New Ontario university program hopes to boost number of aboriginal teachers

An Ontario university will offer a new program nextfall that it hopes will help boost aboriginal numbers among
teachers.

Cathy Bruce, interim dean of education at Trent University, saysthe school will offer an indigenous bachelor of education degreeprogram.

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The new program is partly in response to the Truth andReconciliation Commission report last summer that called on alllevels of government to change policies to repair problems caused byresidential schools.

The report also recommended that students be taught about thehistory and current plight of First Nations, Mtis and Inuit.

Bruce says the school is still accepting applications and hopesto have 15 students, all who self-identify as aboriginal, start thefirst year of the program in September.

She says the new program is working closely with the university'sindigenous studies program and will offer courses such as an Ojibwalanguage course and math course specifically related to indigenousculture.

"We need to increase the actual number of indigenous teachers inOntario schools so that students see those role models and studentssee that they too can become a teacher," Bruce said.

Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ont., offers a similarprogram that allows graduates to teach children up to grade 6,whereas future Trent graduates will be able to teach through highschool.

Some of the professors in the new program will be aboriginal,Bruce said.

"And if this program grows as we hope and believe it will, wecan hire more aboriginal instructors," she said.

A report released last summer said public school teachers inOntario didn't receive enough training on aboriginal issues.

Only 29 per cent of elementary schools and 47 per cent ofsecondary schools offer training on aboriginal issues to teachers,said a report by People for Education, a research and advocacygroup.

Annie Kidder, the group's executive director, called on theprovincial government to implement immediate changes to add moreprofessional development for teachers about issues facing aboriginalpeople in Canada.