Canadian Colleges & Institutes - Meeting the Needs of Aboriginal Learners

For Aboriginal students and communities to benefit from college/institute programs, they need more Aboriginal role models, students and employees. College/institute graduates need to be more present as role models in Aboriginal communities.

Some key factors for Aboriginal student retention are to provide a safe learning environment, free from racism, strong student services, and support to find housing.
From a college perspective it is important that the learning environment is respectful and positive but it is also forgiving of mistakes, and it has a sense of being non-threatening and encourages students to do self evaluation in addition to the traditional write a test evaluation. If we want institutions where students are most successful we have to get over the assumption that there is right and wrong. In institutions where Aboriginal students are most successful, the learning environment is much more supportive of a developmental approach to education where people are encouraged to make mistakes and learn from them and not penalized for making mistakes.

Ideally, institutions need to:
- Develop a high profile, stand-alone Aboriginal services area that is knowledgeable of and responsive to academic, emotional, spiritual, and physical needs of Aboriginal students.
- Provide extensive financial services, including liaison with student funding agencies, a good portfolio of Aboriginal-specific awards and bursaries, and emergency money to provide to students in crisis.
- Ensure that community and culture is reflected back to Aboriginal students through the presence of Aboriginal art and artefacts on mainstream campuses.
- Organize Aboriginal cultural and community sports activities for all college students to foster student engagement.

For colleges and institutes serving Aboriginal populations it is important that programs:
- recognize the need for holistic programs that engage the body, mind and spirit; and
- achieve a balance between western and Aboriginal knowledge and values and acknowledge both knowledge systems.
For more effective programs for adult learners, courses should include more Aboriginal materials for adult learners on subjects such as Aboriginal life, history and culture.
Find additional ways to incorporate Aboriginal worldviews and contemporary issues into the curriculum. This means active participation on the part of non Aboriginal staff and students to learn about Aboriginal Peoples' cultures and perspectives. Colleges and institutes have a responsibility for creating some of these opportunities for learning.