And Still They Persisted: A Discussion of Indigenous Students Perspectives on a Year in Pre-Nursing Transitions

Abstract

Abstract. Access and Transitions Programing has been a focus in Canadian Educational reform for over fifty years. Though made smaller through transitions and access supports, the gap between nonIndigenous and Indigenous students" attainment in higher education, remains large. One has to ask why? Evaluation of said programs in current literature is dominated with Eurocentric approaches and bias based in institutional needs such as retention, attrition and graduation rates. However, the statistics do not tell a complete story about how Indigenous students are navigating post-secondary experiences. Through the lens of the Medicine Wheel the experiences of four women participating in a Pre-Nursing Transitions Program (PNT) at a western Canadian University will be discussed. The results of this case study which was conducted during the 2013-14 academic year identify clashes between the Eurocentric paradigm of the University and students" values. At face value, conflicts centered around prioritisation of family, types of knowledge valued and the way information was presented. However, these conflicts speak to larger issues around the construction and intention of transitions programming and this article aims respond with a word of caution for post secondary institutions however well intentioned aiming to respond to the 2015 Truth and reconciliation call for indigenization of the academy.

Different Worlds Same Province: Blended Learning Design to Promote Transcultural Understanding in Teacher Education

“…The specialized programming offered by CBU has included including modified enrollment processes, designated cohorts, the adoption of L'Nu pedagogy and content knowledge into classes, permanent Elders in residence, and wrap around services for academic and personal support. These among many other initiatives represent "best practices" illustrated in research literature addressing Indigenous student integration and retention in post-secondary (Hardes, 2006;Smith & Gottheil, 2011;Snow, 2017). In early discussions of the L'Nu specific cohort program design, the Department of Education within CBU collectively set out not simply to modify and "integrate" L'Nu students and pedagogy into a mainstream approach to teacher education but to rethink teaching and learning within the Bachelor of Education program as a whole.…”