Aboriginal Student Engagement and Achievement

Educational Practices and Cultural Sustainability

Aboriginal people in Canada want an education that reflects their cultural values and linguistic heritages. They want an education that will foster their children’s sense of engagement and identity, putting them on the path to success. When students enter public school systems, however, they encounter curriculums and pedagogies that marginalize them as learners.

Lorenzo Cherubini investigates the effectiveness of attempts to introduce culturally relevant programs in Ontario, where the province has documented an achievement gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students. He turns the spotlight on a rare success story – one high school’s attempt to recognize Aboriginal students’ cultural and academic needs while helping them to build relationships with non-Aboriginal students. In this insightful study, teachers, students, youth counsellors, parents and caregivers, community leaders, and administrators share their thoughts on the effectiveness of the program, adding their voices to the existing literature and a human face to quantitative data on Aboriginal education and public policy in Ontario.

Aboriginal students constitute one of the fastest-growing groups in Canada’s public schools. This timely, incisive study reveals how the current system is failing indigenous students and offers recommendations for enhancing their academic achievement levels in Ontario, Canada, and abroad.