Inuit teachers key to Inuktitut curriculum (fwd)

[phil cash cash]

December 10, 2004

Inuit teachers key to Inuktitut curriculum
Bilingual education strategy depends on teacher training program
JANE GEORGE
http://www.nunatsiaq.com/news/nunavut/41210_02.html

Nunavut's department of education now has a plan to ensure that the
territory's schools become fully bilingual by 2020.

To work towards this goal over the next four years, Education Minister
Ed Picco tabled an ambitious new strategy last week at the end of the
legislature's recent sitting.

But here's the catch.

The strategy says there's an urgent need for large numbers of Inuit
teachers throughout Nunavut's school system. It says having
Inuktitut-language teachers is "the single most important factor in the
success of bilingual education in Nunavut."

"I can have the best strategy in the world, but if I don't have the
capacity to deliver the strategy, it will go by the way-side," Picco
said.

Picco wants to increase the number of community-based teacher training
programs in Nunavut and also boost the Nunavut Teacher Education
Program offered at the Iqaluit campus of Nunavut Arctic College.

"Over the next few months, you'll see a bigger focus by me as minister
of education to recruiting more teachers who will teach at the junior
high school or high school levels," Picco said.

But there's another challenge, too - at the same time, up to 30 per cent
of the Inuit teachers in Nunavut are due to retire in the next five
years.

"Not only do I have to recruit for the 8, 9, 10, 11 grades, but I also
have to replace the retiring teachers," Picco said.

This will take money, although Picco wouldn't say whether the additional
funds the strategy needs will come from his existing budget or from
other budgets. Wait until February when the new territorial budget is
tabled, was his response.

But the strategy gives hints that money may also be coming from other
departments in the form of language enhancement programs for children
and adults, as well as from partnerships with Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.

Another key to making bilingualism work at school, Picco said, lies in
the home, where parents and children need to speak to each other in
Inuktitut whenever possible.

During recent discussions with district educational authorities across
Nunavut, Picco said he heard the same thing over and over again:
schools only have children for about five hours a day, while families
have them for the balance of the time.

"Parents have to speak Inuktitut to their children - then you can expect
there's a spill-over to the playgrounds and schools," Picco said.

If schools are going to fulfill their role in creating a bilingual
Nunavut, they'll need curriculum and materials for students and
teachers. This will take up a good portion of the $3 million a year
that the strategy needs to get off the ground.

As it stands now, there is no coordinated K-12 curriculum that combines
Inuit and Qallunaat perspectives and no collection of teaching tools
that "reflect an Inuit perspective."

However, Picco said much of the curriculum for the lower grades already
exists in some form.

"We're not starting from scratch - 80 per cent is already completed or
has been rolled out or is ready to be rolled out," Picco said

The strategy calls for the development of programs to teach Inuktitut
and Inuinnaqtun as a first or second language and English as a first
language. It promises the curriculum will "reflect two cultures and
three languages." There will also be an "increased inclusion of Inuit
culture and values" in curriculum and schools, which will be drawn from
research with elders and other groups.

A big job lies ahead because all grades, including kindergarten, must
have their appropriate courses and materials as well as staff who are
trained and supported to use them.

Schools will have five models of bilingual education, each using
different combinations of "languages of instruction," to choose from:

--Early immersion will introduce children to Inuinnaqtun in communities
such as Kugluktuk and Cambridge Bay where Inuinnaqtun language fluency
has "eroded."

--Qulliq will be used in communities where Inuktitut is already strong.
Students will learn to read and write Inuktitut first and English will
be gradually introduced.

--Dual Language is suitable for communities like Rankin Inlet or
Iqaluit, that have many non-Inuit and a high percentage of blended
families. Students will receive instruction in language arts and core
subjects in their first language (English, French or Inuktitut), learn
another language as a second language and receive non-core courses in
either language.

Six Nunavut communities will participate in pilot projects to test out
these models.

The strategy also suggests some surprises may be in store, such as new
high school diploma courses, designed to reduce dropout rates. High
school diplomas could be given for non-academic majors, Inuit heritage
and culture, pre-trades, performing arts, family and community care
studies.

As well, schools may see welcome additional money, thanks to a revised
funding formula "to provide more support for teachers." They'll also
have a new school profile, review and improvement process called
Sivuniksamut Illinniarniq.

The District Education Authorities will be responsible for creating
public awareness about the new strategy - by sharing information with
families and staff so "Nunavummiut understand and provide feedback" and
by encouraging each community to develop its own "language enhancement"
program so bilingualism develops in and outside of the classroom.