Canadian Council on Learning | Conseil Canadien sur l'Apprentissage

Learning measures lagging for Aboriginal people

Report calls for approach to learning that reflects community values

Jan. 26, 2007 Ottawa—While more Aboriginal youth are finishing school and entering post-secondary education than ever before, Aboriginal languages are endangered and the effects of persistent poverty are hindering progress among Aboriginal youth.

State of Learning in Canada: No Time for Complacency, the first in a series of annual reports to be published by the Canadian Council on Learning (CCL), is a comprehensive overview of key aspects of learning in Canada.

Using a wide range of research into learning among Aboriginal people, the report reveals that:

• Aboriginal children are less likely than their parents or Elders to speak an ancestral language
• Of Canada’s 50 or so Aboriginal languages, half are considered at risk of extinction and only Inuktitut, Cree, and Ojibway are considered ‘safe’
• While some immersion or bilingual programming in Aboriginal communities exists, there is no comprehensive research on the number of programs or their impact
• Nine in 10 Aboriginal children lack access to early childhood programming designed for them
• Aboriginal youth remain two-and-a-half times more likely than non-Aboriginal Canadians to drop out of high school.

“Although progress is being made, serious gaps remain with respect to learning among Aboriginal people compared to non-Aboriginal Canadians” said Paul Cappon, CEO of the Council. “Substantial action needs to be taken to repair what exists on the Aboriginal learning landscape and enhance it to better meet the needs of Aboriginal people of all ages.”

The report makes a number of recommendations on approaches to learning that reflect the particular needs of Aboriginal people. In addition, CCL’s Aboriginal Learning Knowledge Centre is developing new strategies to address the challenges.

In March, CCL is sponsoring a forum to bring together leaders, learners, practitioners and policy makers to look at the current state of Aboriginal learning in Canada and share best practices with the goal of improving learning outcomes across the country.

“Aboriginal communities have traditional, holistic views on how people learn in their societies. We need to work to integrate their perspectives with Western perspectives and models,” said Cappon.

In addition to Aboriginal learning, the report also contains chapters on early childhood learning, learning in school, adult learning, and a special feature profiling the challenges low literacy levels pose to Canadian society.

The full report is available at www.ccl-cca.ca/solr.

Note: Additional State of Learning in Canada news releases are available on the report in general and on health literacy.

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The Canadian Council on Learning is an independent, not-for-profit corporation funded through an agreement with Human Resources and Social Development Canada. Its mandate is to promote and support evidence-based decisions about learning throughout all stages of life, from early childhood through to the senior years.

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