Alberta training educators to teach Indigenous issues

The provincialgovernmentwill be training educators on how to best to teach Indigenousculture and history to Alberta elementary and high school students.

The commitment, which stems from the report from theTruth and Reconciliation Commission(TRC),will ensureteachers fromkindergarten to Grade 12receive additional training over the next two to three years.

"It's a chance to teach the teachers essentially,"said DavidEggen, minister of education."To have an authentic and organic way to provide education on truth and reconciliation, on residential schools, First Nations and Inuit culture."

"We need to make sure our teachers, support staff and school leaders are up to date on what needs to be done."

The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation will play a role in the training.

Ry Moran, the centre'sdirector, saidoutreach programs have found thatsome teachers are reluctant to teach Indigenous issues.

"That'sbecausethey don't want to make mistakes, don't want to offend anyone, and they also don't really have a full sense of the history themselves," he said.

"This path of reconciliation moving forward is about empowering teachers to teach this history, and to feel comfortable teaching a very difficult subject in the classroom."

This path of reconciliation moving forward is about empowering teachers to teach this history, and to feel comfortable teaching a very difficult subject in the classroom.- Ry Moran

Each province or territory will be given servicesspecific to what theyneed.

"For example, here in the province of Alberta,there were the highest number of residential schools in the country," said Moran.

"So that means we need to pay specific attention and provide specific information for what that means for the province."

'We're pretty proud'

Representatives from numerous organizations involved with education in Alberta came together Wednesday to signajoint commitment to take action onthe TRC.

In general,Canadiansstill have persistent misconceptions of who Indigenous people areso much work needs to be done, Moran said.

"AllAlbertanshave a role to play in reconciliation."

Eggensaidit's very important for everyone to have this type of educationto "turn someunfortunatepast into a positive future for all."

Alberta is the first province to get help from theNational Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.

"Since we are ahead of the game compared to the other provinces, the best practices that we learn here will be shared other provinces and territories," saidEggen."We're pretty proud of that."

Through this commitmentAlberta Education will be distributing$5.3 million to several organizationsover the next three years.

This includes $2.4 million to the Alberta Teachers Association, $1.8 million to the Alberta Regional Development Consortia, $900,000 to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation and a one-time payment of $250,000 to the Alberta School Boards Association.