“Whether we live together in confidence and cohesion; with more faith and pride in ourselves and less hesitation; strong in the conviction that the destiny of Canada is to unite, not divide; sharing in cooperation, not in separation or in conflict; respecting our past and welcoming our future”. This quote was said by Lester Pearson, a former Canadian Prime minister, who was proud to address those true words to all Canada’s nation. However, this did not apply for the Indian aboriginal children, who were taken by force from their families and land by force, in the past. Education in the Indian residential schools were not successful because most of the time they worked forced labour, they were taught very few basic things, the teachers were not skilled and received low salaries, and their style of teaching was by force and violence.
However, many people agree that aboriginal children need to be educated in schools as the world’s lifestyle and technology is evolving and improving. The Indian residential schools legacy has caught national headlines as a cruel act and many aboriginals shared their painful and bitter experience in those schools to the world.
Education in Indian residential schools were ineffective because most of the time the aboriginal children were forced to work heavy labour. Knockwood (1992) reports that
because male students are strong they were forced to spend most of the day fulfilling
agriculture labour while gaining very few hours of simple basic academic skills.(as cited
in Kiping, G., & Stout, M. D.,2003). A residential school is a place to educate aboriginal
children with the evolving and changing technological world not forcing them to work as slaves.
Truth and reconcili...
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...t successful because the teachers were
not skilled and they were very few of them in comparison to the large number of students. Truth
and reconciliation commission of Canada (2012) states that sisters and nuns that taught the
students were not really teachers and knew very little about education other than religion (p.35).
In the past, teachers in the west were earning from 500 to 650 dollars a year, while teachers in
the Indian residential schools earned a salary of 300 dollars(p.36). Teachers felt less enthusiastic
in giving all their time and effort to the children due to the low salaries they received. “Aside
from the low pay, the workloads in the schools were staggering. In the 1920s at Mount Elgin,
there were two teachers and 148 students”(p.36). This causes students not getting their proper
education and time due to the lack of teachers.
Residential schools were institutions funded by the government for young indigenous peoples. The idea was to kill the Indian in the children, and to create Westernized youth. Many children revolted the idea, while others accepted it. Crucial development occurs in a child's mind between the ages of five and eight. In the novel Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden, a story is told of three Cree people who have experienced Residential Schools and who have been forever changed because of it. Xavier, Elijah and Niska are ripped from the comfort of their naturalistic and self sufficient communities and thrown into materialistic environments where they are shamed and defaced. Each of these characters experienced the Residential schools in extremely different
Parbury (1999:64) states that Aboriginal education “cannot be separated” from the non-Aboriginal attitudes (racially based ethnocentricity that were especially British ie. white and Christian) towards Aborigines, their culture and their very existence. The Mission Schools are an early example of the connection between official education policies and key events in Aboriginal history. Aboriginal children were separated from their parents and placed into these schools which according to McGrath (as cited by Parbury, 1999:66) it was recommended that these establishments be located ‘as far as possible’ from non Aboriginal residents so as to minimize any heathen influence that Aboriginal children might be subject to from their parents. Mission Schools not only prepared Aboriginal youth for the manual labour market but also, adds Parbury (1999:67) their aim was‘to destroy Aboriginal culture and replace it with an Anglo-European work and faith ethic.’ Despite the NSW Public Instruction Act (1880) which made education free, secular and compulsory for all children Aboriginal children could be excluded from public schools based on prevailing dominant group attitudes. Consequently, the NSW Aborigines Protection Act (1909) was introduced as a result of a perceived public education crisis and Laws had already been passed, similar to protectionist type policies. This Act gave the State the power to remove Aboriginal children from their families whereby this period of time has become known as ‘Stolen Generations.’ It was during this time that Aboriginal children were segregated from mainstream schools. (Parbury, 1999; Lippman, 1994).
To begin with their jobs were not only the sort of jobs that we would
Our Indian legislation generally rests on the principle, that the aborigines are to be kept in a condition of tutelage and treated as wards or children of the State. …the true interests of the aborigines and of the State alike require...
They also had prior income to support themselves even if they had no beneficial skills. I think that they would also have more friends and people that could teach them skills
Though the film mentioned the impact that residential schools had and still has on the aboriginal people, I felt that this issue needed to be stressed further because the legacy of the schools is still extremely prominent in aboriginal communities today. The film refers to the fact that residential schools harmed the aboriginal people because they were not able to learn their culture, which has resulted in the formation of internalized oppression within in the group. “The...
Newman, Garfield et al. Canada A Nation Unfolding. Toronto: Mc Graw – Hill Ryerson Limited, 2000.
The Ontario school system dedicates a great deal of the high school curriculum towards preparing students for University. Ontario high schools provide students with many courses that will help prepare the students that decide to go on to post secondary education. However, the Ontario School System lacks in preparing them for the most prominent aspect of University, stress. The Ontario school system does not prepare students for any of the on coming stresses which will be the number one factor in a students success or failure at University.
“Today we honour the Indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in human History. We reflect on their past mistreatment. We reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were Stolen Generations—this blemished chapter in our nation’s history. The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia’s history by righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future. We apologise for the laws and policies of successive Parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians” (apology by Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, 16th November 2009, Parliament House, Canberra.)
were educated, then the belief was they would in turn become more productive. Finally, a push
Residential schools were first established in the 1880's to solve Canada's “Indian Problem”. Settlers in Canada thought of the First Nations people as savages, and the goal of the residential schools was to civilize them and integrate them in to white Canadian society. The first operators of residential schools thought of their forced integration as a benefit to native peoples. One of the overseers of residential schools wrote to the Sisters in charge of St. Joseph's Mission at Williams Lake that “It now remains for ...
In school we are always taught about the lighter parts of Canadian History, but only until recently have Canadian students been taught about the darker parts of our history. Residential Schools were included in these dark parts of Canada’s history. In the 19th century, the Canadian government believed that Residential Schools were responsible for educating and caring for the country’s aboriginal people. The goal of these schools was to teach the aboriginal children about Christianity and Canadian customs, in hopes of them passing these practices on towards their own children and it would eventually be adopted into the aboriginal culture. The Canadian
The children of today hold the future in their hands, Aldous Houxly once said,” Children are remarkable for their intelligence and ardor, for their curiosity, their intolerance of shams, the clarity and ruthlessness of their vision.” Needless to say that right now at this precise moment we can be raising that doctor who will find the cure to cancer or that athlete runner who runs to promote world peace or maybe firefighter that will one day save our lives. Children have the power to accomplish many things but when they are neglected by those who surround them;they are being deprived from all the beautiful possibilities that they can encounter.
· And also were not paid well only if they were lucky to get a job.
Slaves would take on the tasks of motherhood, some would even breast feed the babies. The slaves also worked the fields and helped the mother with other household duties, such as making clothes (The Study of Women, online). Education Boys will begin school at age seven. They were also given paid agogos, a slave that accompanied them everywhere. The paid adolescents taught the boy manners, punished him when he did wrong, and even sat through classes with the boy to make sure he did his work.