Abstract:
Discourse in the provincial education system that includes Aboriginal peoples is a
convoluted one-sided affair. This has contributed to the limited academic success for
Aboriginal secondary students in the provincial school system. The Office of the Auditor
General (2004) announced a 27-28 year gap in Academic success compared to non-
Aboriginal students (p. I). Both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal stakeholders are fiiistrated
and confused with the lack of support for long-term solutions to address academic
success for Aboriginal students. The boundaries in education that exist between the
dominant society of Canada and Aboriginal peoples in education are hindering the
development of ethical space in which to negotiate and apply "concrete arguments and
concepts" (Ermine, 2000, p. 140) for 'best' solutions across the cultural divide.
Recent literature suggests a gap in knowledge to address this cultural divide. This
study reveals racism is still prevalent and the problem lies in the fallacy of Euro-Western
pedagogical beliefs. There is a need to design ethical space that will assist transformation
of cross-relations in education for inclusion of Aboriginal voices and content. I submit
that ethical space involves physical and abstract space.
This report is a qualitative, exploratory, and single case study of one northern
Ontario secondary school attended by First Nations and Metis peoples who comprise
35% of the school population. Twenty-six stakeholders volunteered to participate in six
interviews. The volunteers in this study are Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal. Aboriginal
peoples are firom two First Nations, and Metis peoples. It is an Aboriginal designed and
delivered study that a) describes an Aboriginally-designed research method to gather data
across cultural divides in a secondary school, b) reviews Tri-Council Policy Section 6 (TCPS) regarding 'good practices' in ethical research involving Aboriginal peoples, and
c) summarizes stakeholder perspectives of the 'best educational environment' for one
secondary school.
