Tansi Nîtôtemtik,
Last fall, we reviewed Calls to Action #6 through #12, which are focused on issues around funding gaps and disparate outcomes in education between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students.
Calls 62 through to 65 return the focus to public education and post-secondary, but from a different lens. These calls are focused on education systems to teach students how Canada’s colonial history shapes contemporary society.[1]
As the Truth and Reconciliation Commission notes, generations of Canadian students learned Canada’s ‘history’ from a euro-centric starting point of Jacques Cartier landing on the banks of the St. Lawrence River.[2] Students learning from Canadian public schools, post-secondary institutions, and public museums were not been presented with a full narrative of the Canadian society - past and present.
Call 62 states:
- We call upon the federal, provincial, and territorial governments, in consultation and collaboration with Survivors, Aboriginal peoples, and educators, to:
- Make age-appropriate curriculum on residential schools, Treaties, and Aboriginal peoples' historical and contemporary contributions to Canada a mandatory education requirement for Kindergarten to Grade Twelve students.
- Provide the necessary funding to post-secondary institutions to educate teachers on how to integrate Indigenous knowledge and teaching methods into classrooms.
- Provide the necessary funding to Aboriginal schools to utilize Indigenous knowledge and teaching methods in classrooms.
- Establish senior-level positions in government at the assistant deputy minister level or higher dedicated to Aboriginal content in education.
While education on reserves falls under federal jurisdiction, educating students of all ages off reserves falls predominantly under provincial jurisdiction. Under the previous provincial government, Alberta took an active leadership role towards addressing call #62. In 2016, the Alberta under government announced a six-year plan to modernize the public-school curriculum – with the inclusion of an Education for Reconciliation initiative.[3] The Education for Reconciliation initiative included a comprehensive plan to educate teachers, provide funding for programs and support new curriculum.[4]
While this initiative sets Alberta on track to receive a passing grade for consultation, funding and clear timelines, all signs from the current provincial government point towards regressive decision making and an erosion of commitments towards call #62. The timeline of the current provincial government and decision making towards Call #62 and education is odious.
In December 2019, the current government broke a long-standing lease with the Nechi Institute – an Indigenous Learning Centre based in Edmonton.[5] Next, in August 2020, Education Minister LaGrande appointed eight new advisors to review the curriculum of the previous government, which included the Education for Reconciliation initiative. She stated that the purpose of these appointments was to ensure the delivery of a "curriculum that is taught without political bias."[6]
That same month, one of these new appointees wrote an ‘academic’ article about education policy in Alberta, in which he lambasted not only the planned 2016 curriculum, but stated that the older 2005 curriculum implemented under the Progressive Conservative party was "turning 9-year-olds into little SJW’s [Social Justice Warriors]." In the same article in which this purported academic states that "ideas have consequences," the appointee calls education on colonialism "brainwashing," and refers to First Nations perspectives as a "fad".[7] In past writing, the same appointee placed quotes around the word survivors - when referring to residential school survivors.[8]
In October of 2020, early drafts of the current government’s curriculum review received widespread public criticism. The drafters suggested removing all references to residential schools for the primary school curriculum.[9] It does not take much speculation to guess who these suggestions came from. When public backlash came, Minister Adriana LaGrange sidestepped public criticism by distancing her office from the proposals, even though her office hand-picked and appointed these advisors.[10] Calls for this appointee to step down or be removed have been ignored, and this same appointee currently remains on the curriculum review board.
While the curriculum review from the previous government remains intact and would be well on its way to a passing grade, the current provincial government gets an F.
Until Tomorrow,
Team ReconciliAction
[1] Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, "Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future: Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada" (Ottawa: Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 2015) at 235.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Alberta Government, News Release, "Alberta updating curriculum to better prepare students for future success" (15 June 2016) online: <https://www.alberta.ca/release.cfm?xID=429254F30CF8B-FC56-7936-ADA544AE037D475C>.
[4] Alberta Government, News Release, "Education for Reconciliation" (2021) online: <https://www.alberta.ca/education-for-reconciliation.aspx>.
[5] Joey Slattery, "Indigenous learning centre says it's being evicted by UCP government," CTV News (3 December 2019) online: <https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/indigenous-learning-centre-says-it-s-being-evicted-by-ucp-government-1.4713305>.
[6] "Alberta Government adds 8 new advisors to help shape revamped school curriculum" CBC (13 August 2020) online: <https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-education-curriculum-advisers-1.5684413>.
[7] Janet French, "Alberta social studies curriculum advisor calls inclusion of First Nations perspective a fad" CBC (18 August 2020) online: <https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-social-studies-curriculum-adviser-calls-inclusion-of-first-nations-perspectives-a-fad-1.5690187>.
[8] Timm Bruch, "Calls grow to remove Alberta curriculum advisor over racist First Nation remarks" CTV News (27 August 2020) online: <https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/calls-grow-to-remove-alberta-curriculum-advisor-over-racist-first-nation-remarks-1.5082528>.
[9] Janet French, "Education experts slam leaked Alberta curriculum proposals" CBC (21 October 2020) online: <https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/education-experts-slam-leaked-alberta-curriculum-proposals-1.5766570>.
[10] Janet French, "Learning about residential schools in elementry grades 'non-negotiable,' educational minster says" CBC (22 October 2020) onlien: <https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/learning-about-residential-schools-in-elementary-grades-non-negotiable-education-minister-says-1.5772176>.
