Directory of Projects

This project focuses on school curriculum as a central factor that influences Inuit students’ perseverance and educational success.

Co-investigators: Véronique Paul, Gisèle Maheux, Francis Lévesque (UQAT) and Richard Compton (UQAM)

Collaborators:  Nuutivi School, Ivujivik: Passa Mangiuk, Siaja Mangiuk; Ikaarvik School, Puvirnituq: Sarah Angiyou, Elisapi Uitangak;

Partners: Kativik Ilisarniliriniq: Ulaayuu Pilurtut, Yasmine Charara

Project Title and Summary

This project focuses on school curriculum as a central factor that influences Inuit students’ perseverance and educational success. More specifically, this proposal aims to conceptualize the existing cultural distance between Inuit educational processes and the present educational practices in the institutions of Inuit communities in Nunavik. The demographics of Nunavik paint a picture of a growing population, 34% of whom are young people under the age of 15 (Duhaime et al., 2015), but whose graduation rate of 22% is well below the Quebec average (75%). This data indicates that Nunavik schools, as social institutions and their current organization and operation, are unable to fulfill their mission towards most of the population. The school curriculum for Inuit youth takes place in a trilingual and bicultural context and is characterized by breaking points and transition processes that complicate both the students’ progress and the teachers’ work (Maheux, 2016; Riel-Roberge, 2015; Sauvageau, 2017).
This project proposes to lay the foundations for an approach that will adapt primary/secondary curricula and teacher training in a spirit of cultural security with a view to an intercultural network that is conducive to the perseverance and educational success of the Inuit. It is supported by Inuit partners and university trainers; some of whom have been involved for nearly 35 years in the development of educational training in Nunavik. The partnership model developed and maintained over the years is part of a process of the Inuit community taking ownership of its education; the collaborative relationship is based on the recognition of equal status and the interdependence of both partners. The project arises from a need expressed by partners from the Puvirnituq and Ivujivik schools and the university professors working together on Inuit teacher training. The latter are engaged in an interactive approach between action and reflection and aims to nourish both the world of research and that of practice (Pellerin et al., 2016). Taking advantage of this partnership, the research team proposes to undertake the conceptualization of linking the two cultural paradigms, using an action-research approach and the concept of cultural safety to adapt: 1) student curricula and 2) professional development programs for teachers who work with Inuit students within their communities. The team thus aspires to contribute more particularly to the conceptualization of a culturally appropriate training for Inuit students and to the adaptation of Inuit teacher training that meets a school curriculum that will relate to the cultural context in which it develops and evolves.

Project Objectives

The general objective of the project is to understand and conceptually define the existing cultural distance between the processes of Inuit education and those of current schooling in the institutions of Inuit communities in Nunavik in order to adjust the school curriculum and teacher training.

 

There are five specific objectives:

(1) In collaboration with the school authorities of the project partners, describe the situations and processes that create the distance between Inuit education and formal schooling processes, and define the problem.

(2) Define the learning needs of Inuit students with a view to cultural safety, with reference to the standards of success of Quebec schools.

(3) Conceptualize and operationally define the adaptation of a school curriculum in response to the learning needs of Inuit students, while respecting their identity and Inuktitut, one of the official languages in Nunavik (JBNQA).

(4) Identify and define the professional training needs of Inuit teachers regarding a school curriculum adapted to their cultural context.

(5) Introduce teacher training processes to a meaningful professional practice of cultural safety adapted to the context of Inuit practice.

Results (if applicable)

In pursuit of these objectives, the team of university researchers and collaborators from Inuit schools, with the support of partner organizations, anticipate an important contribution from community school stakeholders to the consolidation of the process of taking charge of education. The expected results are mainly threefold: (1) conceptualization of culturally appropriate training for Inuit students; (2) adapting Inuit teacher training to a culturally appropriate school curriculum and (3) training in research for Inuit and non-Inuit students. The realization of this project will support the consolidation of a dialogical practice of understanding the culture of each in order to assume the curricula and its adaptation to Inuit interests, as well as an understanding of the complexity of the initial training and practice of teachers in Nunavik.