“Educators respect and value the history of First Nations, Inuit and Metis in Canada and the impact of the past on the present and the future. Educators contribute towards truth, reconciliation and healing. Educators foster a deeper understanding of ways of knowing and being, histories, and cultures of First Nations, Inuit and Metis.”

A long worded standard to tackle a problem that the education system has struggled to address. On a quick Google search I learned that the FNESC (First Nations Education Steering Committee) was involved in crafting this standard in 2019. The committee was founded in 1992 and has been recognized as having legal standing in making decisions relating to First Nation education. I didn’t even know they existed, but on a local note the current Vice President is Marlene Erickson from Carrier Sekani. Their website features a number of useful resources: First Nations Education Steering Committee FNESC – Quality First Nations Education in BC. The very fact that efforts were made for nearly thirty years to include this sort of standard is an interesting point of history in its own right.

It would be difficult to overstate the impact that the TRC has had on education in BC and across Canada. I struggle to remember the nature of indigenous education in the 90s but I am sure it was considerably less than what we have now. It has been a long road to get to a place where we officially value Indigenous education, knowledge and ways of learning, and is a process that was driven by Indigenous communities and educators, just as the TRC was forged by Indigenous communities. It seems a bit hollow for me to arrive at this standard in 2023 and start pontificating on it, but that is to some degree what I am walking into as a teacher. I believe I must simply remain aware that there is a great deal of study and work already done on bringing Indigenous students into parity with non-Indigenous students and that I have to seek that knowledge out rather than trying to divine it on my own.

As a further sample of that work and knowledge, the First Nations Schools Association – FNSA (another organization I didn’t know existed) is linked to on the FNESC website. They have a page full of free resources and publications. At a glance I have already learned of 1440-Tsay Keh Dene School in Prince George, which I didn’t know existed. FNESC Attendance Toolkit is very topical, with attendance rates being as low as they are. In short, any time we have a question or issue with Indigenous students or topics, we should assume that an answer has already been found by someone within the community.