Abstracts of Papers
John Chenoweth:
Community Development Through Aboriginal Leadership
The last 40 years has witnessed great change in the means that Aboriginal people have attained in education in this country. A great many strides have been achieved in the advancement of Aboriginal people through all educational systems, both K-12 and post-secondary. Governments, organizations, and aboriginal communities have worked together to achieve success and opportunities for all concerned.
In the last 7 years I have had the opportunity to become involved in three very distinct avenues for Aboriginal people to succeed in the educational systems. The first will explore the need for more Aboriginal teachers within our province and the First Nations Education Steering Committee projects that seek to assist in this matter. The second is a project initiated by the British Columbia School Superintendent's Association, which sought to advance Aboriginal educators into roles of leadership, such as school principals and district administrators. The third is one that I am very passionate about; NVIT, Canada's only provincially funded Aboriginal post-secondary school. NVIT started as a small one-program school in the basement of a Band hall and has grown into a provincial and national success story. I will chronicle its humble beginnings and discuss the leadership that created this institution.
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