Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT)1 and Centre des Premières Nations de Nikanite – UQAC are pioneers in Quebec in terms of helping First Peoples students access higher education. They are both breaking new ground in 1) the services offered, 2) learning and the transmission of Aboriginal knowledge, and 3) co-management with communities.

Logo of the First Peoples Service – UQAT

A holistic approach

The three components, namely, First Peoples Services, the School of Indigenous Studies, and the model for joint management with communities, are all based on a holistic approach.

This approach is centered on individuals and their physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional needs. It fosters harmony between the physical, spiritual, rational, and emotional aspects and gives them equal importance (Mark, 2012).

A circle, symbolizing the principle of harmony or balance between all aspects of a person’s life, is often used to show that the individual, family, community, and world cannot be separated.

In this approach, humans must be in harmony with their physical and social environment if they want to live and thrive. An imbalance may prevent someone from reaching their full potential as a human being (ibid.).

First component: The First Peoples Service

The holistic approach requires a high level of versatility on the part of the professionals who help and support students during their time at university. The First Peoples Service team offers personalized services to all students on the Val-d’Or campus, but has also developed expertise that meets the specific academic, family, social, and cultural needs of First Peoples students in a culturally safe environment.

First Peoples building, UQAT, Val-d’Or

To this end, bilingual services have been developed, including an Aboriginal student life committee and a womens group where students can share real-life experiences, create a support network, and relieve the stress of studying, while doing traditional crafts with elders. Practitioners and professionals are there to listen and offer advice to students experiencing personal, family or other difficulties. They also provide personalized academic support. Gathering spaces specifically for First Peoples students are one of the most effective and appreciated ways to help them succeed across the board, with some students often describing these spaces as a “home away from home” (Dufour and Bousquet, 2015).

First Peoples students are also given referrals to services offered in Val-d’Or (housing, daycare, etc.). The holistic approach allows them to regain control of their lives, (re)discover balance, and consider their lives as a whole.

Moreover, most cultural activities are organized through collaboration and partnership with communities. By maintaining relationships with neighboring communities and Aboriginal organizations, First People’s issues, realities, and cultures can be better understood and analyzed.

Second component: School of Indigenous Studies

With the creation of the School of Indigenous Studies (SIS) in June 2016, UQAT undertook to develop programs that take First People’s specific approaches to learning and knowledge transmission into account. It is currently the only university department in Quebec to consider Aboriginal studies from a holistic perspective.

One of the things discussed before the school was created was that universities often deal with Aboriginal issues in anthropology or ethnology programs for non-Aboriginal students learning about First Nations or, on the other hand, in programs offered exclusively to First Nations students (Asselin cited by Venne, 2016; SIS Action Plan, 2018).

UQAT wanted these two groups to coexist and develop knowledge jointly. The School also seeks to offer support and expertise to departments and services so they can integrate First People’s values and realities into the courses offered (UQAT, 2018). Professors, lecturers, and staff from the School of Indigenous Studies and the First Peoples Service approach academic success from a holistic perspective.

By affirming the identity of First Peoples and excluding no one, holistic programs and services can help First Peoples regain control of their lives and recover balance (Mark, 2012).

Outcome of a Synergy project

The goal of a 2015 project called Cégep-University Synergy was to equip faculty and student services employees at UQAT and the Abitibi-Témiscamingue Cégep with effective strategies for teaching First Peoples students (Bérubé and Cornellier, 2016).

Data collected from 36 professors, instructors, and lecturers was used to identify strategies they had implemented successfully with Aboriginal students. The 32 student participants described their realities and challenges, shared their strategies for success, and expressed their needs (ibid.).

Instructors mentioned the need to create more opportunities for discussion and sharing, which UQAT has undertaken to address by developing web tools. Video clips were created and distributed to the UQAT community for the purpose of:

  • providing teachers and future teachers of First Nations students at the college and university levels with educational and awareness tools;
  • providing a tool for sharing winning pedagogical practices and teaching strategies, for the benefit of First Nations students and to support their success;
  • providing a tool to raise awareness of interculturality and the reality of First Nations students at the postsecondary level;
  • presenting the services offered by the Abitibi-Témiscamingue Cégep and UQAT.

The videos cover various topics, including:

  • First Peoples students and their realities: their history, challenges, and adaptation to a new environment and to the pace and demands of postsecondary education;
  • pedagogical practices: approach and availability, winning strategies, learning and its challenges (particularly in terms of language), concept maps;
  • interculturality: the perception of First Peoples students’ education, the importance of family and community, the sense of belonging, and grieving (Bérubé and Cornellier, 2016).

The UQAT team is currently planning to distribute the videos more widely so teachers and practitioners in Quebec can benefit from this valuable tool and better understand, help, and support their First Peoples students.

Third component: the model for co-management with Inuit communities2

Since 1984, UQAT’s Educational Sciences Teaching and Research Unit has partnered with the Inuit3 communities of Ivujivik and Puvirnituq in Nunavik. The partnership is based on a co-management approach to programs4 that has become a model for maintaining a lasting relationship with these communities.

Today, this model is being used to help design, revise, and manage other programs offered by UQAT to Aboriginal communities. The goal is to:

  • implement a training program centered on the needs of students and teachers in communities and tailored to the northern environment and culture (e.g., Inuit, Cree, Atikamekw, etc.);
  • ensure that cultural safety is incorporated into program management;
  • promote the creation of groups and bring education stakeholders out of isolation, particularly in northern areas.

Implementation of the UQAT model in the communities of Ivujivik and Puvirnituq includes a program co-management committee to make sure activities for training Inuit teachers are carried out properly. The committee is composed of three members from the Ivujivik community, three from the Puvirnituq community, and three from UQAT. Committee meetings deal with the “co-design,” “co-revision,” and “co-management” of programs.

Inuit “colleagues” work with UQAT professors to verify that course content is relevant to students. This helps ensure respect for students’ culture and environment.

The committee holds monthly meetings by videoconference or telephone as well as in-person meetings lasting two days, twice a year. Committee members are in regular contact between these meetings.

Courses are taught by a team made up of a teacher (or lecturer) working with an Inuit co-teacher. The languages of instruction are Ivujivik and Puvirnituq, English, Inuktitut, and, increasingly, French. Students from these communities are thus receiving a bicultural and trilingual education.

This model requires active participation from UQAT professors, lecturers, and professional and support staff. URFDEMIA5 employees are front-line players in academic management, serving as facilitators between students and administrative services.

Outcome

Under this 35-year-old partnership, 28 students have graduated from the Certificate of Development of Teaching Practice in the North program and 12 have graduated with a Certificate of Teaching in Preschool and Primary Education in the North II.

The success of this UQAT co-management model depends on the recognition of the equal status and interdependence of both groups of partners, namely Inuit (or other Aboriginal partners) and university instructors (regular professors and lecturers).

Graduates are role models for the development of their communities, as evidenced when Siaja Mark Mangiuk, a UQAT graduate and member of the teacher training programs co-management group, won the prestigious 2017 Indspire 2017 “Guiding the Journey” award.6 This partnership has also supported educational projects in communities.

1UQAT has three campuses (Rouyn-Noranda, Val-d’Or, and Amos), four regional centers (Abitibi-Ouest, Témiscamingue, Mont-Laurier, Montreal), and two service points (Chibougamau and Lebel-sur-Quévillon).

2 The third component was co-developed with Vincent Rousson, director of UQAT’s Val-d’Or campus.

3 The invariable term Inuit is used throughout this report, except in references where the original title has been retained. To learn more: Inuit, Inuk (Linguistic recommendation from the Translation Bureau)

4 For example, the Certificate of Development of Teaching Practice in the North, the Certificate of Preschool and Primary Education in the North II, and the Certificate of Preschool and Primary Education in the North.

5 The Unit for Research, Training and Development in Education in Inuit and First Nations Contexts (URFDEMIA) supports a variety of community-based education projects. Research professors lead teaching, research, and development activities targeting the school curriculum, teacher training, language contact, literacy development, and the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in Aboriginal contexts.

6 Indigenous Educator award in the Culture, Language, and Traditions category.