Developing an Aboriginal Education Curriculum for Canada

Running head: CURRICULUM 1
Curriculum
Student
Institution

CURRICULUM
2
Introduction
I agree that the term aboriginal education has confused many people in Canada over a
long time. This has led to the emergence of multiple definitions of the term. Some of these
definitions convey entirely different outcomes and goals. One may think that aboriginal
education is something different depending on who is learning, who is teaching and what is
being taught (White & Peters, 2013). About this, in this paper, I will give my stance for the
development and making of the Aboriginal Education as part of a new curriculum. The
Aboriginal education curriculum will be an educational framework that will outline skill and
content milestones that will be attained for each subject grades. Although formalized, I agree that
this curriculum has been designed to have dynamic flexibilities that take care of the diversity of
socio-economical, cultural and regional backgrounds of a school body that is non-uniform
(Kanowitz, 2016). The curriculum will endeavor to ensure academic consistency. I will provide a
functional structure, through which the teachers or educators will operate with self-initiative and
creativity when applying various instruction and assessment tools. A broad vision and
philosophical direction have underpinned the curriculum. I have carefully planned it as not to
undermine the holistic development of the student learners.
Literature Review
According to Gallop and Bastien in their article “Supporting Students in Higher
Education," that was published in the year 2016, achieving success for most of the Aboriginal
students in cooperates more than realizing the mainstream objectives of higher career
advancement and socioeconomic statuses (Gallop & Bastien, 2016). Academic success as

CURRICULUM
3
defined by mainstream institutions is performance outputs and external measures that are related
to intellectual achievement. For example, graduations, GPA and courses completed are some of
the actions universities use to identify successful students. By mainstream standards, a successful
aboriginal education student will be like any other student, by completing their coursework and
graduating from their program in the designated time. The success of the Aboriginal student will
include the ability to maintain cultural integrity and responsibility of reciprocity. Maintaining
artistic integrity is vital for a student or a learner to go through the Aboriginal education
successfully. This involves possessing a sense of own self and keeping hold of the individual
original knowing. For many Aboriginal students, post-primary education is viewed as a
fundamental tool for helping aboriginal societies to get their self-determination and self-rule
goals.
There are enough evidence and literature to suggest that non-Aboriginal teachers have no
enough skills or knowledge of how to teach Aboriginal learners (Santoro, Reid, Crawford, &
Simpson, 2011). Despite the commitment and positive intentions from many tutors, inadequate
understanding and lack of the appropriate pedagogies and complexity of the Aboriginal culture
has remained a challenge. In reference to the results of a data that studied the career ways of
several presents and past Aboriginal teachers, Santoro and his co-authors highlighted the
teachers’ knowledge on vital areas; Aboriginal methods of knowing, students living outside the
school and creating links with Aboriginal learners and societies. They suggested that the
Aboriginal tutors could stage critical responsibilities as tutor educators and teachers to non-
Aboriginal mentors. They indicated that creating and formalizing opportunities for non-