Enhancing Conditions for Aboriginal Learners in Higher Education: The Experiences of Nishnawbe Aski Teacher Candidates in a Teacher Education Program

Abstract

This article studies a community-based Indigenous teacher education program in Northwestern Ontario in Canada. This program, the result of a partnership between the Northern Nishnawbe Education Council and Brock University, was designed to prepare Nishnawbe Aski teachers able to teacher through a Two Worlds Orientation: unique Indigenous understandings combined with Western educational principles. The program characteristics and structure are outlined. The strengths of the program, as identified byteacher candidates and teacher educators, are explored. Impediments to success are also considered.