5 T7etsxem7nte re stselxmem “To Strive Ahead” – musings of an Indigenous educator
By Karen Simon
I’ve always wanted to be in a classroom, and when the Native Indian Teachers’ Education Program (NITEP) advertised in the Kamloops Daily News in 1974 a teachers’ training program they wanted to pilot, I applied immediately and joined twelve other Indigenous people in the Kamloops centre each willing to test this new instructional model while seeking an education degree from UBC. This happened almost fifty years ago when NITEP filled its boardroom with Indigenous leaders and allies who envisioned new pathways for success in universities for Indigenous students, putting into effect the then new mantra “Indian control of Indian education.”
https://www.flickr.com/photos/bcgovphotos/14927114652
Since then almost thirty-five years of my working life have found me putting this degree to use and witnessing the many transformations of Thompson Rivers University (TRU) while standing shoulder to shoulder with other instructors in the university preparation department. When I look back, I remember what first attracted me to TRU. I was hired to coordinate and instruct an all-indigenous university preparation program, similar in structure to that of NITEP and the possibilities for the future of this program were exciting and seemingly endless.
However, soon administrators found incongruencies such as teaching a course in six months that is taught in thirteen weeks in other parts of TRU. Rather than questioning why the program initially had a higher completion rate with students skipping from advanced level courses to first year academic and going on to complete degree programs, the quest became how can we make the program like programs that already exist in TRU. Soon this program ceased to exist, and I accepted the challenge issued to me at the time to become a “regular” university preparation instructor, minus any coordination role. Aside from conditions of employment, when I look back, I can see that education leaders in this university and others have expending resources struggling to gain parity for Indigenous students. If Indigenous people form a certain percentage of the population, then doesn’t it stand to reason that a similar percentage should be experiencing some degree of success from its educational institutes? This vision has driven many trends in current post-secondary policy, almost all admirable in their intentions.
What has always perplexed me is the measuring stick that we educators are willing to employ in our efforts. We behave as though we have the right courses and the right programs already in place and that all that is required is finding a way for Indigenous populations to fit into a given mould by just adding an Indigenous component or two. We ignore the fact that educational systems that are now active in our neighbourhoods are steeped in imperfections, manmade, and relatively new to modern humans. We don’t question how these educational institutes have churned out leaders that perpetuate systems that are destroying Earth and that are protecting a standard of living for a select few.
My seventy-one years walking this earth have me questioning what is worth salvaging from these educational practices and what is worth striving to emulate. On a more positive note, what I cherish are the moments spent with colleagues reflecting and pushing forward plans that are scrutinized with diverse perspectives and delivered with an understanding that failure is part of success. Most of all, my fledgling elder status has me wondering how I can contribute to a world that will protect youth willing to envision a new world. May I end by stating that I have found ABEABC to be a positive force in this vision quest, and as such, has had my ongoing support which includes the submission of this piece of writing.
Learning Language:
“T7etsxem7nte re stselxmem”: To strive ahead in Secwepemcstin
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