The "Ontario First Nation, Métis, and Inuit Education Policy Framework": A Case Study on its Impact

Abstract

In 2007, the Ontario Government implemented the Ontario First Nation, Métis, and Inuit Education Policy Framework. Some schools and school boards have been active in piloting and supporting these initiatives. Because this is a newly implemented policy direction, I wanted to begin to assess best practices and challenges, so I asked participants at one school board and one high school what impact their participation in the Aboriginal education program initiatives had on them professionally, academically, and personally. The Aboriginal programming initiatives, like the ones in which I have participated and studied, have been found to be personally and academically/professionally transformative for administrators, teachers, and youth. As Indigenous-focused curriculum is brought into the mainstream, and as a space is created to consider and include Indigenous perspectives, there is potential for Indigenous and non-Indigenous participants to experience powerful learning opportunities, some of which may transform their perceptions of Canadian history and for contemporary Indigenous people to be valued, though many challenges remain systemically to decolonize the educational realm.