Prospective Teachers' Perceptions: A Critical Literacy Framework

The education of Aboriginal youth is, in some respects, in crisis. Aboriginal communities in Ontario (Canada) are as a group currently experiencing marginalization within the education system. As such it is imperative that efforts be made to better understand the system to improve the success rate for Aboriginal youth. The Ontario First Nation, Métis and Inuit Education Policy Framework (2007) has committed to “improve achievement among First Nation, Métis and Inuit students and to close the gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students” (5). English and Language Arts teachers (K to 12) are compelled to consider how the policy discourse of the 2007 Aboriginal Policy Framework implicates upon the socio-political and socio-historical currency of literacy in their instruction. Consequently, this qualitative study examined one component of a large-scale project, in the tradition of grounded theory, including the implications of Aboriginal education policy discourse on literacy instruction as it applies to over 200 prospective teachers enrolled in a Teacher Education Program in Ontario, Canada. Participants identified two themes that they believed Aboriginal students would find most challenging, including: (i) tension with provincial curriculum and, (ii) feelings of misrepresentation. 

KEYWORDS: Aboriginal students, critical literacy, education policy