SCHOOL ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMS FOR INDIGENOUS STUDENTS 1

Assessing School Engagement Programs

for Indigenous Students in Canada

Amanda Iadeluca

University of British Columbia

SCHOOL ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMS FOR INDIGENOUS STUDENTS 2

Assessing School Engagement Programs

for Indigenous Students in Canada

Indigenous students in Canadian schools face many educational challenges, a number of

which stem from the conflicted history of our country. While various approaches should be taken

to help Indigenous students succeed, school engagement programs are widespread and believed

to be beneficial. They range from after-school sports and arts programs to mentoring and

leadership programs. While many of these groups are inclusive and target learning communities

as a whole, there are certain programs that have been designed specifically for Indigenous

students in Canada. However, do they present tangible benefits for Indigenous youth and their

communities? Are they reflective of that community’s history, language and beliefs? Can they

help Indigenous students reach higher levels of success in school? These are important questions

to consider when evaluating the effectiveness and success of a school engagement program.

Based on these factors, in order to successfully engage Indigenous students, these programs must

be culturally responsive and strengths-based.

Historical Context

There are many factors that contribute to the success of a school engagement program.

However, the obstacles are much greater for programs designed for Indigenous students because

of a negative legacy resulting from a very conflicted historical past. Indigenous Peoples in

Canada have faced forced assimilation, subversion of beliefs, residential schools, cultural

oppression and a large number of unjust political, economic and social constraints (Kirmayer,

Simpson & Cargo, 2003, p. S17). Hare (2011) states that

the education of Aboriginal people must be understood within the larger colonial

enterprise historically aimed at eliminating the ‘Indian problem’ in this country and in the
SCHOOL ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMS FOR INDIGENOUS STUDENTS 3

context of the systemic inequalities inherent in the current education system that pose

significant challenges to the educational success of Aboriginal children and youth. (p. 91)

Residential schooling and subsequent assimilationist education models have had severe

consequences on Indigenous knowledge, which is strongly interwoven with approaches to living

and learning, languages, culture and traditions (Hare, p. 100-1). This historical context greatly

impacts the success of Indigenous students in Canadian schools. In fact, “country-wide,

approximately 70% of First Nations, Metis and Inuit students between the ages of 15 and 24

living on-reserve will not complete high school, contributing to an unemployment rate that is

twice as high as the non-First Nations population” (Right to Play, 2017B).

A number of studies have shown that extra-curricular activities can be effective in raising

a student’s status in school and in improving academic performance and achievement (Mahoney

& Cairns, 1997, p. 241). However, few studies have focused on Indigenous students. Keeping the

historical context in mind, in order to be truly effective in engaging Indigenous students in

specific activities during or after school hours, programs must contain culturally responsive

content and should be strengths-based.

Culturally Responsive Content

Culturally responsive programming is grounded in the language and culture of students

and makes a strong connection to students’ experiences and lives. The Alaska Native Knowledge

Network (1998) created standards for students, educators, curriculum, schools and communities

to provide guidance on how to embrace culturally responsive schooling. They explain that “these

‘cultural standards’ are predicated on the belief that a firm grounding in the heritage language

and culture indigenous to a particular place is a fundamental prerequisite for the development of

culturally-healthy students and communities associated with that place” (Alaska Native
SCHOOL ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMS FOR INDIGENOUS STUDENTS 4

Knowledge Network, 1998). While these concepts are designed on a large scale for curriculums

and schools, the same principles can be applied to school engagement programs. Programs

designed to engage Indigenous students should provide challenging opportunities for students

that integrate local traditions, knowledge and community resources, while creating connections

with community members, parents and elders (Alaska Native Knowledge Network, 1998).

Strength-Based Programming

Strength-based programming is an important approach to helping Indigenous students

succeed, because it takes into account the complicated Canadian historical context. Rather than

emphasizing students’ failures, these programs can provide opportunities based on students’

strengths to encourage involvement and success. Crooks, Chiodo, Thomas and Hughes (2010)

explain that

by placing the high rates of violence, substance abuse, and poverty experienced by First

Nations families into the appropriate context of colonization and assimilation policies, it

shifts the perceived deficits away from the individual and allows us to focus instead on

the resilience many of these youth have demonstrated. (p. 161)

This approach has many benefits. It helps students recognize that they are able, talented and

knowledgeable in a particular skill or concept and that these strengths can be contributed to

improving a group that is part of the school community. Additionally, well-designed programs

can help students learn how to transfer these skills from one area of their lives to another, helping

them make connections between their school, home and community, while building their self-

esteem (Brownlee, Rawana, MacArthur & Probizanski, 2010, p. 109).

SCHOOL ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMS FOR INDIGENOUS STUDENTS 5

Local Programming

There are a certain school engagement programs that have been designed and implemented

on a small scale in selected schools or school boards. The Thames Valley District School Board

in London, Ontario, started developing, in 2004, a variety of programs entitled Uniting our

Nations (Crooks, Chiodo, Thomas & Hughes, 2010, p. 160-2). In association with the Fourth R

Program, members of the school community, including Indigenous educators, students,

counsellors, and community partners, created peer mentoring, test preparation and leadership

programs that focus on building healthy relationships, “delivered within a culturally relevant

context” (Wolfe, 2017). Through surveys, questionnaires, interviews, focus groups and school

data, Crooks, Chiodo, Thomas and Hughes (2010) concluded that once students participated in

these programs, they continued to so do and they showed higher academic performance and

lower absenteeism in these programs compared to their other courses (p. 166). Therefore,

culturally responsive and strengths-based programming can be effective in engaging Indigenous

students in school.

National Programming

School engagement programs that are offered across Canada face many challenges compared

to locally designed and implemented ones. While more funding is available to national programs,

data can be difficult to collect and analyze due to the large scale and local knowledge can be

challenging to integrate due to the very high number of Indigenous Peoples within the country.

Programs that are specifically designed for Indigenous students can only be successful if

they use culturally responsive content and are strengths-based. These two criteria are used to

ascertain some of the successes and failures of two nation-wide Canadian programs: PLAY and

N’We Jinan. These are preliminary and brief observations based on two of the many programs
SCHOOL ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMS FOR INDIGENOUS STUDENTS 6

available and much more research can be done on this topic to fully explore the effectiveness of

school engagement programs for Indigenous students across Canada.

Right to Play – PLAY program

The Promoting Life-skills in Aboriginal Youth (PLAY) program partners with over 85

Indigenous communities in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario. PLAY offers four

programs: an after-school program (ages 6 to 12), a youth leadership program (ages 12 and up), a

play for prevention program (ages 6 to 18) and a sport for development program (all ages). The

PLAY programs are “designed to provide Indigenous children and youth access to high-quality

programs that use play to build and enhance their life-skills to make a difference in their own

lives and the lives of others” (Right to Play, 2017B). They hire and train a community mentor

from within the community, as well as a community supervisor, who both work closely with a

Right to Play Staff member to design, plan and implement the programs, which are adapted and

modified based on needs identified by children, youth, parents and elders. Right to Play staff

provide workshops and events, program resources, access to collaborative, in-community sport

clinics, funding and on-the-ground and remote coaching and support. The goals of the programs,

also referred to as the Program Pillars, are: improved education, improved health, healthy

relationships and youth employability. PLAY integrates the holistic wheel and its teachings to

help create positive change (Right to Play, 2017C).

Culturally Responsive and Strength-Based. By hiring and training staff from within

the communities, as well as adapting the programming to the needs identified by community

members, PLAY provides culturally relevant content to Indigenous students in four Canadian

provinces. In addition, all the programs enable children and youth to explore and develop skills

that can applied in and out of school and within their communities.
SCHOOL ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMS FOR INDIGENOUS STUDENTS 7

The PLAY program requires community mentors to “complete and submit a Monthly

report on the 10th of each month which includes attendance information, partnerships built and

events held in the community” (Right to Play, 2017C). With the help of the community mentor,

participating children and youth complete three assessments throughout the year, which monitor

the program’s progress in helping them achieve the goals. Reports and assessments are then

shared with the community. PLAY also compiles a Year in Review document, which combines

reports from all the communities to share successes, stories from students and community

mentors and steps to take in the future year (Right to Play, 2017A).

In terms of helping increase school engagement, PLAY reports that “92% of After School

program participants said they were excited about school and developed a more positive attitude

toward school” (Right to Play, 2017B). According to the 2015-2016 year in review, partnerships

with schools have shown “patterns of increasing attendance and the involvement of educators

and school staff help build positive relationships with children and youth outside of the

classroom setting which can have a meaningful impact on their success in school” (Right to Play,

2017B). The data collected and analyzed by Right to Play demonstrates that using culturally

responsive content and a strengths-based approach can be successful in helping Indigenous

students become more engaged in school and their educational goals.

N’We Jinan

N’We Jinan is a music program that has received a lot of attention since its conception in

2014, due to its big presence on social media and to the attention it has received from news

articles and magazines throughout Canada. David Hodges, a hip-hop producer and youth worker,

travels to different schools that have large Indigenous student populations. With the help of

others in the music industry, they help students write original songs as well as record music
SCHOOL ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMS FOR INDIGENOUS STUDENTS 8

videos. Their mission is to “create original musical and visual works that encourage collective

community voice and to cultivate identity through youth educational programs that give young

people a chance to be heard through a sharing platform built for social impact and justice”

(N’WeJinan Foundation, 2017). They want to help students build confidence, create a sense of

belonging, empowerment, skill development and expression. In the past three years, they have

worked in over 30 Indigenous communities, have written over 60 original songs and have

produced 17 music videos (N’WeJinan Foundation, 2017).

Culturally Responsive and Strength-Based. Unlike the PLAY program, there is no

concrete data on attendance rates, academic performance and self-esteem for students who have

participated in the N’We Jinan project, which makes it difficult to assess its effectiveness. It is

obvious from how well the songs and albums have done on iTunes that listeners are responding

to the music created by these youths. Students, teachers and principals have spoken positively

about the program, indicating that attendance and confidence are impacted by participation in the

song writing process. However, the long-term effects are unknown and would be interesting to

explore. Here are some statements students and principals shared after the conclusion of the

N’We Jinan program in their schools:

“Writing [music] helps me cope with the pain," said Maurice, who since getting involved

in the project in the summer of 2014 has stopped using drugs and has gone back in

school. "It makes me feel good." (Bell, 2015)

“But to their surprise, the students showed up every single day and put in long hours with

the n’We Jinan team. They were recording in the classroom, they were out filming in the

territory…the kids were inspired to be there,” said Grice. “Attendance has never been one

of our stronger suits at the school. It’s something we have been working on and
SCHOOL ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMS FOR INDIGENOUS STUDENTS 9

improving on over the years, but it’s still a struggle. To get the kids engaged like that was

really powerful.” (Talmazan, 2017).

"I've tried doing things to maybe help my community in different ways and also to help

out other people in the community, and I think that's what I want to continue to do once I

build myself more and go out for school," she said. "I just want to come back and work

there, try and make it a better place." (CBC News, 2017).

The N’We Jinan songs are informed by the experiences and lives of the participants. In

certain cases, they focus on issues in one community, such as the song “Beyond the Rocks”,

written and performed by students from the Tsay Keh Dene Nation in B.C (N’We Jinan, 2017).

In other cases, the songs are written by students that are brought together by N’We Jinan to

reflect and respond to questions that impact students from multiple areas. For example, nine high

school students from nine different nations wrote a song together entitled “Hide and Seek”,

which responds to the question “What does it mean to be an Indigenous student in Surrey, B.C.?”

(Charleyboy, 2017). In both cases, the content is reflective of the culture, language, knowledge

and location of the students and their communities. In terms of strengths, the brainstorming, song

writing, recording and sharing process are all positive experiences for the students, where their

musical and artistic skills can be explored and enhanced with the help of the N’We Jinan

mentors. Rather than focusing on the negatives, the obstacles faced by the students are turned

into empowering messages with potential actions and hope for the future.

While this program contains culturally relevant content and focuses on students’

strengths, the lack of concrete data makes it difficult to conclude whether it has a lasting impact

on students. The songs are written by small groups of students, leaving out a large number that

could benefit from the programming. The N’we Jinan program could have an impact on a much
SCHOOL ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMS FOR INDIGENOUS STUDENTS 10

larger scale if, similarly to the community mentor trained for the PLAY program, teacher

training is included in their programming. By sharing the process taken to inspire and create

these songs and videos, teachers all across Canada could be empowered to provide these

activities to their students on a more consistent basis.

Conclusion and Future Studies

There are a number of school engagement programs offered to Indigenous students in

Canada, such as Me to We: Sacred Circle, Mik’w Chiyam Arts Concentration Program, the

Aboriginal Youth Entrepreneurship Program and many more. In order to effectively meet the

needs of Indigenous students to help them succeed in school, these programs must contain

culturally responsive content and use a strengths-based approach. The collection of data, both

quantative and qualitative, concerning attendance rates, achievement, grades, self-esteem and

educational goals is imperative in determining the successes, failures and possible improvements

opportunities of these programs. While the range of in school and after school programming is

encouraging, it is imperative that, in order to continue providing Indigenous students with the

means to succeed, these same opportunities become increasingly more integrated into provincial

curriculums, making culturally responsive content and strengths-based approaches more

accessible and valued.

SCHOOL ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMS FOR INDIGENOUS STUDENTS 11

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