Creating a joint partnership: including Qallunaat teacher voices within Nunavik education policy

Abstract

In this paper, I discuss how making Qallunaat teacher voices inclusive within the policy‐making process of Inuit education in Nunavik can significantly help Inuit youth to be more successful in their education and to adapt better to modern Northern community living. The study being discussed is a year‐long Participatory Action Research (PAR) project that I have been engaging in with Qallunaat teachers working in Inuit communities of Nunavik. Through this project, the aim has been to explore the perceptions of Qallunaat teachers to see how one might better prepare and support them in their efforts to teach their Inuit students. This study has direct implications for policy regarding pre‐service and in‐service training of Qallunaat teachers both at the School Board, Quebec Ministry of Education and the McGill Faculty of Education. While this study is still in progress, implementation of certain pre‐service and in‐service support practices are already underway. Drawing from Battiste, Friedman and Bakhtin, I prioritize a dialogical post‐colonial framework to situate Qallunaat teacher voices in the educational contexts of Nunavik. I use PhotoVoice to illustrate teachers’ perceptions and their social distancing with members of the Inuit community. The photographs and comments from teachers demonstrate how there is a place for Qallunaat teachers to continue their work in Nunavik as partners towards Inuit self‐determination.

Notes

1. To maintain anonymity, I use pseudonyms when citing comments from Qallunaat teachers collaborating in this PAR inquiry. Any resemblance to actual names is coincidental.