Métis Nation-Saskatchewan (MN-S) has released that they are starting a Michif language program in the fall, and now they’ve announced a Dene language program in the fall as well.
The Dene Early Learning Pilot Program will be similar to the Michif language program that we reported on previously, in that the school offering the program, Ducharme School in La Loche, will have cultural aspects and parents will be invited in some programs to help them get involved not only with the language and culture, but also with their children.
This Dene language program runs on the heels of the recent Dene Teacher Education Program that had its first graduates this summer.
“Out of the 21 new graduates, eight of those graduates will be in Ducharme School,” said Lisa Fleming, director of early learning, childcare and child and family services. “We don’t know specifically if they’ll be working directly in the Dene Pilot Project, but we know they will be in the school environment supporting Dene language for children and families.”
Whether the new graduates will aid in teaching the language or not, they’re excited to start teaching children in the fall and the children will likely be more comfortable around teachers who not only grew up in the same era, but who same the same cultural background. These new teachers will feel less like strangers than teachers from out of province or from the south.
Although the Michif language program will be in five different school districts, the Dene language program will only be in La Loche and only at Ducharme School… for now.
“At this point, we’re starting there (Ducharme School) as a pilot,” said Fleming. “But we would hope to grow it in the future.”
The Dene Early Learning Pilot Project will also be exclusive to pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students, who will get an extended school day with the program as well as extra transportation to and from the school, in the morning and after class. As well as parent and community engagement opportunities.
“We want our families and community to be involved in the learning process,” said Fleming. “And we will work the teachers and the school divisions to create plans to make that happen.”
According to an article on Waterford.org, parent engagement is more important to a student’s academic success than socioeconomic status and school prestige. So, involving parents in this program could not only lead to success in learning the language, but overall academic success.
The program currently has plans to run for two years.
“We have funding in place for two years, with a plan to extend it beyond that,” Fleming said. “And we wanna be able to really evaluate the program, so that we know that language transmission, needs a lot of support. So, we wanna make sure that we’re doing it in the right way possible.”
If the program is deemed successful there could be a possibility for more schools to be involved with more grades added to the program, and if the program only runs for two years, the children involved will get a chance to learn about their native language, which gives them a chance to learn about their culture as well.
“You can’t separate language from culture,” Fleming says. “You have culture through language, through experiences. And when you can communicate in a language with another person, that opens up relationships, and to quote an elder, Linda Young, she said “Our language is our power.”’
Language can also show the beliefs of a culture. For instance, in the Cree language a rock is a living thing, which shows that the Cree believe the earth is alive. In Dene there is more than one word for wolf, one word is roughly translated to ‘us’ which can tell you that wolves are looked at more as family than just an animal. These are only two rough examples, and so much more can be learned for the children who will be a part of these programs, and the parents/rest of the community.
Elders will also be involved in the teachings and as support for the teachers.
“We want to ensure that our elders and our old people have an identity in the program.” Fleming said. “Both the Dene and the Michif program. And we want to ensure that that knowledge, that cultural awareness is passed on to our children, and we see this as an opportunity to build the bridge between our very youngest citizens and our elders and our knowledge keepers.”
Children are seen as the centre of a community and giving elders a chance to bond with the young children of their communities will likely prove to be quite rewarding. Children today live quite a different life than our elders did in their youth and some may have difficulty relating to the young children in their families. A study from the Morning Star Lab had youth help their elders in learning about technology with those who had dementia. Apart from learning something new, the elders felt a new bond with the youth who helped them. That is just one aspect that shows promise for these language programs beginning in the fall.
