Tag Archives: Indigenous Students

Education, Indigenous Nations

‘It was created for settlers by settlers’

Editor’s note: Indigenous students are not the only ones who do not feel they fit into the normal educational system, but there are high school and post-secondary alternatives. The Cortes Island Academy offers a high school accredited program based on experimental, project-based education. (Both ‘Indigenous’ and ‘settler’ kids are welcome.) Some Indigenous schools offer land based learning. I suspect that the ‘normal’ school experience can vary a great deal as well. The Cortes and Quadra Island elementary schools appear to have highly innovative programs. It is also interesting to read about the Vancouver Island University’s attempts to become more culturally sensitive and the Kwak’wala language revitalization at UBC.

By Roisin Cullen, Pique Magazine, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A young person’s first week in university should be an exciting and equally nerve-wracking time, but for 22-year-old Aiyana Kalani of the Lil’wat Nation, it was an eye-opening experience.

Kalani went to Vancouver Island University (VIU) in 2021 to major in digital marketing and minor in journalism, but found the experience incredibly isolating. She has since returned home and does not plan on continuing her studies.

Continue reading ‘It was created for settlers by settlers’ →
Education, Indigenous Nations

Land-based learning: These schools spotlight culturally immersive education

By Mina Kerr-Lazenby, North Shore News, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Pen? Check. Paper? Check. Fishing rod, canoe paddle, and weaving wool? Check, check, check. For the students of land-based learning schools, education facilities that bring culture to the classroom, school supplies extend beyond the classic pencil case, binders and backpack.

Run by educators who believe schools should nurture the innate needs and wants of young people, rather than put them into a cookie cutter student mould, you would be hard pressed to find a youth hunched over their desk, scribbling notes monotonously from a whiteboard.

“Kids need to move. If they move, they are learning,” says Tanya O’Neill, principal of siʔáḿθɘt, a K-12 Tsleil-Waututh Nation school in North Vancouver.

Continue reading Land-based learning: These schools spotlight culturally immersive education →
Education

Klahoose education coordinator brings a special something to the classroom

Windspeaker, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

There is a glow to Julie Hanuse, education coordinator for Klahoose First Nation in the Salish Sea, located between Vancouver Island and the mainland. She has a warmth and strength that has kept her going in her role for 31 years.

Continue reading Klahoose education coordinator brings a special something to the classroom →
Education, Indigenous Nations

UVic launches MBA in Indigenous Reconciliation with the BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres

By Melissa Renwick, Ha-Shilth-Sa, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Victoria, BC – The University of Victoria (UVic) is set to deliver the world’s first custom master’s degree in business administration in Indigenous Reconciliation.

Continue reading UVic launches MBA in Indigenous Reconciliation with the BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres →
Education, Indigenous Nations

What Vancouver Island University is doing to decolonise BC’s classrooms

By Jenessa Joy Klukas, The Discourse, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Education student Hayden Taylor says Vancouver Island University (VIU) is “definitely a safe space for Indigenous future educators.” 

Taylor is a member of the Haisla Nation, and as a fifth year in VIU’s Bachelor of Education program, he regularly participates in Indigenous practices on campus.

Taylor is an active participant at Shq’apthut (A Gathering Place), the campus’s hub for Indigenous supports, and is part of VIU’s community cousins program. “[Community Cousin’s] is a mentorship program that is made up of Indigenous students at VIU, that provides support for Indigenous students.”

Continue reading What Vancouver Island University is doing to decolonise BC’s classrooms →