CCL Funds CBU Aboriginal Educational Change Project

November 2, 2007

(Sydney, NS) – Dr. Jane Lewis, Dean of Education, Health and Wellness and Lindsay Marshall, Associate Dean, Mi’kmaq College Institute at Cape Breton University have received funding approval in the amount of $68,896 to lead a community wide project team. The total value of the project, from all sources, is in excess of $157,000.

The focus will be on Creating educational change through applications of Two-Eyed Seeing (TES) in Teacher Education Programs. This is a unique project with implications for other regions of Canada, funded by Canadian Council on Learning (CCL), a national, independent, and non-profit corporation that is committed to improving learning across the country and across all walks of life. The current education system from K-12 across Canada is designed to support individual achievement, but the project team is not convinced that this is optimum in a world in which interdependence and conservation are critical to the survival of the planet.

Two-Eyed Seeing refers to bringing together Aboriginal and Western scientific knowledges and ways of knowing (or seeing) for the benefit of all, when using both these eyes together. This project examines Two-Eyed Seeing as an educational approach that includes multiple cultures and world views and a goal to model and reflect sustainability.

CBU has the experience and the community support to develop a Two-Eyed Seeing framework which would be incorporated into teacher education curriculum. This framework will be the foundation for the development of improved models of teaching and learning, with implications in public school through post-secondary education and professional development. Two-Eyed Seeing provides the necessary transdisciplinary, cross-cultural context in which teachers can recognize other ways of knowing, such that the education system shifts to become more respectful, not just of teachers and learners, but of the rest of the natural world as well.

Dr. Lewis, as lead investigator, sees the project as having far reaching implications. “We require our research and curriculum to model and reflect sustainability. Both world views contribute to the educational system; however, by recognizing that other ways of learning exist and by including them within the curriculum structure, teachers will be in a position to foster change from within, making education more accessible for all.”

Co-Project Lead and Liaison with Mi’kmaq Communities, Lindsay Marshall notes that, “Two Eyed Seeing has the potential for widespread educational improvement that extends far beyond Aboriginal Education. It fosters a healthy learning environment in all levels of the education system and in doing so, provides a structure that promotes movement towards sustainability.”

Drawing upon the experience and expertise of Cape Breton University, local educators, and Mi’kmaq Elders and educators, the project team will appropriately develop and disseminate a TES framework which would be incorporated into teacher education curriculum and challenge the current educational system. Several facilitated discussions will be hosted with Mi’kmaq Elders, pre- and in-service educators, education administrators, and other stakeholders. This education framework will focus on how teachers can open themselves to other ways of knowing (i.e. open their Aboriginal eye) leading to improved models of teaching and learning for all. The final report is due to the Canadian Council of Learning in December 2008.

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Contacts:
Dr. Jane Lewis
Dean, Education, Health and Wellness, CBU
t: (902) 563-1305
e: jane_lewis@cbu.ca

Lindsay Marshall
Associate Dean, Mi’kmaq College Institute, CBU
t: (902) 563-1827
e: lindsay_marshall@cbu.ca

Kelly Rose
Communications Officer, CBU
t: (902) 563-1638
e: kelly_rose@cbu.ca