Nov 30, 2007
Media contact: Anne Russell
604-795-2826
or 604-504-7441, local 2826
Cell: 604-798-3709
anne.russell@ucfv.ca
Two provincial grants fund aboriginal initiatives at UCFV
 |
| Christine Michell (above) would love to be able to pursue a BEd with an aboriginal focus close to home. |
 |
| Above and below: Students take part in the Indigenous People's Knowledge transition year course. |
 |
|
Two new specially funded initiatives introduced at the University College of the Fraser Valley are aimed at making the transition to post-secondary smoother for aboriginal students and increasing the number of aboriginal teachers in the school system.
UCFV has received $100,000 to launch a transition-year program for aboriginal students and another $100,000 to help launch a Bachelor of Education program with an aboriginal focus. Both grants came from an aboriginal special projects fund within the provincial Ministry of Advanced Education.
“These special projects that the ministry funds allow us to do a number of good things for our community,” says UCFV Aboriginal Access coordinator Shirley Hardman. “We develop these programs in direct partnership with UCFV’s aboriginal community council, and are responding to community needs as they identify them. They’re telling us they want aboriginal teachers in our local schools, and also that one of the most difficult parts of post-secondary education is making that initial transition.”
The transition-year program takes the form of a course and additional optional tutoring and advising, and is designed to assist students coming in directly from high school and those who have been out of the education system for some time.
“Our goal is to help them develop an academic student mindset and think about education a little differently than they may have previously,” says Hardman. “We also want to build a mini community or cohort of learners who can rely on each other as they make the journey through post-secondary.”
The students meet twice weekly with instructor Alanaise Goodwill in a collaborative classroom setting where they work on critical thinking and study skills, classroom procedures and etiquette, rules for debate and discussion, and other aspects of university-level studies that are taken for granted by some but can be quite foreign to people entering the system for the first time.
There are similar academic prep courses offered to the general UCFV population. What sets this one apart is that it also embraces and encourages retention of aboriginal culture.
“We want to help them balance their culture and the academic rigor that university life demands, which is new to many of them, and at the same time prepare them for the fact that sometimes things have to get out of balance for a while and you have to put academics first,” Hardman says.
The course, called Indigenous People’s Knowledge, can be used as a first-year elective in several programs. The students are also offered academic support, tutoring, and upgrading in areas in which they need it in order to prepare for their program of choice. It is the first offering from UCFV’s new Centre for Indigenous Studies.
“This course is called Indigenous People’s Knowledge, but what it’s important to note is that the knowledge comes from within the students themselves, through sharing our own knowledge and making our own living history about what it means to have an aboriginal world view in an academic setting,” said instructor Alanaise Goodwill.
Student Cody Tolmie said that he liked being in a class where aboriginal students are in the majority for a change.
“I’ve never had a sense of community at school with my aboriginal side before. It’s nice to come here and not be part of a minority. This course is also a good way to get used to speaking and presenting in a focused atmosphere.”
“It’s a challenge to have to speak out and know that other people are listening, or reading what you write,” added student Jonny Williams.
Student Vivian Williams said she wished the course had been in place when she began her studies a few years ago.
“It’s nice to be here with members of my family and community in a First Nations learning setting.”
Her son Jonny Williams agreed, adding, “We’re coming here with some extended relatives, but through this course we’re getting to know them on a more personal level.”
Shirley Hardman added that some students are being encouraged to take a leadership role.
“We have a range of students in the course, from those just tentatively taking their first steps to those who have very specific goals such as nursing, law, medicine, business, and social work. So we’ve incorporated a leadership component too, so that those further along on their academic journey can help the newcomers,” she said.
As for the Aboriginal Bachelor of Education project that was also funded, it is an attempt to bring to UCFV’s Chilliwack campus a program of teacher education that incorporates aboriginal culture and traditions.
UBC’s Native Indian Teacher Education program is the model for the program. The NITEP model allows students to complete their first two years in their home communities, but they must move to UBC’s Point Grey campus for their final three years.
“We have a lot of aboriginal students who say they want to become teachers, but don’t want to leave their families and communities to go to live at UBC,” Hardman said. “So we’re cooperating with UBC, and with UCFV’s own new teacher education program, to work out a way that students can complete a UBC Bachelor of Education degree with an aboriginal focus here.”
UCFV’s Laura Smith is working with current UCFV aboriginal students who have expressed an interest in the program, helping them to select their electives and prepare for entrance to the program when it launches in 2008. The plan is to hire faculty locally to teach the UBC education courses.
UCFV student Christine Michell, originally from Seabird Island but now living in Abbotsford, is very excited at the prospect of completing an education degree with an aboriginal focus locally.
“As a First Nations person I have very close ties to my home and family. Even moving to Chilliwack and then Abbotsford was a big adjustment to me. To go all the way to Vancouver for several years of study is too much for me. We’re celebrating something almost every month and it’s important for me to be home for that. I would love it if I could get my whole education here at UCFV.”
-30-
