaching practice (Evertson & Smitney, 2000; Schaffer, Stringfield, & Wolfe,1992). Because new teachers generally enter the profession with a genuinecommitment to be competent practitioners (Zambo & Zambo, 2006), effectiveinduction programs assist them to make sense of their often complex experi-ences (Johnson & Birkeland, 2003; Romano & Gibson, 2006). Although teacherpreparation and induction have been extensively documented in the research,relatively little attention has been given to new Aboriginal educators.As a bi-epistemic team of mainstream and Aboriginal researchers, graduatestudents, and an esteemed Elder, the opportunity to engage in a systematicanalysis with new Aboriginal teachers underscored the prejudicial value load-ings and undesirable stratification experienced by Aboriginal teachers andgave testament to the ephemeral interests in Aboriginal learning conditions ofmainstream educational policy-makers (Duquette, 2000). Just as significantly,this collaborative research endeavor established the specific contextualLorenzo Cherubini, Julian Kitchen, and Joseph Engemann hold a Social Science and HumanitiesResearch Council of Canada (SSHRC) Aboriginal Development Grant for their work withprospective and new Aboriginal teachers in Ontario. Currently they are assistant professors inthe Faculty of Education. Lorenzo Cherubini can be reached at Lorenzo.Cherubini@Brocku.ca.355relevance of the study in that participants’ experiences represented their vitalfunction as Aboriginal teachers serving Aboriginal students’ cultural and lin-guistic needs (Iseke-Barnes, 2002). From a mainstream perspective, this re-search, although in its infant stage in terms of data analysis, has alreadydistinguished itself as a study within the study. Listening to the stories of newAboriginal teachers and making sense of their experiences alongsideAboriginal research team members, including an Elder, exposed us to novelexperiences and Aboriginal epistemologies.MethodThis research gives explicit attention to the voices of new Aboriginal teachersacross Ontario. The distinctive circumstances facing new Aboriginal teacherswere specifically provided by six participants in a Wildfire Research Method(WRM, Hodson, 2004) that included Anishinabe, Hotinonsho:ni, Nishnawbe-Aski, and Métis teachers who were brought together for three days to engagein respectful conversation in a sacred process based largely on traditionalbeliefs of Aboriginal people. The participants represented a cross-section ofteachers from across the province. Each participant had between one and threeyears of experience. The process marked a sharp deviation from mainstreaminduction inservices. It served as a catalyst to provide participants with anopportunity to identify issues of concern and share their narratives of experi-ence as teachers and Aboriginal people. The sharing of stories through theWRM also deepened cross-cultural understandings.AnalysisThe research team has completed the first stage of data analysis. A biculturalresearch team coded transcripts to identify key themes across participants’experiences. Among the important themes that have emerged thus far are (a)the need for culturally appropriate teacher education, (b) the lack of adequateteacher induction support, (c) the challenges of teaching Native languageswhere language and culture have been eroded due to the effect of residentialschools, (d) the challenges of teaching in a culturally appropriate manner, (e)the importance of school-community partnerships, (f) institutional discrimina-tion, and (g) the dedication and commitment of beginning Aboriginal educa-tors. We intend to honor the richness of the stories and conversations byfocusing on the participants’ understandings of their experiences and the needsof Aboriginal teachers and students. The Aboriginal research team members,particularly the Elder, have helped us to develop understandings of theparticipants’ Aboriginal world views founded in collectivity and connectionthat we would not have been able to glean based on our more empiricalWestern paradigms (Smith, 1999).DiscussionThere is a genuine need to understand the experiences of Aboriginal educatorsas expressed in their own words in safe environments. The WRM, along withthe involvement of an Aboriginal facilitator and an Elder, provided an oppor-tunity for rich and authentic conversations. As the three-day retreat pro-gressed, the participants shared honestly from their experiences, while alsolearning from the experiences of their peers. It was also a time of individualL. Cherubini, J. Kitchen, and J. Engemann356and group healing thanks to the WRM and the wisdom of the Elder. TheAboriginal members of the research team and the Elder have also playedcritical roles in the analysis of the data emerging from the gathering. It is ourintention to write about this culturally sensitive process both as professionaldevelopment and as research.Critical to understanding new Aboriginal teacher experiences is to commitoneself, at least from a mainstream perspective, to engage in “an attitude ofmindfulness” that challenges Eurocentric concepts of knowledge and accountsfor “a multitude of other interpretive possibilities” in what has emerged as astudy within the study (Davis, Sumara, & Luce-Kapler, 2008, p. 180). In thismultifaceted and often convoluted conceptual framework, new Aboriginalteachers’ experiences can be more authentically examined and accurately rep-resented (Battiste, 1998). Speculative knowledge characteristic of broad andculturally insensitive generalizations will not inform educational policymakersand mainstream governing agencies to give serious attention to the profounddisparity of Aboriginal school communities. This bi-epistemic and collabora-tive research project endeavors to recognize the circumstances of newAboriginal teachers, their formal teacher preparation, and the extent to whichresources are allocated to support them in their beginning years by honoringtheir voices in a research methodology that is harmonious with their traditions.Simultaneously, it seeks to embed knowledge itself within the spirit of theinterrelated and interconnected realities of who we are and who we are becom-ing as a team of researchers and as peoples.AcknowledgmentsThis research is supported by a two-year Social Science and Humanities Research Council(SSHRC) grant from the Canadian federal government.The authors acknowledge all the members of the team in the publication: MichaelManley-Casimir, John Hodson, Janie Hodson, Sarah McGean, Lyn Trudeau, and Nikki Shawana(from the Tecumseh Centre for Aboriginal Education and Research, Brock University); WalterCooke (Elder); and Ewelina Niemczyk, and Christiane Muir (graduate students).ReferencesBattiste, M. (1998). Enabling the autumn seed: Toward a decolonized approach to Aboriginalknowledge, language, and education. Canadian Journal of Native Education, 22(1), 16-27.Darling-Hammond, L. (2003). Keeping good teachers: Why it matters, what leaders can do.Educational Leadership, 60(8), 6-13.Davis, B., Sumara, D., & Luce-Kapler, R. (2008). Engaging minds: Changing teaching in complextimes. New York: Routledge.Duquette, C. (2000). Becoming a teacher: Experiences of First Nations student teachers in isolatedcommunities. Canadian Journal of Native Education, 24(2), 134-143.Evertson, C.M., & Smithey, M.W. (2000). Mentoring effects on protégés’ classroom practice: Anexperimental field study. Journal of Educational Research, 93, 294-304.Fulton, K., Yoon, I., & Lee, C. (2005, August). Induction into learning communities. RetrievedMay 15, 2006, from:http://www.nctaf.org/documents/nctaf/NCTAF_Induction_Paper_2005.pdfHodson, J. (2004). Learning and healing: A wellness pedagogy for Aboriginal teacher education.Unpublished master’s thesis, Brock University.Iseke-Barnes, J.M. (2002). Aboriginal and indigenous people’s resistance, the Internet, andeducation. Race, Ethnicity and Education, 5(2), 171-198.Johnson, S.M., & Birkeland, S.E. (2003). Pursuing a sense of success: New teachers explain theircareer decisions. American Educational Research Journal, 40, 581-617.Romano, M., & Gibson, P. (2006). Beginning teacher successes and struggles: An elementaryteacher’s reflections on the first year of teaching. Professional Educator, 28(1), 1-26.New Aboriginal Teachers357Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. (1996). Report of the Royal Commission of AboriginalPeoples. Ottawa: Canada Communications Group.Schaffer, E., Stringfield, S., & Wolfe, D. (1992). An innovative beginning teacher inductionprogram: A two-year analysis of classroom interactions. Journal of Teacher Education, 43(3),181-192.Smith, L.T. (1999). Decolonizing methodologies: Research and indigenous peoples. London: Zed Books.Smith, T.M., & Ingersoll, R.M. (2004). What are the effects of induction and mentoring onbeginning teacher turnover? American Educational Research Journal, 41, 681-714.Zambo, D., & Zambo, R. (2006). Action research in an undergraduate teacher education program:What promises does it hold? Action in Teacher Education, 28(4), 62-74.L. Cherubini, J. Kitchen, and J. Engemann358

A Bi-epistemic Research Analysis of New Aboriginal Teachers: A Study Within the Study

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A Bi-epistemic Research Analysis of New Aboriginal Teachers: A Study Within the Study

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