A STUDY OF THE COMMUNITY-BASED MASTER'S PROGRAM IN ...

A STUDY OF THE COMMUNITY-BASED MASTER’SPROGRAM IN NORTHERN SASKATCHEWANStudents’ Experiences: “Like Setting up Camp”Condensed Version of the Final ReportbyDavid Friesen, PhDApril 2011Saskatchewan Instructional Developmentand Research Unit (SIDRU)Faculty of Education

A STUDY OF THE COMMUNITY-BASED MASTER’S PROGRAM INNORTHERN SASKATCHEWANSTUDENTS’ EXPERIENCES: “LIKE SETTING UP CAMP”Condensed Version of the Final ReportforSASKATCHEWAN INSTRUCTIONAL DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH UNIT (SIDRU)FACULTY OF EDUCATIONUNIVERSITY OF REGINAbyDAVID FRIESEN, PhDProfessor Emeritus, University of ReginaApril 2011

TABLE OF CONTENTSPagePreface ................................................................................................................................... 4PART ONE: REPORTING ON THE STUDY ................................................................. 4Background ............................................................................................................................ 4The Northern Context and Need for Graduate Education ......................................... 4Program Description and Research ........................................................................................ 5Purposes of Program .................................................................................................. 5Program Overview ..................................................................................................... 5Defining Components ................................................................................................ 5Overview of Research on the Program ...................................................................... 6Student Satisfaction Survey Results ...................................................................................... 7Demographic Information .......................................................................................... 7Satisfaction with Program Components ..................................................................... 8Satisfaction with Program Outcomes ......................................................................... 8Satisfaction with Quality of Teaching and Learning ................................................. 8Graduate Student Experiences ............................................................................................... 9Drawn to the Program ................................................................................................ 9Experiencing Key Aspects of the Program .............................................................. 10Impact: Personal and Professional Change, and Relationship to theCommunity .......................................................................................................... 24Possibilities for Northern Graduate Education: Reflections ................................................ 38Ripples of Hope ....................................................................................................... 38Lighthouse for Change ............................................................................................. 39Forward with the Past ............................................................................................. 39PART TWO: ACTION RESEARCH PROJECTS ........................................................ 41Theme One: Involving Parents and the Community in the School ..................................... 41Brandy Catarat ......................................................................................................... 41Melissa Cromarty ..................................................................................................... 42Theme Two: Reaching Out to the Community .................................................................... 43Loretta Ballantyne .................................................................................................... 43Jackie Durocher ........................................................................................................ 44Arlene Hansen .......................................................................................................... 45Theme Three: Teacher Development for the North ............................................................. 46Deborah Gibson-Dingwall ....................................................................................... 46Ronelda McCallum .................................................................................................. 472

Guy Penney .............................................................................................................. 48Bonnie Werner ......................................................................................................... 49Theme Four: Bringing Elders’ Knowledge to the School ................................................... 50Leda Corrigal ........................................................................................................... 50Lily McKay-Carriere ................................................................................................ 51Theme Five: Community-Oriented/Culturally Sensitive Teaching ..................................... 52Gail Gardiner .......................................................................................................... 52Doris Gunn .......................................................................................................... 53Melva Herman ......................................................................................................... 54Darren Linklater ....................................................................................................... 55Grace McKenzie ...................................................................................................... 56Pam Sanderson ......................................................................................................... 57Rosalena Smith ........................................................................................................ 58Theme Six: Advocating for Northern People ...................................................................... 59Walter Smith ............................................................................................................ 59Theme Seven: Exploring Teacher Aboriginal Identity ........................................................ 60Cheryl Morin ............................................................................................................ 60Theme Eight: Structuring Schooling for Success ................................................................ 61Cheryl Herman ......................................................................................................... 61Stephen King ............................................................................................................ 62Pauline McKay ......................................................................................................... 63Minnie McKenzie .................................................................................................... 64APPENDIX: Program Template and Record of Courses ................................................... 65First Print, May 20113

PrefaceThis report documents the experiences of the graduates of the first university graduate programto be offered in Northern Saskatchewan. A cohort of 24 northern educators representing 9communities took courses from July 2007 to June 2009, and all completed the programincluding a required action research project by May 2010. Through a partnership with theNorthern Teacher Education Program (NORTEP), the Faculty of Education at the University ofRegina delivered the program in La Ronge. Consisting of two parts, Part One of the reportcontains an overview of the program, findings from a student satisfaction survey, and resultsfrom interviews on how students experienced the program. Part Two contains the descriptionsof the 24 action research projects and short biographies of the authors. The research on theprogram was carried out in Fall 2010 and Winter 2011. The more detailed Final Report (157pp.) can be found online at http//www.sidru.ca.PART ONE: REPORTING ON THE STUDYBackgroundThe Northern Context and Need for Graduate EducationMany studies have shown that education for Aboriginal people, especially in the North,has lagged far behind Canadian norms. High school graduation rates in the North are still wellbelow provincial norms. As well, serious social issues plague northern communities affectingthe education of northern children and youth. A long history of colonialism and its effects,along with geographic isolation, account for many of the challenges faced in the North today.The steady erosion of the languages and cultures of the North, life on the land, and Aboriginalidentity has occurred after generations of domination by various non-Aboriginal institutionsincluding schools, which were initially formed to help the plight of Aboriginal people.However, significant attention has been paid to northern education from the early 70’swhen governments began to address the needs of the North in a more concerted way. As aresult, new schools have been built, high school education offered in more communities, moreculturally relevant curricula developed, and significant numbers of Aboriginal teachersprepared for teaching and administrative positions. NORTEP, established in 1976, is anexample of a successful teacher education program that has literally reconfigured teachingstaffs in northern schools to more closely reflect the proportion of Aboriginal people in theNorth. There are now significant numbers of Aboriginal educators, in both provincial and FirstNation school systems who now want to pursue graduate education but find the university toodistant and unfamiliar. Visionary northern educational leaders are needed who are in tune withthe people, their cultures, and the land, and who understand the history of colonialism, as wellas the possibilities for the future of the North. Graduate education offered in the North fornortherners holds much promise in preparing such leaders.4

Program Description and ResearchPurposes of ProgramThe purposes of the program included the following: increasing the number ofAboriginal people in graduate studies in education by offering a program in a northernlocation; stimulating collaborative community development by addressing local issues;responding to the professional development needs of school divisions and other educationalauthorities; and producing a more strongly integrated program through course and projectconnections.Program Overview30 credit hour program in Curriculum and Instruction consisting of• 8 courses (24 credit hours), and an• action research project (6 credit hours) beginning with the first course anddeveloped over the duration of the program.Program schedule (see details in Appendix A)Summer 07 1 course and 1 course equivalent for project work (3weeks)Fall 071 course (4 weekends)Winter 081 online courseSpring 081 long weekend symposium/online blended courseSummer 082 courses (3 weeks face-to-face)Fall 081 course (4 weekends)Winter 091 online courseSpring-Summer-Fall 09Winter-Spring 10work on project1 course equivalent for completion of projectDefining ComponentsNorthern location and partnership. NORTEP provided a contact person, localadministrative assistance, marketing, access to local resources, and classroom support.NORTEP partnered with SIDRU in organizing and delivering a celebration event for thegraduates held May 29, 2010.Cohort structure. The program was designed with the intent that the group of studentsaccepted into the program would progress through the courses together. It was assumed that acommunity of learners and leaders would develop and maintain professional networks thatwould last beyond completion of the program.Action research project. A 6-credit hour action research project was included in theprogram to integrate the coursework into the study of an aspect of professional practice thatwas concerned with a community-related issue. The project was introduced at the beginning of5

the program and the students worked on it throughout the program. The final project waspresented to an appropriate audience in the community.Alternate course delivery. Courses were delivered in novel ways to accomplish thestated purposes of the program and accommodate northern students. These included weekendformat for fall courses, summer institute for summer courses, online format for winter courses,and presentation of final project to an appropriate audience.Student sponsorship. The higher cost of the program necessitated by the distance waspaid for by several sponsoring agencies. Northern Lights School Division sponsored 15 of the24 students, all employees with the division, while a number of First Nations sponsored sevenstudents, all employees with them. A large corporation sponsored one of their employeeswhile one student paid her own way.Program themes and technology integration. A number of program themes shapedthe program including community connections, School PLUS , Aboriginal education, andtechnology integration. Because technology infrastructure came to Northern Saskatchewanmuch later than in the rest of the province, the students entering the program had sufficientlyless capacity with technology than their southern counterparts. Therefore, the program wasdeliberately designed with a technology component consisting of social network discussionforums, as well as two online courses.Advisor support and instructor selection. A faculty member functioned as theProgram Coordinator each semester to provide continuity in the program. The duties of theCoordinator included the following: providing liaison with the course instructors; visiting thesite once each semester to assess student progress on project work; providing ongoingcommunication with students in the program to provide learner support for projects; andengaging in problem solving with students. All of the instructors except one were regularfaculty members with the Faculty of Education; they all had PhDs and had an interest in thisprogram.Overview of Research on the ProgramThe research was undertaken to determine the appropriateness and effectiveness of theCommunity-Based Master’s Program by determining the following: student satisfaction withvarious aspects of the program; the impact of the program on personal and professional change,as well as on the community; and the meaningfulness of the program themes, includingtechnology on program participants’ learning and professional practice.An interpretive qualitative methodology was employed using interview methods. Theresearch had a strongly grounded theory focus in order to produce theorizing about theexperiences of the participants in the program. A survey questionnaire was distributed toquantitatively determine the degree of satisfaction with various components of the program,outcomes of the program, and with the teaching and learning experienced in the program.Interview and survey data were examined and codes developed inductively to identify commonthemes.6

The final action research projects completed by the graduates were also summarized toshow the variety of topics selected, the formation of community connections, and evidence ofprogram themes. This summary report contains a short description of each project. Theoriginal summaries can be found in the Final Report.This research was guided by the usual principles of research such as anonymity,confidentiality, and the right to withdraw as expressed in the application to the Research EthicsBoard at the University of Regina. As well, the research honoured principles of decolonizingresearch by soliciting approval of the agencies sponsoring students into the program.This is the first study on the program since its completion. The first study was carriedout shortly after the students completed Year 1 of the program. A report was prepared andpresented to the stakeholders in Year 2 of the program and the results were used to makechanges to the program as it unfolded. This report does not include any of those earlierfindings.Demographic InformationStudent Satisfaction Survey ResultsOf the 24 members of the cohort, 23 returned the survey on student satisfaction withvarious aspects of the program. There were 19 women and 4 men representing a total of 9northern communities in the east (2), central (4) and west (3) regions participating in thesurvey. At the time of this survey, 14 worked in the provincial education system, 6 worked in aFirst Nation education system, and 3 worked in other settings. In terms of role, 10 wereteachers, 8 were administrators, 4 were consultants in a school system, and 1 worked outside ofthe field of education. As for identity, 10 were status First Nation (8 Cree, 2 Dene), 7 wereMétis, and 6 were non-Aboriginal. The range educational work experience was 2 to 30 years,with the following distribution:Years of work experience Number of participants2-5 36-10 311-15 316-20 721-25 526-30 27

Satisfaction with Program ComponentsThe ratings (1-10) are given for each component (10 is highest level of satisfaction).The chart below shows the ratings given by the respondents to the program.Program Components 10 8/9 7 or lessNorthern course delivery location 17 3 3NORTEP partnership 15 8 0Cohort structure 18 4 1Action research project 11 11 1Course delivery format 13 10 0Student sponsorship 22 1 0Program themesCommunity connections 20 2 1Aboriginality 20 2 1School PLUS 15 5 3Technology integration 11 9 3Advisor Report 16 6 1Instructors selected 20 3 0Timeframe for completion 15 4 4Satisfaction with Program OutcomesProgram Outcomes 10 8/9 7 or lessEstablished a community of learners 13 10 0Prepared you to use action research 12 10 1Built on your own knowledge 13 7 1Built personal confidence to learn 17 5 1Valued your Aboriginality or non-19 3 1AboriginalityEnhanced your use of technology 13 5 5Built leadership capacity 10 10 3Improved your professional practice 15 8 0Created stronger community connections 14 7 2Prepared your for new roles in education 14 8 1Satisfaction with the Quality of Teaching and LearningQuality of Teaching and Learning 10 8/9 7 or lessInstruction 10 12 1Feedback from instructors 7 13 3Feedback from AR project 13 8 2Relevance of Assignments 13 8 2Evaluation of courses (grading) 10 11 2Assistance with the AR project 12 9 2Interest of instructors 15 8 0Knowledge of instructors 17 4 2Appropriate content 18 4 18

Graduate Student ExperiencesFrom the distant past to the present, the northern practice of Aboriginal families comingtogether for summer camp has played an important role in northern Aboriginal cultural life.Over time, the practice of gathering together has changed; however, a number of participants inthis study could identify with the graduate student experience being likened to the traditionalsummer camp, based on their own experiences and understanding of this practice. In thefollowing sections, the image of summer camp is the lens used to discuss the graduates’experiences of the program.Drawn to the ProgramThere are a number of reasons why the people in this study decided to enter theCommunity-Based Master’s Program. However, rather than forming an hierarchical list, thereasons constitute a constellation of reasons that drew these educators to the program. Theseinclude the program offered in the North; the focus of the program on northern education; thefamiliarity of NORTEP; the opportunity to make a difference for the children and youth andtheir communities; the financial support by employers; the possibility of opening up new rolesin education; the furtherance of their knowledge; and the opportunity to be a part of a programthat promised to extend NORTEP’s role into graduate education. No one mentioned going intothe program for monetary reasons due to salary reclassification.Many of the students mentioned that if the program had not been offered in the North,they would not have attended university in the South. Although there was mention of theconvenience of location, a number of students had to drive a considerable distance to attendclasses. Some students were actually closer to the University of Saskatchewan or to a similarcommunity-based program offered in Meadow Lake. The most important reason for taking theprogram as part of the NORTEP cohort expressed by many of the graduates, was that theprogram promised to focus on northern education, and that the others applying to the programwere from the North.For the graduates who had done their undergraduate work at NORTEP, the master’sprogram already seemed familiar even before the program began. One grad commented that “Iam a NORTEP grad. I knew the support the students had…. And I figured this program wouldgive me a lot of support where I needed it, and it was with northern people as well.”In the interviews, there was a strong sense that a group of northern educators taking themaster’s degree in the North could have a significant impact on northern education. Oneparticipant expressed this sentiment in terms of developing a vision for community building.Along the line of taking the program for others rather than for oneself, a graduate said, “Itwasn’t just for me; it’s to give back to the community.” Another stated that “my kids were mymotivation, also the youth in my community.” “I want them to see me as a role model.” Theprogram was perceived as encouraging the connection of their knowledge to the needs of theircommunity:9

But for me, the community-based program was a northern setting, and being able torelate and use my background as a research foundation was what attracted me. Itattracted me, and the setting, and looking, scrutinizing your community and what yourcommunity needed.There is no doubt that a common experience of living in the North, similar experiencesas northern educators, along with the recruitment presentations that took place in the Northcombined to motivate these educators to apply for a program that was more predictable,meaningful, and convenient.Completing a master’s degree also gave the graduates other opportunities, a sentimentechoed by many of the graduates. For one of the teachers, this included getting out of a verystressful teaching situation. For others, the program promised revitalization of their teachingas reflected in this comment: “I felt I needed to do something else, something new, somethingthat could rejuvenate [my] teaching. It’s only been 5 years I had taught and I was alreadybored with that kind of teaching.”Just like summer camp, the students had a variety of reasons for coming into theprogram, but they seemed to have a general idea of what it would be like because of theassociation of the program with NORTEP, which was familiar to all of them. They also knewthat the cohort would be made up of fellow northerners with similar educational, life, andteaching experiences. Few had any intention of ever attending a southern university. All in all,these northerners felt drawn to the program.Experiencing Key Aspects of the ProgramSeveral of the students commented that the kind of learning experienced “on the land”was similar to the learning process experienced during the Community-Based Master’sProgram. Gathering together as families, sharing through stories, and learning by doing atsummer camp have their parallels in the master’s program. The following five themes,elaborated on in the interviews, organize these camp-like learning experiences of members ofthe cohort.A Professional Learning Community: “An extended family.” Summer camp wasgenerally a time of harmony and social interaction. So, too, the program was experienced as atime of connecting with other northern educators, who together felt a “sense of family…anextended family” in the cohort. The grads shared the observation that, “Everyone was anexpert in something; I learned from the experts….[it was] always ok to get help.” Theyrecognized that through sharing personal knowledge and wisdom, a network of professionalswas being created that “had something in common, teaching in northern communities.”Most of the grads claimed that personal and social aspects of their lives, in addition tothe academic, were supported by the others. Several personal and family crises occurredduring the 3 years, and the support provided by the group had a strong impact on thosecoping with the situation. In a couple of cases, the support of the group helped10

individuals continue on in the program. There was also a sense that to quit, as a result ofpersonal difficulties, would be to let the group down.The notion of community of learners resonated with the graduates. During theinterviews, words such as collaboration, sharing, dialogue, learning from one another, andproblem solving, were frequently used:But as far as the community of learners, yes, because whenever you happen to bumpinto someone from the cohort no matter where you work you immediately talk aboutwhat you were doing and how it was going, and you were supportive of one another.You were finding out how they were approaching their project, how they were doing inthe class…there was a lot of collaboration with each other—a lot of dialogue.An administrator compared the cohort of 24 northern educators to a ProfessionalLearning Community (PLC), a structure being strongly promoted by the school division as ameans to foster collaboration:I would have to say our group of 24 was one big Professional Learning Community. Weall learned something from each other, whether we were learning about one’s culture,one’s community, one’s background or learning about what that person’s interest is interms of pursuing their action research project, or just learning about what it is they doon a daily basis.The action research project, as well as the individual course group assignments broughtindividuals together to share their insights and questions which nurtured this learningcommunity. Participants noted that instructors placed students in different groups throughoutthe courses to foster interaction. As well, a web-based discussion forum, developed at the startof the program, was embraced by the participants as a forum for discussion to continue beyondthe class. Even after the program ended, most of the grads continued activity on social networksites with other program grads.The program appears to have recovered a traditional way of learning for these northerneducators that had been displaced by formal schooling in the North. By structuring classsessions to focus on the sharing of student knowledge, the program deviated from theconventional transmission model. As well, the action research projects provided anopportunity to learn outside of the school classroom. This way of learning valued their culturaland community knowledge and even their Aboriginal language when it was appropriate.One graduate told a story of driving home from class and becoming overwhelmed byemotion as memories from her past, triggered by the day’s class discussions, came to mind.The memories were of her grandparents and their struggle to provide food for their family bypreparing furs for the fur traders. For her, the community of learners was a place of trust sothat these stories could be shared in safety.The community of learners experience also entailed students developing relationshipsacross racial lines. Aboriginal students, the majority in the program, appreciated how the non-Aboriginal students opened up to their culture and perspectives:11

And you could tell which ones had no Aboriginal background per se, even though theygrew up in an Aboriginal community, working in an Aboriginal community. You sawthat they did not have that knowledge or that history they needed to help the Aboriginalstudent. And so when I finally saw, when we were sitting in small groups talking, whenthey had that aha moment —"Oh, I finally understand! I finally understand what you’retalking about.”—it was so good to see that non-Aboriginal person understands, finallyunderstands you.A key to learning, often referred to by these educators, was in seeing issues from theperspectives of others:And when you have five different people from different backgrounds and differentcareers sitting in a circle, you get to hear all their stories. And everybody always sharedtheir personal life or their career to what was being discussed or what was written aboutin an article or about a topic. So, a lot of brainstorming, a lot of ideas being circulated,and when you have those discussions, you know when you go back to yourworkplace…you know that there's other people that can help. That they have, maybethey have a different way and it's okay if we use a different method to accomplish thattask.The grads often mentioned their NORTEP undergraduate education as being the kind ofexperience that best matched their time in the Community-Based Master’s Program:Well, I think that that sense of community with the class, and those connections that wemade, were important. We had that kind of like a family kind of thing going there, andthe help that we got, too, throughout the program is what really helped as well; that wekind of got to know everyone at a personal level, like yourself, and all the instructors…Ithink it was pretty much set up kind of the way NORTEP is set up, and NORTEP alsohas that same kind of like a glue that holds everything together, and that whole sense offamily creates that.The cohort model of learning taking place in the North was considered by all of thegraduates as critical to the success of the program. The bonds within this “family” becamestronger as the program progressed due to the sharing of knowledge embedded in northernAboriginal context and experience. Opposing points of view were shared more easily in thisfamiliar environment. The sense of community experienced had its roots in the traditionalpractices of families getting together to tell stories and to support one another and, therefore,held a familiarity for these Aboriginal and northern graduate students.As well as the cohort model structure to promote learning, the learning content andprocess were equally important to the students. They appreciated the dialogical approach usedin all of their courses where ideas, theories, and frameworks presented in class were always thefodder for application to northern and local issues. Different perspectives, arising from a richarray of experiences in a variety of contexts, helped the students achieve deeper understandingsof new ideas and their potential to inform their educational practices. For these students, thenotion of an extended family best represents their experience of a learning community.12

The place of the action research project and learning: “Validating your practice—what you're doing and who you are.” The graduates attributed significant changes in theirprofessional practices to the action research project. The action research project became thefocal point of the journey through the program for the graduate students, much like sharing lifeon the land being the focal point of the summer camp right from the start: “The project startedwith the first day of the program.” Another stated that the “classes all equally connected…theywere all perfectly woven into the program.” Also noting the integration of project and courses,a student commented on the project’s uniqueness:The project built something. The classes all led into it, but the project built somethingthat was unique to you—even though your papers might be different in the class, theproject was definitely unique to you and the community that you were working within.Engaging in action research also gave the students a different view of learning.Although the grads “knew that learning took place in partnership,” they didn’t reallyexperience what that looked like until they became involved in their action research project.The project demanded involvement: “I had to get involved with the people.” “Previousuniversity education was memorize and regurgitate.” Learning took place through action andinteraction in the local community: “It changed my learning because I was able to actually dosome things and test that learning.” One of the First Nation educators compared learningthrough action research to the way Aboriginal people learn through observation and actioncommenting that “Everything we learn we have to practice right away. That's the only way youcan learn to do things.”Two aspects of this new view of learning that came out over and over in the interviewswere reflection and working together.So that aspect [reflection] is what I think was the biggest change in my learning. And Iwas at that point starting to feel quite isolated at times because we were so busy. Andpeople sort of had their own areas whereas when you got together with the cohort, wehad a focus that was professional development and improving our learning—our ownlearning processes as well as our own teaching.Action research provided these educators with a reflective way of thinking, “thinking whysomething doesn’t work” by providing a “framework and a structure…very focused.” As onegrad put it, “I enjoyed that focused reflection on my work and relating it to the work of others.”For one of the administrators, like so many others, the action research brought her intocloser contact with community agencies:During my action research I did some projects where I phoned the president of theMétis local. I phoned the Friendship Center and I said, “You know, I want to do thisprogram at the school. It’s something that we can all be involved in.” It taught me howto build partnerships.Action research provided the process to help this educator work through her beliefs aboutconnecting to the parents in the home:13

You have to work through your philosophy. You have to work through a lot of yourown experiences and work with people that would benefit from that….it engagedme…It was kind of like a hands-on project. It made you understand. It made youunderstand what these people are going through. You saw them in their homes; yousaw them in a different context.For another graduate, a teacher educator, action research helped her affirm her beliefs about amore inquiry and constructivist orientation to teaching:And the action research aspect of it—one of the things I probably was very comfortablewith it, because of the process we use here at NORTEP. And the whole aspect, too, forme of constructivism and having researched that earlier when I started to get into the4 th -year class and seeing that the action research took the inquiry approach, whichsupports the constructivist views.Using action research to solve problems has become an important part of many of thegraduates’ practice since completing the program. The survey results, too, suggest that since22 respondents rated their preparation to use action research as 8 or higher, that they are wellprepared to use this approach in their practice.A number of graduates indicated that their action research project was now being usedby others. One grad commented that he was now on a committee whose work related to hisproject topic. He commented on the value of completing the project “but I got to extend it alittle further by being part of that committee.”The projects have also had an impact on teaching practices. Because of the inquirynature of her action research project, one teacher instituted project-based learning with her ownstudents. Another claimed that what she had learned about how the Dene traditionally taughttheir children “has colored all my thinking now.”Besides influencing classroom practices, in many cases the projects also had a strongimpact on the community involved in their research.But I think if done properly and done well to involve community, it has an everlastingimpact with the school and the community involved. You're giving people anopportunity to discuss amongst themselves. You're giving people an opportunity to seehow this fits into their realm of education and into the realm of everyday life. Andknowing that especially when the project is closely connected to the hearts of the peoplein the community and to the hearts of people who have been working in those areassuch as language, such as youth empowerment, such as involving elders, and such asland-based activities.Several students were surprised that they could write their action research reports in a firstperson narrative. This student realized that this was an effective way to tell about hisexperiences with the project:14

I think it allowed me to write it in a way that was more conversational which I liked.You know, that kind of blew me away when we were asked to sort of tell stories a lot. Ihad never thought that that would be a way of writing that was considered scholarly andI enjoyed that, to be able to tell stories, connect to stories and then connect that toresearch and then actual action research.In conversations with colleagues in their home workplaces, a couple of the graduatesreacted to the notion that doing an action research project was an easier way to do a master’sdegree. They reiterated that expectations on them were high because the project involved theircommunity and “that it had validation.” As one grad put it: “some thought it’s just you andyour ideas…[but] this was read by other people…it’s not dumbed down or watered down.” Italso took self-discipline to complete.There were a few other students who said they would have been more comfortablewriting a long academic paper, but after completing the project thought that it was moreworthwhile. Doing a project also fostered accountability:With the project I was able to impact my students learning as well because they reallyliked what I did in my class with my action research. I enjoyed my action researchbecause I could see how that actually worked in my class instead of just writing theoriesabout it…there was a larger degree of accountability as a result of it for sure. Becauseyou knew that in the end that was your crowning achievement and you had to show thesteps along the way.The 24 summaries of the action research projects, presented in the Final Report, often end withthe graduate’s reflections on action research. They clearly show the value of action research asa practical form of professional development that also impacts the community in which it isenacted. It is more than “book knowledge,” engaging the learner in active learning in afamiliar context. In this sense, action research resonated with Aboriginal and northernstudents, for whom traditional learning is more about listening and doing, than applying experttheories.From the extensive engagement with the action research project, the graduates alsolearned much about themselves. The summaries presented in the Final Report demonstratemany new self-understandings that emerged for these northern educators over the course of theproject work.It was noted, too, that the integration of the action research project with the rest of theprogram was the “glue” in making the program both meaningful and relevant. Having to takeaction meant that the program had a built in accountability measure that both motivated thestudents and provided the material for dialogue in their classes.The interview and questionnaire data along with the action research reports providesolid evidence that action research provided a format for effective professional learning thathad an “Aboriginal feel” to it.15

Aboriginal and northern perspectives as the context for learning: “There is such athing as an Aboriginal point of view.” There is no doubt for these graduates that the programwas framed in Aboriginal and northern perspectives. This was achieved primarily through acourse delivery design with the action research project as the focus. The projects, rooted in thenorthern communities, exposed Aboriginal knowledge in every class and discussion. As onegrad put it, “the experts were already there in the group.” In other words, the orientation of theprogram came from the northern students themselves. Instructors attempted to link coursecontent to the students’ projects by providing ideas and theories to help them look at their workdifferently. As well, every course engaged the students in small group discussions that drewout the students’ diverse knowledge and experience. There was overwhelming recognition byAboriginal students that the program “honored our knowledge” and validated their identity.Several grads mentioned that they did not experience the anger that sometimesaccompanies discussion of difficult topics such as racism, residential schools, and colonialism.A comment by one of the grads was shared by a number of others: “This group was waybeyond that; they were in a ‘going to conquer the future’ but ‘not forget the past’ mentality.”Others suggested that the shock of these topics from other educational experiences had wornoff and they were now comfortable with these topics, but also interested in moving on topositive action.Although students on the west side of the North could have applied for the program inMeadow Lake, one of the Aboriginal students from that area said that she “wouldn’t have gotthe same value out of it…the North…we’re not close to ML only geographically.” She thoughtthat whether Aboriginal or not, “all experienced the long travel…the common experiences,northern lifestyle, the weather, it impacts daily life…the whole northern communal life andfriendliness…the openness and sharing continued in the class.”Several students noted that they felt comfortable using their Aboriginal language asnecessary when conversing in small group discussions. It was often suggested that theNORTEP environment gave them permission to do that.Students also appreciated the mix of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal educators in theprogram. Commenting on non-Aboriginals, one student observed that it is “good to have a mixbecause there are people who come to the North to make it their home,” and that this gave“wide perspectives in the cohort” and “varying experiences” as well as “people who haveexperienced colonialism first hand.”Reflecting the view of many of the other Aboriginal students in the program, one of thestudents suggested that it was valuable to have the cohort made up of both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students:I like the fact there was a mix. And that's because I think it's extremely important thataboriginality be celebrated and be embraced and all of these things, but I think what'smore important is that we work together to make sure that aboriginal education can bewhat it can be.16

When one of the Aboriginal students was asked why the non-Aboriginal students feltcomfortable in the Aboriginal dominated cohort, he replied, “Because I think they worked withthe First Nations people…they knew our issues really well, and I think that’s what made themcomfortable.” He, then, gave examples of the connections the non-Aboriginal educators hadmade with the Aboriginal educators.It is evident from the interviews that the program had an impact on the minority non-Aboriginal group of educators, too. For some, being able to see issues from an Aboriginalpoint of view was seen as beneficial. One student provided an example:Well, I think because we were collaborating and learning together. I mean, people wereone and the same. We were working together—common interests. I think that beingpart of a program with the number of aboriginal students in it that I'm definitely goingto see projects and thinking that comes from an aboriginal point of view.Discussion outside of class with an Aboriginal colleague, who became a sounding board forone of the non-Aboriginal students, helped her better understand the colonialism that has takenplace in the North:We came to start to discuss an awful lot of things…that sometimes I didn't think aboutit, which is what we tend to do. And then eventually you move into it…I understandthat yes, there are privileges that I had, and it doesn't make me a bad person or anythinglike this.One of the non-Aboriginal graduates suggested that the predominance of Aboriginalstudents made a positive difference for him. When asked about what kind of a difference theprogram would have had if the Aboriginal students had been in the minority, here responded:“I think you would have seen more of the traditional university environment.” He suggestedthat it would have been more competitive, and went on to explain:And I think that’s one thing that the aboriginals do and some of the class had on us thata lot of us had come from the non-aboriginal culture didn’t have and I, you know, Idon’t know if they realize it or not but their spirit of community and helping each otherand the greater good I really think that’s where it came from because it was a culturalelement that they brought in and their way of doing things.One grad mentioned that he “came in to the program already proud of who I am, Ididn’t need the program to do that. In fact, he felt that he learned more about “the other side”including using reading and writing skills more effectively. His advice is that Aboriginalpeople should accept that they are a minority: “Accept it and use it as your strength.”In several interviews, these northern educators also mentioned a new respect fornorthern communities brought about by the sharing of experiences in group discussions:We are living in a time where we are so devalued as people or as northerners that youknow, the world needs to know that we are just like everybody else in some senses.And in other cases we are very different. And I really felt good knowing that there is17

such strength in [name of community] and such strength in [two other communities]and you know, it was like an army of silent, well, not silent, I would say, like an armyof I guess learners who really valued where they come from.For the Aboriginal students, the validation of Aboriginal identity was a common refrainin the interviews. Aboriginal knowledge was regularly shared in class group discussions,partly as a result of action research topics involving that knowledge. Because of varyingperspectives, elaboration on this knowledge occurred and, in time, students became verycomfortable sharing even in the presence of the non-Aboriginal students. The non-Aboriginalstudents were most impressed with how much they learned from their fellow Aboriginal peers.Locating the program at the NORTEP center in La Ronge, also gave the Community-Based Master’s Program a stamp of Aboriginality. Many in the cohort did their undergraduatework at NORTEP and appreciated the Aboriginal orientation of that program. The Northernlocation of the program, ensuring exclusively northerner participation, also validated northernlanguage and culture, along with a new appreciation of northern communities.Learning to use technology: “I think I made the transition to technology.”Technology was an important part of the design of the program to prepare the students for thetwo winter courses, which were offered online in order to eliminate winter travel. As well, theuse of WebCT, including a discussion forum to link students when back in their homecommunities, was built into the program to support a strong learning community. Students inthe program exhibited a wide range of computer skills. A few neophytes were barely able todo more than turn the computer on, while a few were proficient users frequented socialnetworks for personal and professional use. Technology learning in the program occurred inthe northern context where the infrastructure had been developed later than in the South, givingpeople less experience and more problematic connectivity depending on the location, as well asfewer support services. All of these factors created greater barriers to learning technology thanwould normally be experienced in the South.Most everyone interviewed admitted their use of technology had vastly improved whilein the program. Technology was introduced as it was needed over the course of the programand students “felt very safe and supportive” and “could learn from what other people weredoing.” The grads made frequent reference to now using the internet, WebCT, and social sitesin their work, like the teacher, for example, who uses technology “to contact authors of books.A common sentiment, in the words of a teacher was that technology had “opened up the world”to her and her students.A number of the students in the cohort had difficulty adapting to technologyparticularly when taking the two online courses:And when we first started doing the online classes, I was very uncomfortable online. Ididn’t feel there was the interaction at first, between the professor and myself or theother students. I was really uncomfortable, but I kind of looked at it like a distanteducation modular thing, and then once I got my head into that state of mind, then itwas okay. And then the next one we took was great because you could actually see your18

instructor through Skype, and then there was no problem at all. I think I made thetransition to technology.Coming into the program, she claims she was a novice in the area of IT, that is, she could usethe computer for word processing, could email but couldn’t attach documents, and wasreluctant to use a cell phone. She states: “I was always worried that I was going to wrecksomething.” After graduating her IT use has expanded exponentially.But I learned so much and it’s so amazing. There’s a huge amount of free resources outthere for kids with special needs – everybody. It’s amazing. And I’m not afraid to tryand use it anymore, and now I have a SmartBoard and laptops and digital video camerasand cameras and scanners. I even use a software program that’s a picture-symbolprogram that you can get images offline for the kids so that they can have acommunication system that they can read.One of the graduates expressed a new respect for the technological knowledge today’sstudents possess:The master’s program has taught us that maybe, hey, we’re not the high mighty peoplethat we think we are as teachers; that we should be able to learn from other people, fromthe students. And you know, just thinking about that, I thought, “The teachers couldreally learn a lot about technology if they would just let the kids take the lead.”Members of the cohort generally enjoyed communicating with one another and sharing ideasthrough the WebCT discussion forum once back in their home communities. One grad said,“You could read their papers and you shared. We did that with the literacy [course]. We had aWiki space and we put our essays in there.”There were a lot of examples given of changed practices in classrooms as a result of thetechnology component of the program. Specifically mentioned was the use of digital photos inprimary classrooms. At the other end of the educational spectrum, a teacher educator in thecohort found other uses for technology with her students:I could see the potential that it had for teaching in the classroom –for preserving andrecording knowledge that could be shared with other people – for actually respectingoral tradition because it could be recorded, and I knew that that was really importantespecially with my students. And so that was one of the things. I took it into theclassroom. We managed to get our own cameras.An administrator who was a novice with technology built a school website utilizing IT skillsdeveloped in the program:And I’ve even went to building, getting a website built for our school. More like parentcommunication so putting that out there as well as another way of communicating withparents and it was just something I sat down and did one night.19

She also appreciated having to take one of the courses online and plans to pursue an arts degreeby taking online courses, something she said “I wouldn’t be scared to try now.”Even though the graduate students recognized the increased benefits from technology intheir practice, they realized that it doesn’t replace face-to-face interaction. And there was nogeneral consensus on how technology should be placed in the program. Although somestudents wished there had been an introductory technology course early on in the program,others thought that it was “better to mix technology…as needed…one type of technology at atime.”Students definitely identified significant knowledge and skill development in the area oftechnology that have enhanced their professional practice. Several students mentioned thatthey are now considered the technology expert in their schools and are often called upon toassist with troubleshooting when something goes wrong. Just like the collaborative learningthat goes on at summer camp, these students learned to use technology from one anotherthroughout the program.Curriculum and structure of the program: “Just like I’m weaving a blanket--it allcomes together.”Curriculum: Combining expert and northern knowledge. The students recognizedthat the curriculum was a combination of expert knowledge in the course content, delivered bysouthern instructors, and collective northern Aboriginal knowledge brought to class by thesenorthern educators. They also perceived that the program was structured to allow these twosets of knowledge to interact through dialogue that occurred in group discussions, and also inthe process of carrying out the action research project. This teacher expressed her experiencesin the program as follows: “Just like I’m weaving a blanket—it all comes together—that’s theimage I keep seeing in my head…no part was separate from each other, they were all woventogether.”Another student viewed the curriculum as “this process of sharing knowledge andgaining knowledge from others.” Another, when asked what themes should stay in theprogram, suggested that the program be seen as a journey:I would give them that same metaphor, the yellow brick road [action researchtextbook]. They are starting out in steps, finishing the masterpiece. They are startingout in steps to get somewhere, going somewhere, because that’s how it was. Iremember the first month, the first week when we were there. This is the first step of anincrementally larger place where you’re going, and getting the project itself done.Students generally appreciated the broader foundational and contextual look ateducation that would be expected of a graduate program, and yet the emphasis on Aboriginalpedagogy “and how different our schools are from down South and how can we as teachers putthat into play.” There were concepts such as colonialism that surfaced in several courses thathad an impact on the students: “The huge affects of colonialism…having that awareness hashelped understand some of the issues we face and where people are coming from.”20

Broader frameworks such as School PLUS served to inform their practice:Like I hadn’t even heard about School PLUS [before]. And then all of a sudden, lookingat that major work…and how you could involve your community more. That whole bigdocument, I still have it. Like with the administration, this is what I should do. Ishould involve the interagency. Get their support, and tell them what my plans are andthe whole idea of school planning. I saw that as the way to involve people.The curriculum of the program was seen as empowering by a number of the graduates asreflected in this comment:It was going there —you're learning about yourself. You're learning with others.You're healing with others—Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal…it's essentially looking inmany ways at injustice, and then taking that, and then looking at ways of welldecolonizing the curriculum.Action research was central to the curriculum. A project-based master’s, as opposed to acourse-based route, was well received. It was the glue that held the coursework together:I think anybody could take a course. It will be like taking some St. John ambulancetraining. You could go there. Take like eight hours, whatever, and you get yourcertificate. Big deal. But this way, you were always forced to think about your paper,your paper, your paper, developing that.The emphasis in the program curriculum on connecting schools to the community was not loston these students. This theme permeated the coursework and all of the instructors had aninterest in developing it through various theoretical lenses.Culture of the program. The graduates claimed that the focus on unity permeated theprogram and helped create a strong community of learners. This comment represents thesentiment of many in the program: “I think the focus on unity, how we create unity throughcommunity-based…. having that as kind of the general theme, I felt was what brought ustogether as people.”Referring to the culture of the program, a student compared the graduate program to herown undergraduate experience at NORTEP: “It was the same feeling as when I was atNORTEP; it was very friendly.” Another student talked about the meaningfulness of theprogram for her:And I think the value that I really found was learning that what I knew intrinsically hasvalue in the real world. What I believed to be true for myself always, was acceptedsomewhere in the real world in terms of my culture, in terms of what my upbringingwas like, culturally, traditionally because in the city, I didn’t really see the value ofliving off the land because I was never taught that in class or in school.Learning and pedagogy. The students appreciated that their knowledge was valued inthe learning process. Echoing the sentiments of many of the students, learning, according to21

one teacher, involved “the focus of using our abilities, and not focusing on what we need butwhat we already have in our cultures and in the people that we are.” Another put it this way:We always built on what we already knew and I know with 15 years as a kindergartenteacher you always build on where you’re at and what you know and that was one goodthing, too, about the master’s program. We built on what we already knew… And to melearning makes sense that way, when you can make connections, when you can connectit to your career, your life, you have to make that connection with students and that’swhat this program did with us.The reflective component of the program was definitely recognized by the graduates asinstrumental to their learning. One of the grads commented on this aspect:So, of course…you’re reflecting on all these things, which you never do when you’reworking. You never have that opportunity where you actually could go, like, into acamp like we were in La Ronge. It was a time to reflect, to think about the differenceswe made, and I think all the different projects came out of that —the success stories thatwe had. We were putting them together finally, and it wasn’t like the experience that Ihad when I first went to university.In terms of the process of learning, this student recognizes that the program structuredsupport and yet independence.The content was there, and the support was in the content of the classes, but we weregiven the opportunity for independence with support, I guess is the way I'd look at it.And we were definitely encouraged to look at our questions and inquiry. I mean, thatwas the approach and was very evident. And at first that was hard.The graduates appreciated the variety of instructional approaches used by theinstructors. Individual and group presentations took place in many of the courses. Althoughquite common in graduate programs, what came across over and over was the emotionalinvestment that took place in the presentations. Interviewees noted that this activity involvedmuch more than simply transmitting information. A number of the grads told stories aroundtheir presentations and these always contained an emotional side. It turned out that the classpresenters on a number of occasions required emotional support from their colleagues due tosome difficulty going on in their lives at the time. Learning that engaged the Aboriginalstudents had this emotional element. Active learning was central to the pedagogy of theinstructors.Every instructor who came set us up for success in varied ways like learning aboutcurricula and sharing that information through drama—through writing, throughPowerPoint presentations. And to learn that emotions are so closely connected to whatpeople are learning and what you're teaching.The instructors in the program were, for the most part, highly rated by the students, asindicated in the results of the questionnaire.22

Administration and organization. A number of administrative factors were mentionedas contributing to the success of the program such as selection and coordination:I do think that there was some real thought put into the selection. I think part of it wasthe fact that we are northerners and I don't like to be cliché about it, but there is anattitude of doing things when you get together and you have a purpose of just doingthings together and finding a way to problem solve.I think the fact that the program was coordinated—we had the support fromuniversity and from you. You came in with an expectation that this was going to work,whether or not you really felt that all the time, I don't know, but that's what wasprojected to us. It’s going to work.One of the administrators in the program talked about the importance of the advisor to theprogram:I cannot—I’ve said this a number of times, but I can’t emphasize it enough, theimportance of the fact that you were there as the overseer of the program monitoring theday-to-day sort of thing. I guess that gave us peace of mind—all of us, I’m sure…Ithink all of us felt that we could deal with the bigger things because you were takingcare of all the little things.Hardships. Getting through the program was difficult for some of the grads. Theseindividuals talked about the hardships of taking the program and identified various supportsthat helped them. One student claimed that the program took quite a toll on her. With a youngfamily, she had to do the work late at night: “There were times when I didn’t get to bed until3:00 a.m. and then had to get up to work at 7:00 a.m.”A special educator referred to the notion of balance as a theme she saw running throughthe program that helped her overcome the hardships of the program:Balance was important, because I remember you even saying, in the first class that wehad, “It’ll be really important that you learn how to balance your life and keep yourselfwell.” I recall that very clearly, and I thought, “Okay, I can do this.”Making sense of students’ experiences of the program. The five components of howstudents experienced the program, together, form a picture of what the program meant to thesenorthern educators. That picture reveals an innovative program that diverged significantlyfrom graduate programs in the South. It capitalized on the students’ Aboriginal and northernculture and knowledge, on their experience as educators, and on their collective commitment tomake their northern communities better places. Students experienced the program in ways thatwere more Aboriginal-like and northern-like, in terms of relationships, learning, and programenvironment, than would have been possible in the South.First, relationships were valued as a key element in the learning process; in fact,relationships were seen as an integral part of learning in a way more commensurate withAboriginal culture. The cohort model facilitated the building of relationships over time23

through the camp-like experience with social interaction after class hours and later, throughonline contact with one another once back in their home communities. Students helped oneanother through significant personal challenges. Instructors of the various courses created thevenue for ongoing dialogue around topics related to students’ interests using various theoreticallenses. The unity of the group eclipsed the differences in perspectives and beliefs thatinevitably emerged even within this relatively homogeneous northern group.Second, a learning model employing active learning through action research, as well asongoing small group dialogue and presentations to their peers, appealed to the students as moreAboriginal-like than the common transmission approach of most graduate programs. Sinceinstructors were selected who were interested in Aboriginal and northern education, theirpedagogy was characterized by a culturally sensitive thoughtfulness and tactfulness. Usingcourse theories and ideas as lenses to look at northern issues enabled deeper learning to occur.For example, in this cohort, the theory of colonization generated many divergent examples thatwere based in each student’s experience and reality. Being able then to take this newknowledge and understanding into their practice through the action research project provideddeeper understanding of their practice, their context, and even themselves as educators.Class presentations, were often mentioned in the interviews as particularly effective forthe students’ learning. Evident in the interviews that relate to doing presentations, studentsspecifically noted that this approach engaged them emotionally, as well as cognitively. Thepresentations also, often, had an Aboriginal focus due to their personalized nature. In this way,the presentations served to strengthen Aboriginal and northern identity in the cohort.The role played by NORTEP cannot be overemphasized. It provided a safeenvironment for the sharing of Aboriginal knowledge and perspectives with each otherincluding non-Aboriginal educators. Although it played a relatively minor role by providingclassroom space, as well as accommodation from time to time, more importantly it embeddedthe master’s program in a familiar northern educational context. With the majority of thestudents having completed their BEd at NORTEP in the past, and with the other northerneducators being familiar with this well known institution, the cohort developed an affinity forthe master’s program as “one of theirs.” Delivering the program out of NORTEP was anotherway that Aboriginal and northern identity was valued and affirmed by the program.Participating in a community of learners, exploring Aboriginal and northernperspectives, doing action research projects, and experimenting with technology for learning,all within a curriculum shaped for them, had a strong impact on these northern educators. Thefollowing section elaborates on the impact on them personally, professionally, and in terms oftheir relationship to the community.Impact: Personal and Professional Change, and Relationship to the CommunityPersonal change: “I am the change I wished to see.”Increased confidence. The most common term used by the graduates to describe theimpact of the program on them personally was “confidence.” They identified the following24

five specific sources for new-found confidence: believing in themselves; acquiring new skillsand knowledge; success with their action research project; completion of the master’s program;and validation of their Aboriginal/northern identity and knowledge.A common experience, especially for those students raised in the North, was thediminishment of confidence through past school experiences. For many in the program, eventhough they have become teachers, there was still a lingering self-doubt that remained becauseof negative past experiences with schooling. However, their new-found confidence nurturedby the program has enabled them to take on new challenges in their schools and homecommunities.One of these new challenges, cited by these educators, was doing presentations toothers. The coursework in the program required a number of individual and grouppresentations to the class that the graduates claimed prepared them for presentations back homeand even at conferences. One of the graduates was invited to do a presentation at a conferencein Hawaii and was very pleased with the outcome. She attributes her increased confidence tothe program:[The program] had a lot to do with creating my confidence, like the awareness that I’min control of everything that I know and also, I am in control of whether or not I want toshare it. And I guess, the master’s program was a venue for me to share what I know,but also, for me to practice.A non-Aboriginal student saw herself as being more confident when talking about difficultissues due to her personal growth in the program:I feel that I can talk better about the issues of residential schools and about issues thathave to do with White relations as well. I feel I can talk quite openly about that andlook at myself more critically, but not get as – sometimes I used to think, "Well – but Ididn't do that." It was more the defense aspect of it. I don't think about the defenseaspect anymore.One of the administrators talked about the impact of the program on her beliefs about herself.She attributed a strengthened confidence in herself to her instructors in the program who shefelt believed in her and the others:And it took a while. It took until that fall for me to realize one of the main things that Ilearned, and I said it at grad, was I learned to believe in myself. I’ve always had peoplethat believed in me…I know that a lot of thought was put into who was going to teachthese classes and what classes we were taking, but they believed in us. They believedthat we could do it.Another grad commented on breaking through self-imposed barriers to become more confident:Personally, I feel like the boundaries I imposed on my self have either been broadened,they have been pushed back, or in places they disintegrated, meaning, my confidence25

has really improved or increased. I’ve started to do things that internally I would talkmyself out of, like sharing my Master’s project.Stronger identity: “I think I like me better now than what I was before.” For some,the experience of looking back on their lives during the program had a profound impact ontheir identity. One of the grads recalled the assignment in one of the courses that helped herappreciate her heritage:And I had to go back and rediscover myself. So rediscovering who you are, finding outwho you truly are, where you come from, and why you do the things you do the way youdo them was truly very, very empowering, finding out how I modeled myself through mydad and my grandfather. Because they were true environmentalists. They were theconnection to the land, and that’s what I am. I connect with the land.Through the assignments in courses involving exploring her biography, she also experienced anew self-acceptance for her use of English.And because I was writing about my language, and learning English as a secondlanguage--I had to really go back and really think about how I was immersed in Cree, andhow I learned English. And how I'm still learning English. And also with my English, itdoesn't matter how I pronounce words now. Before, I was self conscious about how Ipresented in English. And I didn't, every time I made a mistake, I was--It bothered me,yeah, but now, it doesn't. Like, I can speak anyway I want as long as I get the messageacross.Reconnecting in a new way to the North, to family, and to others, was also a part of personalchange in the form of stronger identity development for these northern educators: “It's mademe feel better about being a northerner—reflecting on the North. I've always had a very strongfeeling for the North, but I feel even more connected to it after having done the project.”Pride as an Aboriginal person increased for many in the program. Aboriginal spirituality, “thebelief that we can help one another,” was experienced. Over and over participants claimed thattheir Aboriginality was valued in the program.A non-Aboriginal graduate with many years of northern teaching experience talked aboutexperiencing a sense of belonging, being accepted as a northerner, from being in the program:It was probably one of the first times in the North that I felt like I belonged, that it gaveme a sense of that the knowledge that I gathered over the previous 20 years was actuallyvalid and worthwhile rather than it being the knowledge of somebody from Edmontoncoming into Northern [Saskatchewan].Enhanced skills, knowledge, and understanding. For some students, seeingimprovement in their reading and writing was a sign of personal change, as one grad put it, “theability to use the English language better in this society.” Several students expressed theconviction that their use of English had improved over the course of the program:26

I still use the work that I wrote: Blueberry pie and dandelion crowns. I read it and still, Ididn’t think I’d be able to write that. And then I read it and I still broke down, becauseit’s a little bit of when I was growing up, and it’s only three-quarters of a page. I mean,every part of what my expectations were, in terms of becoming a better listener, areader, a writer, more confidence—I mean, all that… I can share my work now.For a graduate who was not directly involved in education, the primary impact, personally, wasthe development of information skills, that is, “being able to look up information” and to thenuse the information to accomplish a task, a skill that has produced increased confidence in himand his employer.Gaining new knowledge and understanding in the program was seen to betransformative by the students. This student appreciated a new understanding of colonialismand the forgiveness needed that she sees in traditional knowledge: “I heard [about] colonialismbut I’ve never really understood what it was, and then going through the program I understoodwhat it was. So my main focus now is to decolonize what’s been going on here.”A non-Aboriginal graduate thought that the program helped him see the North andAboriginal people in a new informed way. He recognized that he had changed as a result ofthese new perspectives:The thing that, for me, stands out is my appreciation of what’s happened to aboriginalpeople in Canada. My understanding of the problem is so much better informed now.My understanding of colonialism, like, I had always thought of colonialism assomething of yesterday, that we were past that. I hadn’t understood it as a problem ofthe present and that realization—I even wrote it in, I think, one of my journal entries foryou—that the realization that I was a colonizer and that happened for me really quicklyand it was, like, that realization that maybe the problem isn’t in the community. Maybethe problem’s in those of us who are supposed to serve the community and tounderstand…I went into it looking for answers to change people. I came out of itchanged.The inclusion in the program of a variety of appropriate theoretical lenses enabled many of thegraduates to look at issues differently:You looked at things with a different lens. That’s how transformative it was, becausenow, because you always looked at things with your own lens, and when you look at itfrom a different perspective, you’ve got a different understanding, a differentknowledge gained, I guess, that you see.Improved health and relationships. Personal change was also expressed in terms ofbecoming healthier. A grad claimed, “I got healthier…even spiritually, physically andemotionally.” She attributes the time allotted in the program for self-reflection as leading tobetter personal health. Similar comments include: “I learned to look more critically at myself”in a variety of areas such as parenting; “Much more reflective”; “more curious and spendingmore and more time on professional reading.”27

Personal change was also described in terms of healing when revisiting early memoriesduring various course activities. A number of grads became more engaged in sorting outpersonal issues in their lives over the course of the program:Well, personally, it’s made me grow more as an individual, and if I wasn’t maturebefore, I certainly feel that I am now… when I took my BEd, when I was done, kind ofleft the books and thought, “Okay, I’m not going do this anymore. I’m done readingthis kind of stuff.” The only reading I did after that was for my work. And then after Itook the master’s program—and during—I made a lot of changes in myself, like to helpmyself, because there were some internal issues that needed to be resolved there.Establishing networks and building stronger relationship with other professionalsduring the program was recognized as a marker of personal growth:Having shared with and gaining knowledge with many of the others I've become part of anetwork…people who work in education in the North.…being in the master's programcertainly give me that opportunity personally and professionally to grow, but doing it in asetting where there was so many other northerners and learning with them and from themin that context.During their action research projects, several teachers in the program started invitingelders into their classrooms to develop stronger relationships with the community. Thisparticular teacher talked about gaining respect for elders and also about developing a greatersensitivity to people living in poverty:The other thing I saw—that personally that I came out with was total respect forelders…I had started inviting them into my classroom for storytelling and I saw there wassuch a disconnect between the kids and the elders. So in trying to develop thoserelationships and those connections, I developed an overwhelming respect forelders….The other thing I developed was a real tremendous understanding of people wholive in poverty. I never saw that before. I always just saw myself. Me, my kids, myhome.When asked how the program had contributed to those changes, she identified the Circle ofCourage teachings that were presented in several of the courses.Empowerment and Transformation. The terms empowerment and transformationwere used by many of the graduates in the interviews to capture the personal impact of theprogram on them. This teacher suggests that being empowered by new knowledge is reflectedin her life becoming richer in meaning: “That master's program empowered us…. I guessknowledge is power, and it helped all of us look at where—just where we were and how we gotto be where we are—and to give life that much of a richer meaning.”Another grad talked about how the program empowered her to get through a number ofvery difficult personal struggles she faced while taking the master’s program:28

It gave me real stability in my own personal life. It gave me a sense of independenceand the courage to move forward no matter what I was dealing with in my life, and tosay oh well, I’ll keep going…So it made me a very, very strong human being. I becamereally resilient to whatever happens.Transformation was often expressed as the ability to reflect on and analyze theirpractice, a noticeable change brought about by the program. Transformation was alsoexpressed as the ability to look at teaching with different lenses: “I certainly look at curriculumwith different eyes now.” This teacher mentioned that while working on a curriculumcommittee, she recognized that children’s strengths were not being taken into account in thediscussions and she was able to do something about this. She attributes this new way oflooking to “reflection back to your practice” that was brought about by the action researchproject.Others recognized transformation of their practice by their students’ response to theirteaching. One of the teachers now sees that “there's more involvement with the students –them taking more of a leadership role – them taking more responsibility.”Often the notion of personal transformation was expressed by both teachers andadministrators as feeling more confident to initiate change in the school as a result of new ideasfrom the program. This administrator suggests that his leadership has been transformed and isbeing taken more seriously by others in the school:I would like to think that I’m better because of the things that I’ve learned, and definitelyI think being an administrator now, I don’t know, I just feel very empowered…Likepeople think of you as a leader more than they ever did, so transformative in that way.Leadership development. For many, opportunities to provide leadership in theirprofessional setting came as a result of a personal change in their leadership abilities during theprogram. Leadership was often experienced when called upon to do presentations or take onnew roles. Leadership also manifested itself in a willingness to try new things such as theprincipal who found herself more willing to do away with an antiquated suspension policy thatran against her beliefs about helping students stay in school.The graduates generally thought that the program helped to develop both educationaland community leadership for the North. A wonderful image is described by an administratorin her paper—throwing a stone into the water to cause a ripple effect far beyond that firstsplash—to illustrate how people can exercise leadership by influencing when one is able andwhen it is needed. She used this image to capture the influence of her project on her schooland community.Many of the graduates, including non-administrators, now find themselves involved inenhanced roles that demand a higher level of leadership than previously experienced. Theirheightened confidence enables them to tackle new tasks. For example, a number of graduatesreported being called upon to speak and present to various audiences, a task that formerly wasdifficult for them. They agreed that they are now perceived as leaders to a greater extent thanbefore. “Before this I would have said ‘oh, no, I could never do this.’ I have my master’s for29

heaven’s sake so I can do it.” Several teachers and administrators talked specifically aboutpresentations that they now are giving.I feel like I’m in leadership, because I’m able to speak more. I am able to have thatconfidence and what-not, whereas before I was more of a listener. So whether you do itat a community meeting or a group setting, smaller group setting, I think that’sleadership and that’s what I’m able to do now.Other teachers talked about their new roles: A curriculum consultant claimed that:“professionally, too, I have more confidence in the curriculum writing that I do.” Another gradthought that the program prepared her to consider other educational roles such as“superintendent, consulting, any of those things. So it transformed me into opening my goals,opening my horizons. I can think of other things.”For a number of teachers, they felt colleagues now perceived them as leaders because ofchanges in their practice:Professionally, though, people here are interested now. They are interested in learningabout what my presentation was. They are interested in learning how to make a powerpoint presentation. They are interested in more work online and I don’t see myselfprofessionally as an IT person, but I have skills that I can share, so more people areasking and more people are curious and more people are saying, I can see that you havedone very well. I want to do very well also.Another teacher recognized her leadership role because others were showing new interest toher approach to teaching in the functional integrated program:Well, as a professional, Saskatchewan Community Association for Community LivingDivision is using my program as a model in Saskatchewan now, so they use the type ofprogram that I’ve put together for the functional integrated program, and they come tome for ideas and different ways to approach various situations for kids throughoutSaskatchewan.In terms of the Curriculum and Instruction focus of the program, as opposed to anEducational Administration focus, an administrator commented that “it's good for people to gothrough a program for curriculum and instruction—gives you a much broader range rather thanfocusing right on just administration.” Several grads specifically mentioned that this focus wasnot considered as detrimental to the development of leadership in the program because “theaction research aspect of it had you actually do the leadership and become a leader in order towork with people. And to learn the skills that a leader has to have.”Acknowledging that the program did not have a specific leadership course, one of theadministrators in the program suggested that he learned a lot about leadership from theinstructors as well as the other students: “I think we learned lots about leadership from thefolks that you chose to deliver the courses, to the folks that were in the program. The fact that,like I say, we were a family…We were a community of learners.”30

Professional change: “Picking up a moccasin that you'd been wearing for a longtime and maybe creating a new vamp.”Rejuvenation: New purpose, opportunities and practices. Students reportedexperiencing a narrowing of the gap between beliefs and practice. This teacher comments that:I am no longer a walking contradiction. I believe the things that are happening here iswhat I believe. And to get that support from my coworkers, they see the impact, thethings that I do in the classroom, plus the other programs that the girls are involved in,how they’re all interconnected and how we’re going for that same [goal].Another teacher described her new sense of purpose in terms of seeing her work of the last fiveyears from a new perspective:Before, I never knew how to look at—like when I was feeling overwhelmed or, like Iwanted things to happen in big ways, and I still want things to happen in big ways, but Ihave the ability to break it down into smaller pieces. Before, it would just be one greatbig, huge, overwhelming chunk. And I can see progress better than I could before.For some, the program enabled them to pursue a personal dream that involved taking ona new professional role. One grad said, “Never in a million years did I think I’d be theprincipal.” And another grad, a new community council consultant, talked about how she wasprepared for her new role by the program:[The program] really educated me in the community school philosophy. I’m very welltrained in that whole area. It’s very easy for me to look at attendance problems and sayoh, we can improve that using this area of community schools….So in every area ofeducation I’m connected to community schools.A new school division core curriculum consultant claimed that the program helped toprepare her for a new role: “everything that I did in the graduate studies fed right into preparingme for this particular job that I’m in…the courses fit me perfectly because this is what I’mdoing now…. it opened up the door.”Another administrator attributes her new role involving applying for grants directly tothe master’s program experience:If I didn’t take this master’s program I wouldn’t be sitting here writing my third grantproposal, grant applications. Which is absolutely nothing for me. The research—Iknow how to get the latest information. I know how to collect the data that they neednow.Her new administrative practice of sharing leadership with the staff has also been influenced bywhat she experienced in the program. She claimed that:31

As the principal I don’t see myself as the boss and you do as I say and these are myrules and this is how we’re going to do this. We work together—we find personalstrengths in everybody and build on them. And that’s what we learned through theprogram.Other administrators also talked about becoming more collaborative in leadership. Forexample, one administrator said he now deals with difficult behaviour in the school in a morereflective and collaborative way by involving the staff.Teachers too talked about rejuvenation of their practice through exposure to a host ofdifferent teaching strategies for “purposeful teaching.” One claimed, “I can think of differentexamples where I took that the very next day and used it in my classroom and it was amazing.So what I was always looking for was better ways to teach.”A special educator in the cohort wanted to see if multiple intelligence theory coupledwith learning style theory would work with her students. Adopting a more holistic form ofteaching, she was satisfied with the response from her students:I thought, well, using the two approaches in combination, and looking at the emotionalstate of the children, and watching how they were in that type of situation, compared toa sit-down at your desk and learn through that approach, they’d do better—and itworked, and it was nice for them.One of the teachers in the cohort had found teaching somewhat boring after five or soyears. He found that the program rejuvenated him and attributed that to trying new approachesin his classroom that he was exposed to in the program:It was just monotonous, almost, like the repetition. And then when I started taking thatprogram and reading the new materials and stuff, on what teaching can do, it opened myeyes…you know, I was like, I’ve been sleeping, I think, in the past five years. And thenI opened my eyes and it rejuvenated me. It was like a fresh breath of air.Technology in particular has become a greater part of the professional practice of thegrads. Improved networking occurred through the development of new relationships in theprogram and learning new methods of technology for communication. Generally, the gradsrealized a higher level of competency and purpose in the use of technology. An administratorcommented that he found the internet useful in helping teachers. He also mentioned how hishorizons have been broadened by the many professional electronic contacts he has made:Yeah, I think the technology, for me, was the most important part of broadening myhorizons because, you know, like, there’s all this talk about PLCs [ProfessionalLearning Communities]. I tell people that Twitter’s my PLC. I have gone to Twitterand asked questions when I’ve wanted information on something. I’ve gotten someanswers through Twitter. I’ve been pointed in directions through Twitter. I’ve comeacross blogs.32

Since enrolling in the program, he communicates more by email with his staff than in the past,and as well, uses other internet approaches such as wikis with them:We’re connected and we work together. We’re in the same community and we still getonline with each other, too, so—and little messages, speeds communications…And soI’ve turned to e-mail and I send out a weekly e-mail with, you know, reminders ofthings coming up, things that need to be done and links to things that I’m being madeaware of that are professional development.Thinking differently and seeing the bigger picture. Many of the students talked aboutthinking differently about professional matters, which they attributed to their experiences in theprogram. As shown earlier, many talked about becoming more reflective about their practice.This graduate, however, shared that her thinking about education has become more critical:I’ve become a much, much deeper thinker, I’ll tell you that. Some people don’t reallyappreciate that about me now—especially friends, right, because now I’m overanalyzingeverything. Yeah, I really—you know, maybe if I was a thinker before the program,now I’m a really deep thinker. And it made me, you know, really think about like—totalk a little bit about my professional life, like it made me think more about theeducational system, and to look at it sometimes maybe a little bit critically. Becausewhen I go to visit the schools I see the kinds of things that are going on there, not onlypositive things, but negative things as well that are happening in the school as aninstitution.The graduates also reported that during the program they became more interested in thebroader context of education, “knowing the why and the wherefore” of practice. They enjoyedexposure to the “broad theories of education and perspectives of education.” One of the gradslooked at the issue of context in terms of “the political arena of education,” in order to realizethat “I can make a difference by educating people about how to accept people for their abilities,and drive in that way to improve education, especially in the special needs area.”A less experienced teacher, who admitted rigidly following the prescribed curriculumand textbooks when entering the program, commented that she became more interested in thestudents “and that made a big difference in the learning of the kids.” A vice-principal alsoexperienced a deeper interest in the children with problems:I just don’t see that negative behavior. I see how I can help those behaviors. Knowwhat I mean? Like how can I say something to help this kid. I’m more calm now… I’mmore open now because of the circle, where they belong. I want to know what this kidis missing. Like, I’m trying to see the whole child. I wonder what this child needs, or ismissing today.Change in relating to the community: “Like tilling a new garden.”New possibilities for relating to the community. In the interviews, there were manycomments expressing a deeper appreciation by these educators for their communities. Anumber of them suggested now having a bigger picture of interagency possibilities in the33

community, and for doing things differently than in the past. Speaking in her new role as acommunity developer, an administrator claimed that the program, especially the action researchproject, “helped me to help other people” through school/community council development.For one teacher, this stronger community connection has led to a “better understanding of howand why I do things in the classroom.” The bottom line for the grads is expressed in this claimoften heard during the interviews: “We want to make our communities better places.” Thegraduates suggested that this change can be accomplished by the school playing a stronger rolein the community breaking the isolation of schools so common in the past.It wasn’t uncommon to hear in the interviews that connecting to the community was anew experience for educators. One of the graduates, expressed this new experience “like tillinga new garden” because of all the new possibilities that emerged from her action researchproject.The 24 projects demonstrate the many ways that schools can be more closely linked tothe community. A number of the projects built stronger bridges to Elders using them as asource of knowledge by inviting them into the school and classrooms. Some projectsstrengthened relationships between schools and parents. Other projects involved communityorganizations in the school. Each of the graduates experienced a new orientation towards thecommunity through the interaction that emerged from the action research project.Ground breakers and role models. Several grads noted that their communities seethem as groundbreakers and role models for not only children and youth, but for adults as well.“I think I’m the only one from my community with a master’s degree,” said one teacher. Shenoted that since completing the program, other teachers also want to take graduate education.One of the graduates who has taken on a new role working with student teachersclaimed he is able to be a role model to his students because of his master’s experience.Specifically, when working with them on their writing, he is able to explain to them hismaster’s experience and the many revisions he undertook to finish his project: “So I findthere’s lots of things within the program itself that I find myself being able to relate to themand being able to share with those people as well.”The obstacles faced in the program by this teacher were kept in perspective bycontinuously remembering the special role the first master’s students play for northern youngpeople:Well, because we were a special bunch. You know, like when you’re brought togetherwith this program, and the reason why nobody quit is because we had a responsibility toone another, to the program, to make it a success. So this would not be a one-timething. So you want to make sure that no matter what happens in your life, whether it’s adeath, whatever, H1N1, like I had last year, that was not going to block because wewere going to finish… We had to finish so we could set up this road for others that willcome, and I’m hoping for a doctorate someday for these younger people. This is theroad for the future.34

This graduate sees the value of northern-based education programs and their effect oncommunities:I talk to people and they comment about the fact that 10 years ago, 20 years ago, if youlooked, in your own community even, you were lucky if you could find anundergraduate. And now we’ve got whole communities of people, like sometimes fivepeople in the community with a master’s. And so in terms of that, I think it has had animpact in that way, and my hope really is that by doing this kind of thing, that we’llopen other people’s hearts and minds to the prospects of a higher education.This awareness that the students in the program were working towards their master’s degree,not just for themselves, but for their community, appears to have given the accomplishmentgreater value and purpose.More attuned to community involvement in the school. Some of the grads reportedthat community participants in their action research study are now involved in the school to agreater extent. This grad describes how she increased parental involvement in the school:[We] created a parent support group, as well as we had a parent conference wherepeople came in and they talked about ways to help their children. Well, we had bothschools, the staff from both schools, so from the both schools the staff is about 120.And then we had about 30 parents. So there were workshops being given on how towork with a teacher, and the teacher how to work with the parents.A special educator who forged stronger connections to the community with her projectsaw the positive effects on students and parents from the community work placements: “itworks and parents are happier, kids are happier… they’re a bigger part of the community.”She commented that parents don’t talk now about taking their special needs children to theSouth for education.A number of the action research projects report that the authors formed broadernetworks with individuals and organizations in the community who have become usefulresources in the school.Some of the grads talked about how the program more strongly oriented them towardsthe community. This grad saw the program as better equipping her to continue her role ontown council:The difference I see is being able to offer more. I know with being on town council,one of the things, and I learned it through my program, is if you don’t have a vision, ifyou don’t know where you want to go, how are you going get there… this is how I seeworking with people, how I see working with kids. And then, of course, with thecommunity. That textbook by Bopp and Bopp [on sustainable communities]--I’ve takenthat to many council meetings now and we’ve talked about community building.35

Working in the field of Cree immersion, this grad revealed that working with thecommunity as a team, as stressed in the master’s program, is more effective in developing aprogram for a First Nation:You can't only have teachers, or you can't only have one group of people to try to start anew program. You need to work with a community of people. And when we worked asrepresenting consultants or curriculum developers or teachers and administrator andparents and elders, then you have a cohesive group to work with that will support theprogram initiatives. And I learned to do that by writing action research--by involving[the others], because I was so used to trying to do things in isolation by myself and itdidn't always work.An administrator talked about being more involved in outreach to the community byoffering online courses, an approach he studied in his action research project:And we have adults out there who want to upgrade who can no longer register in schooland they’re coming to us looking for answers. And so now I’ve put it in our communityschool budget. I tell adults who come here looking to take an online course, “And theschool will cover your registration.” So it’s not even a charge to them. So – and that’ssomething that came out of the community-based master’s.He also talked about ways he now communicates with the community:I have also looked at how I communicate with the community so I set up a Facebookaccount last year. We’ve got all this stuff that we want the community to know aboutand how do we communicate it? We go on the radio. That’s another thing I did. I tookon the radio show. I decided that people should hear from the principal. So I’m on aironce a week with a radio show. I get it recorded. It’s on our website so my motherlisten’s to it in BC.A special educator who used community placements for her students for a number ofyears, saw the impact of a renewed emphasis on these placements in her action researchproject:When I started the Master’s program, I didn’t think it was that important. Well, I didn’trealize how important it was. I didn’t feel that it was direct enough education orinstruction, like direct enough instruction… that it would be too vague for them. Thestudents themselves wouldn’t pick anything up from it, and really, what was the sense inthe community, but now I’ve found that there’s a huge sense of need for it, because thekids understand what they’re doing and they’re becoming really involved in their lifeskills, and they know what they’re doing. They’ve learned many things that I couldn’thave taught them in a classroom, and the community members are seeing how importantand valued they are as members of our community… The kids feel very confident andtheir emotional states are much more stable.36

An administrator stated in the interview that the program made her connect to thecommunity beyond her classroom walls. Before the program she noted that “I tried to do itwithin my own classroom.” Now she claims that people from the community are beginning toperceive the school as more community-minded since doing her action research project: “Andthey’re coming from the community working with us in the school so they can see that we’renot just for inside here but for the whole community.”Making sense of the impact of the program on the graduates. As noted earlier inthe survey results, the level of satisfaction for program components, outcomes, and teachingand learning, was extremely high. The interviews concerning program impact help to flesh outthat positive picture by showing that the students weren’t only satisfied with the program, butexperienced personal and professional change, as well as change in relating to the community.As seen in the subsection dealing with the personal impact of the program, thegraduates experienced a growth in confidence. Throughout this section, there are references tovarious aspects of the program that contributed to this new found confidence such ascompleting the action research project, feeling empowered by new skills and knowledge, andby more confidently embracing their Aboriginal and northern identities. Another factor thatappears to be linked to increased confidence is a new sense of belonging that was nurtured bythe program. Due to increased confidence, the graduates project themselves as being muchmore in control of their lives. They seem to have a more determined purpose. They seem tosee themselves more as leaders.The action research reports provide the best picture of how the graduates have changedprofessionally; however, these educators also talked about professional change in theinterviews. The impression of the graduates gained from this section on the professionalimpact of the program is best captured by the term rejuvenation. Although the actual term wasnever used in the interviews, many of the graduates talked about experiencing a new sense ofpurpose, implementing new practices, and taking on new roles and challenges. The image ofthe reworked moccasin shared at the beginning of this subsection certainly speaks to this notionof rejuvenation--making things new again.Although the grads did not speak about specific changes to their practice in theinterviews, such as the changes made as part of their action research project, they did talk in amore holistic way about their changed practices. They appear to have a developed a deepersense of what it means to be a professional, as evidenced by their awareness of othersincreasingly perceiving them as leaders. Having completed their graduate program, they seethemselves, now, thinking differently about education, which has meant taking on new rolesfor some of them, such as administration and consulting.Along with personal and professional changes, the graduates also experienced change inrelating to the community. In the interviews they attributed this change to the requirement thatthe action research projects connect the school and community in new ways. The final projectreports demonstrate these new connections to the community. The graduates also find theyhave been feeling a greater sense of responsibility to the community from being perceived asrole models who are creating new pathways for the young to follow in the future. For some of37

the graduates, another change in relating to the community comes from a new awareness thatthe community expects them to provide leadership in various ways. Several of them areinvolved in some form of community development through town council involvement or othercommunity organizations.Ripples of HopePossibilities for Northern Graduate Education: ReflectionsTravelling throughout the North to conduct interviews with the graduates brought backmany memories of similar travels when on staff with NORTEP. Three images are indeliblyetched on my memory from these most recent trips to the North. The first one occurred on theway up the West side on a dull dreary fall day. A few kilometres outside of La Loche, the skyopened up and the sun shone on the trees on both sides of the highway, creating a blazinggolden pathway into the community. The next image was experienced at dusk, a fewkilometres outside of Cumberland House, on my way South. Coming around a bend in theroad, the sky lit up with a stunning red sunset that promised a beautiful next day when I wouldbe travelling to Pelican Narrows. And the third image comes from the early morning when Iwas driving north of Prince Albert on the way to Sturgeon Lake. As the dark clouds passedafter a prolonged rain shower, a magnificent rainbow emerged out of a shining goldunharvested field arching high in the sky to eventually join a sun-soaked evergreen forest onthe other end. This rainbow appeared to be permanently painted on the sky, with every color asbrilliant as the next. These three images speak to me of hope and promise for the future of thechildren and youth in these communities, communities that are often marginalized in the mindsof people in this province.The faces of the northern educators in the Community-Based Master’s Program are alsoetched onto my memory. And even more than those amazing natural images of rainbows,sunshine, and sunsets, these human images represent to me the hope these educators bring tothe North. This report presents a collective image of these graduates, through the actionresearch descriptions and their experiences in the program, showing their hopeful influence ontheir schools and communities.One of the graduates captured this idea of hopeful influence through the metaphor of astone thrown in the water, sending ripples out far beyond the place where it landed. TheCommunity-Based Master’s Program for this first cohort of students is like that stone thrown inthe water. Through new practices, new roles, and new relationships developed in the program,these graduates exhibit a new confidence and rejuvenation to influence education in the North.The ripples of hope that flow out from their actions will continue to affect their students, theirschools, and their communities.Several factors in the design of this program produced transformed graduates. First, thenorthern cohort model honoured Aboriginal and northern knowledge, fostering reflection ontheir own practice in an interactive learning community, and nurtured a strong sense ofbelonging. Second, the action research project became the vehicle effecting real action tochange the reality in their classrooms, schools, and communities. Third, the program38

consistently emphasized the place of the local community in education. In combination, thesefactors helped these northern educators come to a new level of confidence as their knowledgeand identity were validated, as new knowledge and skills were developed, and as strongcollegial and community relationships developed.But there was an additional factor that the design of the program couldn’t control—thepeople. These 24 educators came to share their wealth of experience, to make sense of theirplace in the North, to experience new understandings, and most importantly, to form a newfamily in a summer camp-like experience; it was a true northern experience. This comingtogether as a family was the major contributing factor to the collective learning that isdocumented in this report.Lighthouse for ChangeThe Community-Based Master’s Program was designed as a lighthouse project to showthat northern graduate education can produce significant change in northern Aboriginal andnon-Aboriginal educators. It was also designed and delivered to break down barriers betweenthe university and the North, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal educators, western and Aboriginalknowledge, and provincial and First Nation school systems. The program deliverymechanisms and funding are also innovative and have demonstrated that the program isaffordable through partnership arrangements and unique sharing of already available resources.Given the high satisfaction the Community-Based Master’s Program has received fromthe graduates, and the strong impact it has had on the graduates as evidenced in this report, thisprogram should be the gold standard for the design of other graduate programs in the North. Alighthouse program as documented in this report can serve to guide innovative, relevantgraduate programs that will enhance the role of the university in northern development.Forward with the PastThe image of summer camp strongly resonated with the graduates of the Community-Based Master’s Program. Some of them remembered past experiences associated with familiesgathering on the land, while others still engage in that annual experience. Many of them haveheard stories of summer camp from elders in their families and communities. A tension wasevident in the interviews between memories of the past and possibilities for the future, and howthose two factors are intertwined.The Community-Based Master’s Program was the catalyst enabling the graduates toidentify and validate what needed to be recovered from the past and brought into the future asthe North continues to develop, eroding the “old ways.” Foremost to be preserved for thefuture is the identity of Aboriginal people who seek the wisdom of the Elders, who worktogether to maintain traditional values including respect and caring, and who developintergenerational relationships. The tension of old and new seems to dissolve in theseeducators’ writing in their attempt to move forward in their roles as educators, while honouringwho they are as northerners, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal. By strengthening their tiesto the past, they carve out a path to the future that has more purpose and definition.39

Just like summer camp, the Community-Based Master’s Program had to take place inthe North, and had to be populated with Aboriginal and northern educators. And as importantas these, the program also had to involve a process of learning that validated and affirmedAboriginal knowledge and experience, not by presenting that knowledge in abstractpropositional terms, but by stimulating dialogue that interfaced their knowledge with variouswestern theoretical lenses in emotional as well as cognitive ways. The interaction that occurredin a learning community that felt “just like camp” led to the validation of their knowledge andexperience, and that in turn had a significant impact on their confidence. Greater transparencythrough the deeper sharing of personal and professional experiences also served to strengthengroup unity even across Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal lines.On completion of the program, the satisfaction of finishing an action research projectwas realized. The tapestry of courses, relationships, and project finally presented itself to eachof the graduates with the old and the new woven together in a new way to guide their personaland professional practices into the future. Each project speaks to the transformation of theauthor as well as the production of knowledge. Each project is evidence of the ability of eachof these educators to effect change in an area of concern inextricably linked to their Northerncommunity.No doubt the development of the North will continue to change the place and itspeoples. Equipping leaders to prepare children and youth for future participation in thisdevelopment is crucial to ensure beneficial outcomes for northerners. The Community-basedmodel portrayed in this report shows that northern leadership can be nurtured in an off-campuscohort approach—a camp-like experience.40

PART TWO: ACTION RESEARCH PROJECTSIn this section, the 24 action research projects are sorted into eight themes and brieflydescribed to show the range of topics addressed. A brief introduction along with a photo foreach of the graduates is also provided.Brandy CataratTheme One: Involving Parents and the Community in the SchoolBrandy teaches and also directs the Guided Reading Programin Buffalo Narrows. Her passion is involving parents in helpingtheir children learn to read. Brandy is a NORTEP graduate.Project Title: Actively Involving Parents and Community Members in myClassroom to Improve Student Learning Through the Use of a Guided ReadingProgram.Brandy embarked on this project because of her ongoing struggle to involve parentsand community members in their children’s learning. She decided to explore this issuethrough the use of the Guided Reading Program as the structure to involve parents in herGrade 3 classroom, in a large northern school. This reading program allows students to readat their own level, but provides specific challenges to motivate advancement to higher levels.After the program was implemented school wide, Brandy found that she simply did not haveenough time to monitor student progress in the program, and came to the realization that shewould only be successful with the program by involving parents to help with some of thetasks.The first stage of the action research project involved calling parents to participate;however, only one parent and two grandparents responded. Brandy discovered that thereasons given by parents for not participating, for example, cultural and language barriers,were the same as those cited in the literature. After discussions with her critical friend,Brandy decided to broaden her appeal for assistance to other community members throughletters, local television advertising, and personally contacting a number of people. Aparticularly useful arrangement was made with the Community College to have 12 studentsin the Educational Assistant program come into her classroom to help. Brandy found thatthese students preparing to be teacher assistants benefitted from this experience, as did thestudents in the elementary classroom.In the reflection on practice component of the action research process, Brandy writesabout the place of trustful relationships within a cross-cultural setting. She comes tounderstand why community members might not want to come to the school to help. Turningto the community college, she opened a door that had previously been closed by developinga relationship with a different group of people for mutual benefit.41

Melissa CromartyMelissa teaches in the alternate program at ChurchillCommunity High School in La Ronge. She completed her BEd atthe University of Regina in Secondary Education before coming tothe North to teach.Project Title: Rethinking the Role of the Alternative Program Teacher ThroughAction Research.A tension Melissa has faced throughout her career is that of delivering curriculum tomeet students’ academic needs, while at the same time meeting their personal needs. Thequestion for her action research study attempts to address this tension: “How can I improvemy practice in developing a life skills program for students in the Alternate Program that hasa stronger community connection?In the first cycle of the project, Melissa arranged volunteer work placements for herstudents to give them experiences outside the classroom. The second cycle involved lookingfor additional resources within the school such as getting other teachers involved with herstudents. Presenters from the community were added to the program in the third cycle.Emergency interventions became the focus of the fourth cycle. Cycle five involved apresentation by community agencies to families of her students. Finally, cycle six involvedfurther collaboration and connections with the community. Melissa reflects on each of thesecycles in her project report.In her discussion of new understandings from this project, Melissa writes about howshe came to realize that she had been acting more as a case manager than a teacher in herprogram. She began to see her role in a new light and came to the conclusion that to ease thecase management role, she could collaborate with agencies and people with whom she hadformed new connections. The idea of multiagency wraparound as expressed in School PLUSbecame a reality in Melissa’s practice.Melissa shares her view of action research by employing an interesting metaphor:Without action research, we are often floating on top of the river, watching thescenery flash by, carried along by the current. With action research, we diveunderneath from time to time, examining what is underneath the water influencing thepath of the current, and dipping our paddle into the water to consciously change ourcourse.She suggests that journaling and talking to someone whom you trust are important ways to“keep you from getting caught up in the current of daily minutiae.”42

Theme Two: Reaching Out to the CommunityLoretta BallantyneLoretta comes from Pelican Narrows, having served as teacher,vice-principal, and guidance counselor. She is a NORTEP graduate.Loretta is presently teaching at the White Buffalo Cartier Equine Programat Sturgeon Lake First Nation.Project Title: Strengthening Woodland Cree Families: A Program to PromoteSchool Parental Involvement.As a teacher, and more recently guidance counselor, Loretta’s primary concern hasbeen for student and family wellness. Her journey before the Master’s program includedstudying traditional Cree values, and developing materials to aid her teaching of these values.For her action research project, Loretta decided to focus on ways to engage parents in theirchildren’s education. Adapting the Strengthening Hawaii Families program, and using theTraditional Cree Values she had formerly developed, Loretta designed the StrengtheningWoodland Cree Families program to assist parents in increasing their knowledge of Creevalues in relation to raising a family. After soliciting a few parents, Loretta delivered theprogram to them in eight sessions. The program provided parents with ways to help withdiscipline, and find community resources. It also provided an orientation to Traditional CreeValues.In her final report, Loretta describes each session held for the parents and what shethinks was accomplished. She explains the difficulties with raising a family that parentsidentified during the sessions, providing deeper insight into working with parents to makethe community better for children and youth. These descriptions also provide insight into theplace of traditional Cree values in the community healing process. She concludes thatgreater understanding of the situations parents are in must occur if adequate help is to begiven to them.Loretta sees the action research project as another step on her journey to find ways tohelp her people:These insightful experiences will take me on another journey as I begin to look formore ways to help my people. The parent program itself is only one component of thesolution; there are more solutions to be found and I am committed to finding them. Asa result of this opportunity that I have had, it has given me a new outlook on how Ican improve not only the place I work in, but also the programming that can bedeveloped.43

Jackie DurocherJackie has been a teacher and vice-principal in BuffaloNarrows and now is the principal of the K-12 school. She brings astrong community development orientation to her work and alsoserves on the town council. Jackie is a graduate of NORTEP.Project Title: Parents, School, and Community: Working Together for ourChildren’s Education.This project focused on establishing stronger connections to and communication withthe community to engage parents, school and community in working together to improveeducation for children in a Northern community. Jackie provides her story in the early partof the paper that covers growing up in the North, a look at her community, and a reflectionon her teaching and administrative experiences in the North. As an administrator shediscovered that teachers did not contact parents as much as she thought they should,especially when poor attendance resulting in suspension was the issue. The gap between herpractice of suspending students and her belief in communicating with parents to resolveissues drove Jackie to this action research project.The first cycle of the project focused on improving the attendance policy in the highschool through feedback from a survey of parents, high school teachers, and high schoolstudents. She also reviewed the number of students that were suspended the previous yeardue to attendance problems, determining that there was a gap in communication between theschool and parents. The results were used to change the attendance policy to be moresupportive by including parental communication. She reports improved attendance due tothis change. Also, an after school homework program was put in place during this cycle andparents were made aware of this option through a meeting with the parent, teacher, andstudent. Another initiative in her project involved offering a workshop on communication toparents.During the second cycle, teachers started a regular communication letter to parents.Jackie began to give the school vision statement more prominence with staff, students, andparents during this second cycle. She reports deeper understanding of communitydevelopment principles from her increased involvement with the community commentingthat:Community development is about identifying, connecting, and mobilizing thestrengths within the community to achieve desired outcomes. My action researchquestion is very important to me because as an Aboriginal educator and a communitymember I want what is best for the students and the community.44

Arlene HansenArlene is the principal of the K-12 school in Beauval, herhome community. Her passion is for the school and community towork together for the betterment of children and youth. She is agraduate of NORTEP.Project Title: Early Literacy Strategies implemented Through ParticipatoryAction Research Using Community-Based Education.Arlene’s action research project involved implementing early literacy strategies byvisiting parents of preschool children in their homes, and by promoting early literacy invarious ways in the community. As an administrator, she strived to improve her ownpractice as an administrator of preparing children to enter school with improved literacyskills, as well as getting to know families with preschool children.The focus of this action research project was the development of partnerships withfamily, community, and school, using Storysacks as the vehicle to enhance early literacy.Storysacks “are hands-on family literacy activities that help adults work with children bysharing books to make it fun and interactive.” The project involved Arlene taking Storysackstraining, holding a community supper to inform the community of the project, and holdingworkshops 1 evening per week for 6 consecutive weeks for interested parents, during whichtime a number of Storysacks were created. A literacy night was held in the community inpartnership with the Headstart organization that began to take a more active role in theStorysacks project along with several community members.Arlene states in her project report that the overall impact on participants wasincreased awareness of literacy issues, participation in a school-related activity, andwillingness for parents to spend time with their children. She was particularly pleased thatthe project established stronger and improved relationships between communityorganizations and the school.In her reflection on the use of action research, Arlene claims that “it inspired me tolook more into my best practice, my passions, my beliefs and most of all, what it was I mostwanted to improve to bring positive and effective change to my professional and personalpractice as a teacher, administrator and community member.”45

Deborah Gibson-DingwallTheme Three: Teacher Development for the NorthDeborah came into the North from Ontario and taught inseveral northern communities before joining the faculty of NORTEPas a teacher educator. She is a passionate advocate of the languagearts in the North.Project Title: Reflections from the Journey of a Wild Social ConstructivistTeacher Educator: Celebrating Culture, Community, Cohorts, and Collaboration inthe Community-Based Master’s Program.This action research self-study is a narrative reflection on Deborah’s practice as ateacher educator in an Aboriginal teacher education program (NORTEP) located in NorthernSaskatchewan. The use of the image of rocks and the Northern Shield is employed as anorganizer for her extensive narrative of her changing teacher education practice, as a result ofher experiences in the Community-Based Master’s Program. She tells her story ofbecoming a teacher educator and how she arrived at a point of questioning her teachereducation pedagogy due to the program schedule in use at NORTEP, consisting of weekblocks involving contact with her students and week blocks when they took other coursesand had no contact with her.In her narrative, Deborah also develops an overview of the Community-BasedMaster’s Program from a participant perspective showing the links she makes between herown learning and that of her students. Her narrative tells of her deepening orientationtowards reflective practices with her students. In one activity, Deborah has the students usequilt blocks to represent their personal values and teacher identity in order to help themmove to written narratives that they seem to have difficulty writing. This example ofchanged pedagogy represents, to Deborah, her change as a teacher educator especially in thearea of using multiple modalities for learning.Deborah mentions various topics that she encountered in her master’s program andhow she incorporated them into her teaching. Frameworks such as Circle of Courage andSchool PLUS have become part of the curriculum for her students. In this section of hernarrative, Deborah also shares the students’ response to the ideas and activities added to herteaching. Over the 3 years of taking courses and completing the action research project,Deborah believes she has become a better teacher educator and writes about this in the finalreflection of her narrative commenting that “more than one preservice teacher told me I wasan example of a lifelong learner and it motivated them to study for their master’s degree inthe future.”46

Ronelda McCallumRonelda comes from Buffalo Narrows where she is the viceprincipalof the K-12 school. She is a graduate of NORTEP. She hasa strong belief in the practice of teacher mentorship to better orientnew teachers to the community.Project Title: Teacher Mentorship to Improve Teacher Retention in NorthernSchools.The focus of this project, for Ronelda, involved providing personal and professionalsupport for new teachers to provide a smooth transition into the teaching profession in anorthern community. To accomplish this transition, the author developed a mentoringprogram to link veteran teachers to novices. The project focus came from Ronelda’sdisappointment with the historical separation between school and community and a desire toprepare new teachers to develop a stronger relationship with the community to help bridgethis gap.She first administered a needs assessment through discussions with colleagues. Theassessment revealed that communication between home and school was the most importantconcern voiced by teachers, followed by their relationship with parents. After forming a corecollaborative group for the project, a Welcome Booklet to the community was developed as afirst attempt to get new teachers to learn more about the community. It includes a briefintroduction to the community, as well as information that would be useful to a newcomer.It also includes information pertinent to the mentorship program such as guidelines for thementor/mentee pairs. Then four new teachers were paired with veteran teachers fromdifferent grades who had volunteered for the project. The pairs initially met daily, thenweekly, and eventually monthly as the project progressed. Ronelda met with the pairs once amonth and recorded the meetings in her journal. Once the mentorship project ended,Ronelda completed an evaluation of its success.Engaging in action research has provided Ronelda with a tool that can be used towork on other educational issues:Now that I have an understanding of how to do an action research project, I canattempt to do it in other areas of concern. The process of research, collaboration,development and evaluation of a new program will be useful to my role as anadministrator in our school. The process of action research is a tool I can use toresolve issues or concerns that we will face. I understand the process to attain aMaster’s degree; therefore I can be a role model for those who wish to pursue thiseducational avenue. When I tell my students, “if I can do it, you can do it” I can nowsay this to my colleagues who wish to pursue an advanced level of education.47

Guy PenneyGuy came to the North from Newfoundland to teach. Hehas been the vice-principal of Churchill Community High Schooland recently joined the NORTEP faculty as a teacher educator. Hehas a strong interest in teacher induction in the North.Project Title: How Do I Improve my Administrative Practice to Support NewTeachers?In his search for a meaningful action research project, Guy reflected on his earlyyears as a teacher, focusing on what had hampered his growth. He realized it was the fear ofasking for help. This insight led Guy to taking an inventory of supports that he was alreadyproviding to new and beginning teachers, and then giving a questionnaire to four newteachers who had consented to be participants in this action research project. From thisexercise, he was able to identify the gaps between his beliefs concerning helping newteachers, and his practice, “the most notable one being that new teachers should be able tofeel comfortable approaching an administrator about any work related issue.”Guy met with his focus group of four new teachers (1-4 years of experience) over asemester, and also separately with each of them during regular informal supervisory visits.He kept notes on these meetings and classroom visits, and also administered second and thirdquestionnaires to determine the usefulness of his time spent with them. One of the keychanges Guy began to see in his practice was that informal supervisory visits became muchmore dialogical than in the past when they were more supervisor controlled. This moreinformal approach prepared the new teachers for the mandatory formal supervisory visit thatwas part of Guy’s role as vice-principal. From the conversations with the teachers andquestionnaire results, Guy put together a new teacher pamphlet for new teachers that answers25 commonly asked questions about the school.Guy writes about his view of action research and professional development andcomes to realize that action research is about improving his own practice:I also experienced the challenge of constantly reminding myself that this researchendeavor was about improving my practice not the practice of others. Initially I hadtrouble coming to grips with this reality. It was not until I really got into the practiceof critical self-reflection, that I began to see that in order for this project to besuccessful I had to be looking for the changes that occurred in my practice and me.48

Bonnie WernerBonnie is a veteran northern teacher who came to the North fromAlberta. After teaching in several northern schools including ChurchillCommunity High School in La Ronge, Bonnie recently took a position asthe core curriculum consultant with Northern Lights School Division.Project Title: How Can Participation in a Professional Learning CommunityImprove My Practice?As a veteran teacher in the North, Bonnie had been searching for ways to renew herpassion for teaching. This search led her to an action research project examining the impactof belonging to a Professional Learning Community (PLC) focusing on her teachingpractices. Bonnie’s reflections on PLCs constitute an insider’s critical look at a professionaldevelopment practice, heavily promoted by school divisions.Initially this action research project involved recording her experiences with PLCs ina large northern community high school. Her first experiences involved getting the Grade 7teachers together to consider ways to help students having trouble with math concepts. Thisled to a new cooperative effort to help these students and left the teachers more satisfied intheir efforts to address this problem. Other experiences involved a school professionaldevelopment day that didn’t yield the expected results and left teachers somewhat unhappy.Another one involved Bonnie presenting the notion of PLCs to the staff at the invitation ofthe principal. She realized from a survey of staff that “many staff members were verycynical about this new idea.”From these initial experiences, Bonnie took specific action. During the first phase ofthe project, she advocated for online professional communities as a way to address thelimited time teachers have to improve their practice. In the second phase, Bonnie decided toadvocate for more time for PLCs in the school. In the third phase of the project, Bonnieidentified changes to her teaching practice that she realized were a result of working morecollaboratively with other teachers and community members in her search to improve herteaching. Discussing her new self-awareness about the tension of teaching students versuscurriculum that surfaced from this experience, Bonnie comes to the conclusion that herteaching is enriched by the web of relationships she has formed with those around her.Action research has enabled Bonnie to change her approach to teaching not by onlyproviding a way to implement expert knowledge or best practice, but by providing a processfor her to explore various ways to change her teaching that are more congruent with herbeliefs and relevant to her context.49

Theme Four: Bringing Elders’ Knowledge to the SchoolLeda CorrigalLeda is from Beauval and works with the Northern LightsSchool Division in La Ronge in the area of Cree language development.She has a strong belief in the value of the Elders in languagereclamation. Leda is a NORTEP graduate.Project Title: Elders Speak Out on Language Loss and Language RetentionInitiatives.Leda starts her paper by stating that Aboriginal languages and knowledge of familyhistory play a large part in fostering the development of Aboriginal identity. She tracesdevelopments in Aboriginal education from the past to present provincial initiatives.However, she notes that the same institution that has caused the loss of Aboriginallanguages, the school, is now expected to reclaim those languages. In her role as a languageconsultant, Leda has noticed the lack of interest by students in learning about their culture,history, and language, so she decided to approach the Elders to gather their wisdom andinsight into possibilities for the recovery of the language.This project involved collecting Elders’ knowledge through interviews with the intentof using this Aboriginal knowledge to inform the revitalization of Aboriginal languages andculture in school programs. Five elders from different communities were interviewed. Ledaprovides an overview of each interview and includes quotes from the Elders to show theirview on a number of issues related to the loss of Aboriginal languages and culture. Each ofthe elders presented a unique message through their own stories. However, they agreed onmany things including their common observation that young people in their communitiesshow a lack of respect and lack of positive self-identity, both needed if Cree people are topossess a positive identity.Commenting on the value of respect to Cree people, Leda writes:Respect is so very much embedded in the Cree language. Knowing the language andunderstanding the Cree worldview gives one a very different perspective on life, theland and of the self. There are some words in the English language that cannot betranslated easily into the Cree language because they are a part of the language. Someof the words used in teaching a child proper manners do not exist in the Creelanguage yet a child can learn to display manners using the Cree worldview. Englishwords like ‘please, sorry and excuse me’ do not exist in the Cree language but canstill be spoken in a way that the same meaning can be understood and expected.50

Lily McKay-CarriereLily completed her BEd at the University of Regina. Shehas taught in the North many years, currently she is the principalin Cumberland House, her home community. She is a strongadvocate for the reclamation of northern language of culture inschools.Project Title: Decolonizing the Curriculum ‘Cree-atively’ Through Elders’Stories.Lily began the action research journey with considerable experience as an Aboriginaleducator and a concern for the loss of language that is taking place in the North. Describingherself as a “messenger of hope,” she committed herself to reversing the language shift bygathering the stories of local Elders and then creating curriculum materials to use thosestories in the bilingual primary classrooms in her school.The motif of the four seasons (and their Cree names) is employed as an organizer toshow the four different phases of the project. Twenty-nine Elders visited the school in thespring (Sigwan) for a 2-day gathering of traditional storytelling. From that experience aCree-ative Collaborators Committee of Elders, teachers and staff, 15 in all, committedthemselves to working together for 3 weeks over the summer (Nipin) to harness the localknowledge into sequences for instruction. Examples of the materials developed over thesummer are included in the Final Report on the project. In the fall (Tagw-gin), the teachersimplementing the new materials in the kindergarten Cree immersion and Grades 1-3bilingual classrooms, met 10 times in a Professional Learning Community. In the winterphase (Pipon), the collaborators continued to implement the sequences, collect data, and holdfocus group meetings. In reporting this phase, Lily suggests that “the gift of story continuesto provide an intergenerational connection and a new perspective on practice.”In her final paper, Lily provides a rich narrative for each of the four phases that,together, describe what she has learned in each phase, concluding with the impact of the newsequences on teachers and students. One interesting result was that students took their newknowledge of the language and culture home for their parents to experience.Action research has become a way for Lily to influence others to take action:By completing an Action research project, I feel that I’ve thrown a pebble into thewater and it has created a ripple effect. My hope is that others will throw in morepebbles so that the ripples will continue to be seen and felt in our educational watersso that Indigenous languages keep flowing through all seasons.51

Gail GardinerTheme Five: Community-Oriented/Culturally Sensitive TeachingGail is presently the vice-principal at Beauval, her hometown, and served as principal of Cole Bay while in theCommunity-Based Master’s Program. She is a graduate of theNORTEP program, and also completed a BA at the Universityof Saskatchewan.Project Title: Strength-Based Leadership in Life Transitions 30: Engaging theYouth of a Northern Community.Gail’s project took flight after a significant discussion with her students at thebeginning of the term in her Life Transitions 30 course. In this discussion about localchange, the students bemoaned the fact that there were few activities available for youth intheir community. Her research question emerged from this discussion: How can I facilitateleadership skills in my senior high school Life Transitions 30 class?Using the action research cycle, Gail decided to take specific action in her teachingby implementing project-based learning. Students worked in groups to find ways to provideactivities for youth in the community. Four distinct actions were taken by Gail. The firstaction allowed her to better understand her students through daily discussions and activitiesthat helped them to develop a sense of community and trust. The second action was gettingto know her students more formally through a needs assessment developed by the Universityof Victoria to help guide discussions. The third action focused on student researchproposals, and the fourth action involved carrying out the actual projects and theirassessment and interpretation. Ten student projects that the students carried outside of theirclassroom that came out of the discussion process are described in the paper along withstudent reflections.In the New Understandings section of her action research report, Gail makes thefollowing statement about leadership as a teacher:Leadership has taken on a new understanding for me. During the course of thisproject I have learned that my leadership skills have taken on new aspects that Ithought would never be possible. I have become more involved with the communityand also within the school. I realized that to promote leadership one also had tomodel that leadership. If one is to become better at becoming a leader one mustimmerse themselves in action.She goes on to discuss how her teaching practices have changed to include more of herstudents’ ideas. Through the action research process she has strengthened her practice ofproject-based learning in her classroom.52

Doris GunnDoris is from Patuanak, a Dene community, and has taught ina number of northern and southern communities and is currentlyteaching in Dillon. Doris is a graduate of the NORTEP program.Project Title: How Can I Improve My Practice to Motivate AboriginalAdolescent Girls in Physical Education Within the First Nation SchoolSystem/Community?Initiating this project as a physical education teacher, Doris believes that she plays aspecial role in motivating young Aboriginal girls to participate in sport to enhance theiroverall health and fitness. After many years as a teacher in northern communities as well asSouthern First Nation communities, Doris knew that getting girls involved in sports isdifficult. Therefore, her question for the action research project became a personalchallenge: “How can I improve my practice to motivate Aboriginal adolescent girls inPhysical Education within the First Nation School System/Community?” Specifically, Doriswanted to find out what activities interest them, and how she could motivate them toparticipate in physical activities.The initial action involved interviewing Aboriginal adolescent girls at the FirstNation Winter Games held in Regina in 2008. She also implemented new routines in herphysical education classes informed by the student interviews and by her reading. Forexample, the notion of student choice became more important to her practice, as did theinclusion of cultural activities. Then, Doris followed up with several focus group sessionswith five, Grade 8, Aboriginal, adolescent girls to gain feedback on their physical educationexperiences. The girls also participated in special sports events outside of school such astournaments and workshops during the time of this project.One significant change to her practice came from her interviews with the girls—theywanted more say in the program and more choices of activities. Doris began to see changesin the students once she incorporated their feedback into her practice.Reflecting on her project in the last part of the paper, Doris talks about the benefit ofusing action research to structure her professional development:As a teacher, I believe we need to understand and change our ways of thinking inorder to be more responsible for and responsive to the students we teach… I need toadapt to changes and accept the importance of modifying the curriculum in order tomore effectively meet the needs of the students I teach. Action research is focused onteacher’s practice so it led me, as a physical educator, to better self-understanding.53

Melva HermanMelva lives in La Loche coming from British Columbiaafter completing her education. From her many years in theNorth, she is passionate about making early childhood educationmeaningful for Dene children.Project Title: The Dene-Italian Connection: Tradition, Independence, Mastery.The ideas of Maria Montessori have been attractive to Melva since she wasintroduced to her work as early as high school and later at university. Over the years,teaching in the North in a Dene speaking community, she has seen her teaching approachbecome more formal and organized due to class sizes and school division mandates. As sheentered graduate studies Melva experienced discontent with her teaching and was looking forways to help her children develop mastery and independence while maintaining traditionalvalues.This study describes Melva’s journey of incorporating Montessori methods toenhance independence and mastery in a Dene Kindergarten classroom. The project involvedmaking changes to her classroom layout, daily scheduling, teaching methods and materials,and then reflecting on these changes to determine how they affected her students. As part ofchanging the classroom environment, Melva rearranged the furniture in her classroom andadded new material to create more interactive learning. One significant change was theorganization of breakfast program supplies in the classroom so students could learn to getsnacks and juice by themselves. Children were also taught how to independently selectmaterials when they entered the classroom. Finally, Melva describes the changes she madeto her teaching style moving from direct teaching to “directress (not yet)” includingmovement and voice tone. She also talks about the struggles to make these changes.In the section discussing new understandings, Melva claims that her students havebecome more independent in the classroom. She attributes this to both the Montessoriapproach and the use of the Circle of Courage teachings. However, she concludes that shehas much more to learn about this approach and its application to the Dene culture.In her reflections on the use of action research, Melva sees this methodology as wellsuited for teachers who are experiencing discontent in their practice. The intent of actionresearch, according to her, is “not to generate general theories about education to be appliedin a blanket manner to all students, but to aid teachers in providing the best possibleeducation to their students.”54

Darren LinklaterDarren comes from Pelican Narrows and is a graduate ofNORTEP. He currently is the vice-principal of the school. Darrenhas a strong belief in listening to students to find out their opinionsin the process of making school a better place.Project Title: How Can I Improve My Practice of Addressing Bullying in MyClassroom and School?Prior to this action research project, Darren had become more and more concernedabout increasing levels of bullying and violence in his community and school.Reconnaissance on the topic, conducted by interviewing teachers in his school, revealed thatit was indeed a problem worth pursuing through action research. The Circle of Couragemodel was used as the conceptual framework for his study.Collaborating with several colleagues, Darren developed a unit on bullying,consisting of 12 lessons, and then implemented it in his classroom over a 3-week period.The first lesson focused on the Circle of Courage model in order to teach students traditionalways to treat others (Belonging, Mastery, Independence, and Generosity). The unit involvedthe students in the following activities: making Circle of Courage banners, making posterscontaining definitions of bullying, making anti-bullying posters, doing a school survey andrepresenting the results with charts, carrying out interviews, producing an informationnewsletter, producing and delivering a local radio broadcast, setting up an information boothin the community, making presentations to other classrooms, and producing an anti-bullyingDVD. In his final report on the project, Darren describes how each of these activitiesunfolded and shares his observations on how the students responded to each activity.Reflecting on the unit after completing the project, Darren writes that the teacher canmake a difference to reduce bullying in the classroom. He also comes to realize that theCircle of Courage had a strong impact on students. To reflect his understanding of thismodel, Darren redesigned the four quadrant circle to include a centre called forgiveness toreflect his Aboriginal northern values. Darren makes the claim in his report that he haschanged as a teacher as a result of doing the action research project:In the end, I was fortunate enough to see that I needed to change to be a better teacherfor my students’ sake. I have learned this from my students that were part of theproject. I am more pleased with the students’ growth and development as youngpeople. They certainly have the courage to try and all they need is direction. Theydemonstrate the virtues of the Circle of Courage of Belonging, Generosity,Independence, and Mastery, and they also learned Forgiveness. I have learned to paymore attention to their learning.55

Grace McKenzieGrace comes from Pelican Narrows but has made Stanley Mission herhome, teaching in the high school there. She is committed to finding ways tomotivate student learning. Grace is a NORTEP graduate.Project Title: Finding Interest and Relevance: Engaging Aboriginal Students inReading and Writing Activities Through Multiple Intelligences.Grace’s interest in engaging her students in learning came from her observations as abeginning teacher that students did not appear to be motivated to learn. While pursuing thisdilemma, and reading about differentiated instruction, Grace decided to implement this newapproach in her classroom, to increase motivation to learn.This action research project took place in a Grade 9 classroom in a First Nationcommunity. Grace began the project by exploring the theoretical frameworks of studentengagement, constructivism, and differentiated instruction using multiple intelligences. Theliterature convinced Grace that these frameworks nicely complemented Aboriginalpedagogical approaches, particularly in language arts.For her initial action, Grace taught the first unit in language arts focusing on thecurriculum theme “All That I Am” to help her get to know her students’ preferences in termsof interests and learning profiles. Grace explains in her paper how differentiated instructionwas integrated with the cultural background of her students. She also documents theactivities used in the classroom to incorporate differentiated instruction through multipleintelligences.Reflecting on new understandings, Grace claims that she has become a different kindof teacher becoming more student-centered than before by stressing student readiness,interests, and learning profiles. She also experienced a stronger sense of community in herclassroom.Because of this action research study, students are much more eager to collaboratewith one another. Through collaboration comes a shared responsibility for learning inour classroom. Collaboration in our classroom has brought about positiverelationships. As these relationships grew in our classroom, whether it was studentstudentor student-teacher, there was an improvement in the classroom environment,which changed to become a welcoming, safe place for them, with students morewilling to collaborate with one another, and also with me.56

Pam SandersonPam teaches students with special needs in ChurchillCommunity High School in La Ronge. As a graduate of NORTEP,with expertise in several other fields, Pam is a strong advocate for theholistic educational development of northern children.Project Title: Aboriginal Ways and Instruction in a Functional IntegrationProgram.Before embarking on this project, Pam had experienced a disconnect between herunderstanding of how special needs students should be taught and Ministry and schooldivision expectations for these students. In particular, she questioned the viability ofteaching isolated life skills in her Functional Integrated Program. This action researchproject involved approaching her teaching in a more holistic way by using her northernteaching experiences, her traditional Aboriginal teaching practices, and her knowledge ofspecial education students’ abilities.This action research project focused on implementing holistic teaching in the area oflanguage and communication in a Functional Integrated Program for students with moderateto severe cognitive disabilities. Pam implemented a series of Circle Teachings so studentscould explore their abilities to communicate with a variety of people in the classroom and incommunity settings. Talking Circles were used to develop their communication.Data of critical incidences were collected to determine the effectiveness of theseholistic teaching practices. Pam involved Grades 10 and 11 students as well as 1 st - yeareducation students as volunteers to help with this holistic approach to broaden her students’social interaction experiences. Pam describes a holistic teaching session in her paper andgoes on in her paper to describe how she maintained and expanded the holistic instructionalpractices in her classroom.She also reflects on the meaning of integration and inclusion for her students:I believe there is an unexplored integrity behind maintaining my instructive holisticAboriginal educational practices. It is my hope the Eurocentric education system willallow me to further explore place-based learning practices, because I feel holisticpractices can effectively enhance my students’ communication skills, improve theirdiverse abilities and enable their participation in the development of a healthiercommunity. I feel both integration and inclusion provide too narrow of a learningexperience for my students with disabilities, and I will continue to expand myunderstanding of the effectiveness of holistic educational practices.57

Rosalena SmithRosalena comes from Pinehouse Lake and is a graduateof NORTEP. She has been an administrator in her homecommunity and is now a consultant with the Northern LightsSchool Division, working to develop school councils in theNorth.Project Title: Incorporating First Nations and Métis Culture into the ClassroomThrough Action Research.Rosalena came to this action research project with the concern that students are notaware of their First Nations and Métis culture and heritage. As a result, she has witnessedthe effect negative messages have had on these students throughout her teaching career.Therefore, Rosalena decided to incorporate more teaching about Aboriginal culture andheritage into her classroom using the Circle of Courage and SchoolPLUS models asconceptual frameworks.In the 2008-09 school year, Rosalena started the project by administering a parentsurvey to gather opinions concerning cultural programming. Then she held a discussion withher Grade 2 students to determine their understanding of what the terms First Nations orMétis meant to them, discovering that they had little knowledge or understanding of theirheritage. Next, she organized an overnight camping trip including the school Elder toprovide the students with an opportunity to experience how their ancestors lived off the landin order to survive. In her report, Rosalena describes the trip on the lake with her studentswhere they learned about fishing, about northern animals like the beaver and rabbit, and alsoto cook on an open fire.Another change in her teaching involved bringing 10 different Elders into theclassroom to tell the old stories, and describes each of these events in detail. She believesthat change has happened as a result of her project. She ends the paper by talking about herown Aboriginal identity and how it was formed. In particular, she remembers the influencethe Elders had on her:The connections that were created with the Elders always reminded me of who I wasas a Métis person. Many of these connections between the youth and the Elders havebeen severed for various reasons. As an educator, I will continue to try and bring thegaps together so that the children can learn about their cultural identity and be proudof who they are as First Nations and Métis people. The Elders need to be involved inthe education of our children. The education system will not be able to continue tohave successful outcomes without the involvement of Elders.58

Theme Six: Advocating for Northern PeopleWalter SmithWalter’s home community is Pinehouse Lake but he has livedin several northern communities. He is a graduate of NORTEP andthe only graduate of the graduate program not working in the field ofeducation. Walter is a manager with CAMECO in La Ronge.Project Title: Cameco —Northern Workforce Development: Advocating forNorthern People.Working as a manager in the mining industry, Walter shares, in his project paper,how Cameco has worked towards training and employing more northern people, and how hehas been involved in this development as an advocate for northern people. In his paper, heshares the tension he experiences as a manager on the one hand, and as a northerner on theother, and how he is able to better live in this tension.As a key player in the corporation’s Northern Workforce Strategy, Walter explainsthat, for northern people, advocacy is important so that local people can support themselvesand their families. The strategy employed “creates workforce capacity and workforceprocess expertise within the northern population to ensure a greater voice in decision makingprocesses when further major developments occur in Northern Saskatchewan.” He showshow Aboriginal culture is valued within this workplace strategy that is aimed at greaterparticipation of northern people.Walter shares his personal story as a backdrop to his current role within the uraniummining industry. He traces his personal development through his experiences andparticularly his NORTEP experience of becoming a teacher. He realizes that “the veryability I have now is built upon the concerted effort of many previous northern people whoinitiated the process of building capacity for the engagement and self determination ofnorthern people.” Background to understanding this project is given by Walter in sectionsdescribing the NAD (Northern Administration District) and a history of uranium mining inSaskatchewan. He also traces the development of northern labour force development in themining sector, and as well, explains how the corporation now attempts to understand theneeds of northerners, including support for northern students who want to further theireducation. Walter claims that this engagement process is helping northern communitiesunderstand the legal and political authority they have.Concluding his paper, Walter claims that through this project he has learned to betterlive in the tension of being a manager and being an Aboriginal northerner.59

Theme Seven: Exploring Teacher Aboriginal IdentityCheryl MorinCheryl did her formal schooling in the South and then cameto teach in the North. She has taught for many years in PelicanNarrows. Cheryl has a strong commitment to teaching traditionalCree values to girls to foster their overall wellness.Project Title: How do I Implement the Traditional Woodland Cree Values in myProfessional Development and Daily Teaching Practices?Beginning with a brief history of colonization of Aboriginal people, Cheryl comes toa question for her project that forms the title of her final paper. She uses a personal narrativeto describe the gap between her beliefs and personal practice involving her own response tobeing in the “crossfire of words and behaviours that occur between family, school, andcommunity members, which creates feelings of angst.”Cheryl determines to change a component of her practice as a way of reducing thebelief/practice gap. Her project created extracurricular opportunities for 10 Grade 5 females,and herself, “to learn about wellness on a physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual level byincorporating the traditional Woodland Cree values into the Medicine Wheel and Circle ofCourage frameworks.” To initiate action, Cheryl did a general survey to discover the girls’extracurricular interests, “which indicated that the girls were interested in food preparation,non competitive sports, crafts, and the creative arts like drama and dancing.” The afterschool extracurricular program was designed from the survey results and discussions withthe girls.Reporting on the three action research cycles of the project, Cheryl providesdescriptions of activities that formed each cycle for each after school session, and thendiscusses what she learned from the project as it evolved from one cycle to another.Commenting on the project, after it was completed, Cheryl noted that she had both a muchbetter understanding of the needs of the children, and a new self-understanding thatdeveloped from the use of action research to resolve a belief/practice gap.New self-understanding has come from the use of action research according to Cheryl:I regard the ancient Medicine Wheel ideology in a new way. I know that everyoneneeds help navigating societal pressures and changes, including me. By learning howto deal with and understand my own issues using the Medicine Wheel as a guide, I willbecome more grounded, confident and more open to allow others to help me learnabout my Woodland Cree culture.60

Theme Eight: Structuring Schooling for SuccessCheryl HermanCheryl comes from La Loche and has been a teacher in theNorth, language consultant for the Prince Albert Grand Council, andmost recently language consultant with Northern Lights SchoolDivision. She is a graduate of NORTEP.Project Title: Ways to Make Schools and Learning More Meaningful forStudents in Order to Retain Them.Cheryl begins her report with the story of a teenage at-risk girl she interviewed as apart of her action research study. The story tells of the clash between this girl’s personallifestyle with school. She ends the story at the end of the paper showing how, with support,this student does succeed at school.The study takes place in an extension school in an urban centre offering alternativeprogramming opportunities for high school students such as counselling services, addictiontreatment, and child care services. It is a school where the Circle of Courage philosophy is inplace. Although this project is called an action research study, Cheryl focuses primarily onthe reconnaissance phase; learning as much as possible about student retention beforeactually taking action and studying the effects of that action. As well as interviewingstudents, she also interviewed teachers, an administrator, and two non-attenders.Cheryl shows evidence that the Circle of Courage is indeed being used in the school.Data were further analyzed to show student needs and possible actions that can be taken toimprove student retention. She comes to the conclusion that there are better ways to keepstudents in school, and suggests:Although we research the strategies, the reasons, the possibilities and so forth if we donot attempt to go beyond conventional means of educating, schools will continue tosee students dropping out. I have personally gained more insight into this issue andam willing now to try other strategies rather than standing at the board all day andchecking off the material that needs to be covered in the curriculum. We can fulfillthe requirements of curriculum in more innovative and constructive ways.In the last section of the paper entitled “Hope for Student Retention,” Cheryl reflectson the benefits of culturally relevant education and also the Circle of Courage Model andhow each of the four areas can be developed in a classroom.61

Stephen KingStephen comes from British Columbia and has been a teacherfor many years in La Loche. He is presently the principal of theschools there. He sees many possibilities for the use of technology innorthern education to bridge school and community.Project Title: Personalizing Online Learning in a Northern AboriginalCommunity.The motivation to undertake this project emerged from what Stephen calls “acontradiction of practice.” As an administrator, Stephen came to the conclusion, based onattendance statistics, that the strict attendance policy in his school has not improved poorattendance. Faced with the realities of long standing poor school attendance in hiscommunity and with a deeper understanding of the culture of his community, Stephen beganto see the challenge as one of delivering the high school program differently; he then turnedto technology to offer online modules to students.This action research project involved following school students enrolled in onlinecourses. The project began with an invitation to the staff of the northern online school tocome to the community to do a presentation with both students and staff. After this event,Stephen became more active in advertising online learning possibilities in the community.Cycle 2 of the project began with the new fall semester during which time Stephenassisted students taking online courses. Cycle 3 involved modifying his practice to providemore practical help to students taking a different online course. In Cycle 4, he enlisted thehelp of other high school teachers to help online students. In Cycle 5, Stephen adds e-mail tohis strategies to assist students with their online learning. One of the unanticipated outcomesfrom the project was the benefit to the school in having adults from the community returningto high school.Reflecting on the project in the paper, Stephen claims that this project has not justbeen about increasing credits taken by students, but rather has been about his own practice asan educator and the clash of his beliefs with the community. He goes on to say that:Action research has proven to be an effective way to identify problems in mypractice, to collaborate with colleagues, make plans for action, and then reflect on theactions before moving on to new actions. Action research has improved my reflectiveskills as a professional and it has helped me find a way to engage staff in professionalgrowth.62

Pauline McKayPauline is a long time northern educator who grew up inCumberland House. She has been an administrator at several schools,presently the principal with Sturgeon Lake First Nation. Pauline ispassionate about improving high school education for Aboriginal youth.Project Title: “Setting Up Camp” Block Scheduling in a First Nation School.This action research study examines the impact of the One-Month Block system(Copernican block schedule) implemented in a First Nation School, and compares the newsystem with the semester system. Pauline opens the paper with a brief history of First Nationeducation in Canada along with a section on the reality of First Nation schools. Her mainconcern is the despair brought about by poverty and unemployment often resulting in poorattendance and high dropout rates.In this study, Pauline monitored student progress in the One-Month block systemover a 4-month period, and compared the results with the previous semester. The study tookplace in a small band school in a First Nation community with about 70 students and fourteachers. Data were collected on credits and marks distribution, attendance rates, drop-outrates, discipline reports, and graduation levels. Pauline reports a number of improvementsand successes with the block system including: better teacher-student relationships; a greatervariety of teaching strategies were used by teachers; attendance issues decreased sincetracking fewer students was easier; planning for “surprise” school closures was better; gradesimproved due to more intense time on specific subjects; teachers found it easier to work withreturning students; and teachers preferred the One-Month Block system.Reflecting on the project, Pauline realizes that implementing change is difficult for anadministrator. However, she reports learning many things in the process about the blocksystem, the students, and also herself. The research process convinces her that she is on theright track for improving high school education for First Nation schools:The semester system has not been successful in keeping our youth in school. We haveused this system for decades; it is time to try something different. If the block systemproves to be successful for the long-term in our community, it may present analternative way to deliver education on other reserves. Our problems as First Nationpeoples are without borders. We have the same statistics no matter what province,city, town, or reserve we live in. This project may open doors for other reserveschools in Canada to explore different approaches to delivering education on reservesthat suit the needs and ways of aboriginal students.63

Minnie McKenzieMinnie is a Cree immersion consultant with the Lac La Ronge FirstNation. She comes from Stanley Mission and is a graduate of NORTEP.She is a strong advocate of biculturalism to bridge Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal languages and culture.Project Title: How To Improve My Practice of Implementing Cree ImmersionPrograms: A Journey Towards Personal and Professional Development.The purpose of this action research study, according to Minnie, is to find the mosteffective way of implementing a Cree language program through her role as a curriculumconsultant and developer. Minnie begins her report with an overview of previous work donein her community on immersion and bilingual programs including a teacher training programfor band members, some who were hired to teach Cree and others to work as teacherassistants.Minnie makes the case for the need to implement Cree language immersionprograms, citing studies from the language revitalization literature. She also presents someexamples of successful immersion programs from other countries. Throughout this section,insight is provided into Aboriginal ways of language and culture gained from her lifeexperiences.The Cree immersion implementation team included Minnie forming the CreeImmersion Advisory Committee made up of educational administrators of the First Nation,the school administrator, the curriculum consultant for the curriculum project, and threeimmersion teachers. Minnie interviewed members of this committee to gain their insights asthe program was being implemented in a First Nation school. Minnie follows theimplementation process from the first meetings right through to the graduation of the firstimmersion group from Kindergarten in June 2009.Minnie comments on the usefulness of the action research process to implement theCree immersion program, and carry its development into the future:This action research cycle of acting, observing, and reflecting is a process thatoccurred in this journey of how to implement a Cree immersion program. We willcontinue to use the cycle of action research for the next 5 years from Kindergarten,Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 3, then onto Grade 4. In 2014, if all is well the first group ofstudents will finish the 5-year plan of the Cree immersion program. Then, they willintegrate into the English stream while continuing to acquire the Cree language as acore language program 1 hour daily.64

APPENDIX65

Program Template and Record of Courses DeliveredUNIVERSITY OF REGINA, FACULTY OF EDUCATIONCOMMUNITY-BASED MASTER OF EDUCATION PROGRAMNORTEP Cohort: La Ronge, SaskatchewanYEAR ONE (2007-08)SUMMERED 815: Dr. David FriesenAction ResearchJuly 3-6; 9-12; 16-19Summer InstituteFALLEC&I 804: Dr. Liz CooperCurriculum DevelopmentSept 7/8; Sept 28/29; Nov 2/3; Nov 24/25Weekend face-to-faceWINTERED 870 AK: Dr. Stephen KempLeadership for Community SchoolsJan 7-Apr 26 OnlineYEAR TWO (2008-09)SUMMEREC&I 857: Dr. Val MulhollandNorth Saskatchewan Writers ProjectJuly 2-18ED 870 AS: Dr. Carol FultonSustainability, Community and EducationJuly 2-18FALLED 870 AR: Dr. Linda GouletAboriginal EducationSept 13/14; Oct 4/5; Nov 1/2; Nov 22/23WINTERElective (online)Choice of elective from the following onlineofferings:a. EC&I 831: Dr. Alec CourosComputers in the Classroomb. EC&I 832: Dr. Vi MaeersInternet and Curriculum IntegrationSPRINGEC&I 808: Dr. David FriesenInstruction: Theory and PracticeMay 16-19 (Spring Term May 5-June 18)Blended weekend symposium and onlineSPRINGED 900 Project: Dr. David FriesenSubmission of action research project andpresentation(final 3 credits of project work grantedfor completed project)ED 900 Project: Dr. David.Friesen:(3 credits granted for project in progress)66

67A SIDRU PublicationFaculty of EducationUniversity of ReginaRegina, SK S4S 0A2