Mount Saint Vincent University Goes to Nunavut!
The Faculty of Education at Mount Saint Vincent University has been working with the Government of Nunavut Department of Education since 2006 and now, thanks to continued sponsorships, has developed an on-going travel bursary program to enable students to explore their professional interest in teaching in the Canadian Eastern Arctic.
Nunavut’s Baffin Region draws more than half its teachers from the Atlantic Provinces. Mount Saint Vincent University is therefore offering an orientation program for those interested in considering a teaching position there, through participation in a half-credit course (EDUC 5508 01 Diversity and Culture ‘Nunavut: Education Through Tradition & Change’) and the opportunity for up to five student teachers to do the last 4 weeks of their MSVU teaching practicum actually in Nunavut. The northern practicum not only provides a unique preparatory ESL cross-cultural teaching experience but also helps would-be northern teachers to later adjust more easily and build relationships with Inuit students who often find the southern education system a challenge. It also provides an opportunity to meet Inuit, to sample their culture and to get out on the land.
At present five students are being accepted annually for this program with each travel bursary worth approximately $7600. It includes all travel, food & accommodation expenses, support for the program’s administration and $1000 for each northern school that hosts one of the MSVU students. The annual 4-week practicum in March and April sees each Mount Saint Vincent University student teach with a co-operating teacher while monitored by the school principal, whose final report attests to the success of the individual’s practicum placement. However, student practicum positions in Nunavut are dependent upon whether principals can find suitable accommodation in their communities as well as staff to serve as co-operating teachers.
The program is administered at MSVU by the Faculty of Education Practicum co-ordinator and Nick Newbery, the Nunavut Teacher Practicum Program co-ordinator. Nick lived in Nunavut for 30 years and now teaches courses on Nunavut (including EDUC 5508 noted above).
The program has four sponsors:
- TD Bank Financial Group, which has already donated $130,000 over 4 years under its aboriginal youth fund and has now provided a further $200,000 for the program to continue from 2012-2017
- Dr. & Mrs. Hans Uhthoff, who have already donated $20,000 and have agreed to provide up to $50,000 towards the project
- Qikiqtani School Operations, which administers Baffin schools for the Nunavut Department of Education and is our northern partner
- First Air, the northern airline, which provides discount fares for all participants
The goal of the project’s sponsors is to provide orientation for those interested in teaching in Nunavut with the broader aim of improving literacy among northern youth, helping them to stay in school and thus enhancing their career opportunities. Teaching in Nunavut can be challenging but also offers the opportunity to work in a unique setting, within a different culture and yet remain situated in Canada. This cross-cultural ESL experience requires and rewards initiative and determination and provides valuable background for any student teacher, especially one hoping to teach in a culturally diverse setting.