March 15, 2005 - 4:00pm
A new initiative is underway at Malaspina University-College to improve the lives of Aboriginal children and their families.
Malaspina is trying to raise $1.25-million to create a permanent research Chair in Aboriginal Early Childhood Development at the Nanaimo campus. The funds will match a funding commitment from the B.C. government's Leading Edge Endowment Fund (LEEF).
The new Regional Innovation Research Chair - expected to be in place by September 2006 - will work in partnership with Aboriginal communities on central Vancouver Island and beyond to strengthen positive caregiving and support for Aboriginal families.
"The Chair will initiate research projects to enhance Aboriginal early childhood development training programs at post-secondary institutions," explained Beverly Revin, Chair of Malaspina's Early Childhood Education program.
Healthy development in early childhood lays the foundation for lifelong learning and positive outcomes for children, Revin said. Extensive research has shown that from birth to age six, children need play stimulation, loving care and positive social interaction for optimum brain development.
According to a World Health Organization report, if any of these is lacking, children are much more likely to develop learning, behavioural, emotional or health problems. The report states that all children need quality early
education, and that all caregivers need information and support to raise healthy, resilient young people.
The reality is that hundreds of thousands of Aboriginal children have grown up without positive parenting and caregiving models because past government policies forced them to live in residential schools and assimilate to Western ways of thinking and being.
"Children were cut off from their culture and deeply traumatized," said Joan Gignac, Child Care Manager for the Chemainus First Nation and member of Malaspina's Steering Committee for the Aboriginal Early Childhood Development Research Chair. "The policies of the residential schools undermined the role of language and the influence of family, community and ceremony in shaping individual and community life," she said.
"While efforts have started to redress the wrongs of the past, Aboriginal peoples continue to experience systemic inequalities with the highest levels of poverty, incarceration, unemployment and suicide in the country."
Recognizing that raising healthy children is the cornerstone of rebuilding Aboriginal communities, local First Nations groups and Malaspina have teamed up to collaboratively research and develop relevant training for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people working with young children, said Laureen Garteig, Dean of Health and Human Services at Malaspina.
"There is a keen interest in working together to learn more about the strengths and opportunities that exist in Aboriginal communities to foster positive early childhood development," said Garteig. "These insights can help inform the education and training of early childhood education and care practitioners."
She said Malaspina has a long history of working with Aboriginal communities on Vancouver Island and elsewhere in B.C. to meet the academic and cultural needs of Aboriginal students. Malaspina currently has about 950 Aboriginal students studying at the Nanaimo campus.
Garteig said a research Chair in Aboriginal Early Childhood Development at Malaspina will build upon existing relationships with Aboriginal communities, other researchers, service agencies and governments to gain new knowledge, put the knowledge into action, and share effective approaches across the province and country.
"We are aware that Aboriginal groups and individuals do not want to be endlessly studied and consulted," she added. "They want to participate in active community based or community-driven research and solutions in which they are partners. Aboriginal peoples want to build on their communities'inherent strengths and talents around child rearing and childcare, and to implement workable solutions."
Malaspina's Chair in Aboriginal Early Childhood Development will:
* Develop and implement a long-term research strategy that is Aboriginal-led and credible in both Aboriginal and academic communities;
* Investigate strengths, gaps and opportunities that exist in Aboriginal ECD training programs, services and research;
* Support and implement participatory action research in partnership with Aboriginal communities;
* Communicate with other researchers and First Nations groups to ensure meaningful connections in Aboriginal ECD research, and to spark collaborative and innovative research and knowledge transfer;
* Enhance and improve the education preparation of families in ways that best support the optimal development of Aboriginal children in diverse communities.
Potential research projects may include identifying what Aboriginal families want for their children and the supports required, critically examining current teaching practices in early childhood development and how they fit with what families require.
To find out how you can contribute to Malaspina's $1.25-million fundraising campaign to create the research Chair for Aboriginal Early Childhood Development, call the Malaspina Foundation office at 740-6212.
Tags: In the Community
