Content area
Full Text
Abstract
Recognizing that educational change in Nunavut has not been extensively documented, this article provides an entry point for considering how Nunavut can be better understood and situated with scholarship on Indigenous education in Canada. Comparing the history of education in Nunavut with key turning points in First Nations education, the article illustrates important distinctions in understanding the Arctic context. Examination of more current issues illustrates the distinctive perspective offered from Nunavut - Canada's only jurisdiction where the entire public education system is intended to be responsive to the Indigenous (Inuit) majority. Finally, four areas of common struggle are proposed for further consideration: walking in two worlds; human resource development; decolonization; and, radical implementation and radical pedagogy.
Keywords: Inuit education; Nunavut education; Indigenous education; educational change; history of education
Précis
Reconnaissant que le changement en éducation au Nunavut n'a pas été largement documenté, cet article fournit un point d'entrée pour examiner comment le Nunavut peut être mieux compris et situé au sein de la littérature sur l'éducation autochtone au Canada. En comparant l'histoire de l'éducation au Nunavut avec des moments clés dans l'éducation des Premières Nations, l'article illustre d'importantes distinctions pour mieux comprendre le contexte de l'Arctique. Une analyse des questions plus actuelles démontre que le Nunavut - seule juridiction au Canada où l'ensemble du système d'éducation publique est destiné à répondre à une majorité autochtone (Inuit) - offre une perspective distincte. Enfin, quatre domaines de lutte commune sont proposés pour un examen plus approfondi: marcher dans deux mondes; le développement des ressources humaines; la décolonisation; puis les mise en oeuvre et pédagogie radicales.
Inuit education remains on the margins of Canadian Indigenous educational scholarship, if even seen there. Inuit distinctions are not always taken into account in generalizations about Indigenous experience, and the movement towards educational self-determination in Nunavut is largely being missed in the literature. What are the implications of this gap and how can it be addressed? In the interest of following a path that arrives at greater understanding about educational change, can the same reference points about the past, present and future be used for Inuit education as are used in the literature on Indigenous education? What common strengths and challenges can be identified, and further explored? What distinctions must...