University College of the North (UCN) is thrilled to announce it has been selected as one of the seven Indigenous-led and community-driven programs to receive a grant from the Rideau Hall Foundation (RHF). The grant is part of an Indigenous Teacher Education Initiative. It aims to help address the underrepresentation of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis teachers across Canada and supports the goal of enriching Canada's education system with 10,000 Indigenous teachers.
UCN's program, titled Teacher Training and Language Revitalization in Northern Manitoba: Building Capacity Together, will receive two million dollars in funding for the five-year project to expand teaching training in Northern Manitoba, including pathways to enhance language certification and facilitate transitions into Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Education programs. Literacy readiness and support, along with land-based and language training, are integrated into the overall project design. As the lead on this five-year project, UCN is excited to create pathways and benefit to local communities, where 70% of the population is Indigenous.
Dr. Ramona Neckoway, UCN's Vice-President, Indigenous Initiatives and Reconciliation will lead the initiative.
"I'm honoured to lead this transformative initiative for UCN. This initiative will help address the underrepresentation of Indigenous teachers in Canada's education system. The grant from Rideau Hall Foundation enables community-driven programming and contributes to the goal of enriching education for all Canadians," said Dr. Neckoway.
The RHF's initiative is anchored on the belief in teachers' transformative role in students' lives. "We know that Canada is facing national teacher shortages and that Indigenous communities are struggling enormously to recruit and retain teachers. The grants will support these education teams across Canada," says Rachel Mishenene, RHF Director of the Indigenous Teacher Education Initiative and Indigenous educator. "All of Canada will benefit from having significantly greater numbers of Indigenous teachers in classrooms."
