(From the ISHN Member information service)  In the ASCD-ISHN global discussion of the need to better integrate health and social programs within education systems, it has been strongly suggested that authorities take a holisitc, whole child approach to education rather than trying to carve up children into specific health/social behaviours or conditions to to compete with the academic purposes of schooling. With the October 2013 release of its Education Renewal and Innovation Framework: Directions for Change, the Government of the Northwest Territories in Canada illustrates how this can be done from the ground up, while using a distinctly indigenous and rural set of values and principles. The news release announcing the framework identifies several challenges that require changes in the schools, the nature of which illustrate how the new directions see school as part of their respective social and economic contexts and communities. "The framework is one of several initiatives developed by the Government of the Northwest Territories to address challenges like poverty, mental health, addictions, early childhood development, safety, the legacy of residential schools and school attendance.  Other challenges within the school system, like authentic learning, staff recruitment, training and retention and transitions to work or learning after high school will be met primarily through school programming and policies themselves, preparing children for a prosperous and healthy future." The foundations of the reforms are equally holistic in their approach to education. The executive summary of the document says it this way: "Thinking around teaching and learning is undergoing a major shift world-wide. The current education system is a model off a system similar to the factories of the Industrial Age. Subject areas are separated, students are sorted by age, and the end goal is a very specific set of skills and knowledge. Research now points to a more ecological understanding of the needs of learners and the factors that benefit learning."  These foundational statements are intended to guide the initiative. These statements, especially the first few, are born of indigenous worldviews and experiences where relationships with the land, ecology, and identity are very powerful.     

1. Relationships: Meaningful relationships with self, others, ideas, and the land are the foundation for all learning. 
   
2. Ecological Understanding: Education in the NWT is a living system of connections, each affecting an individual’s relationships and well-being. 
   
3. Identity: A positive sense of identity is actively supported. 
   
4. Development of Self: Each person has multiple needs that must be met in order to grow and become a capable, contributing person. 
   
5. Learning Together: People construct knowledge and learn individually and together. 
   
6. Diversity: Diversity is recognized and valued in the education system. 
   
7. Strengths and Growth: The ongoing growth of learners is nurtured. 
   
8. Competencies: The development of competencies is supported in all learners
   

The proposed directions for change reflect the holistic understanding and the set of coherent values. They include commitments on the part of government to  (1) "ensure that the school and community work together to build and renew positive 
relationships", (2) "e that student wellness and the development of a positive sense of identity are promoted and embedded in school experiences, programming, and environments", (3)  "ensure that educators have access to experiences and resources that enhance their wellness in order for them to focus on excellence in teaching" (5) "that the strengths and realities of small communities are recognized and built upon in order to ensure equitable, quality education in all NWT communities" and (9) "work with Aboriginal governments to be successful as they draw down jurisdiction over the education of their people".
The document does include other directions that will be more familiar to those working in school systems based on competition, traditional rote style learning and even narrow, behavioural modification approaches to promote health. These include research-based curriculum, better data and use of those data in decision-making, and more monitoring/reporting to provide better accountability. However, these traditional, more industrial approaches to education are firmly based and and linked within this indigenous, holistic, whole child approach, that in turn, is rooted in a deep understanding the indigenous and rural, northern communities served by the schools in this system.  To read more about the NWT education renewal, start at this web page.   

(An item from the ISHN Member information service)  An article in Issue #4, 2013 of Educational Administration Quarterly describes the new and different kinds of leadership skills needed by school principals who are assigned to schools in disadvantaged or tribal communities. The article "examined how the federal Promise Neighborhoods program shapes leadership networks and objectives in diverse tribal and urban settings. The program calls for diverse stakeholders to provide families with resources such as parenting workshops, childcare, preschool, health clinics, and other social services that affect learning and development. We focused particularly upon how Promise Neighborhoods planning and development creates new “frontiers of educational leadership." The "Promise Neighborhoods planning grant applications in the USA —21 that were funded and 21 from tribal settings—as well as interview data and program and community-specific archival data were analyzed to learn about applicants’ purposes and compositions of partners. These data were analyzed with insights from Burt’s notion of structural holes, which suggests that leadership in “social frontier” spaces is often dependent upon negotiation, entrepreneurship, and relationship brokering." The authors suggest that " As Promise Neighborhoods and other place-based initiatives are developed, diverse networks of leaders will be called to bridge organizational boundaries, cultural differences, socioeconomic differences, and physical distances to develop coherent plans of action for collective “Neighborhoods.”  Read more>>

(An item from the ISHN Member information service) An article in the September 2013 Issue of the international Journal of Environmental Research & Public Health cal;ls for a culturally relevant and competent approach to child protection in aboriginal communities. The authors argue that "Child Sexual Assault (CSA) in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities is a complex issue that cannot be understood in isolation from the ongoing impacts of colonial invasion, genocide, assimilation, institutionalised racism and severe socio-economic deprivation. Service responses to CSA are often experienced as racist, culturally, financially and/or geographically inaccessible.". The article is based on a two day forum. "The forum was attended by eighty invited Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Aboriginal youth sexual assault managers and workers representing both “victim” and “those who sexually harm others” services. In keeping with Aboriginal Community-Based Research methods forum participants largely directed discussions and contributed to the analysis of key themes and recommendations reported in this article. The need for sexual assault services to prioritise cultural safety by meaningfully integrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Worldviews emerged as a key recommendation. It was also identified that collaboration between “victims” and “those who sexually harm” services are essential given Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander C&YP who sexually harm others may have also been victims of sexual assault or physical violence and intergenerational trauma. By working with the whole family and community, a collaborative approach is more likely than the current service model to develop cultural safety and thus increase the accessibility of sexual assault services. Read more>>

(An item from ISHN Member information service) Several articles in Issue #2, 2012 of The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education examine the challenges faced in educating indigenous students. The articles include a blunt assessment of the lack of progress in reducing their educational disadvantage, moving beyond a deficit-based discourse to discuss power, the controversial academy approach, the principles underlying a decolonized approach, providing resources to teachers so that they can truly consult with their communities, the benefits of reflective teaching practice when working with indigenous students, tribal leadership, using interactive media and professional training in culturally appropriate ways, practices that can help indigenous students make the transition between band elementary schools and public high schools, student retention and remediation. Read more. 

(An item from ISHN Member information service) Issue #9, 2012 of the Journal of Family Issues contains an article documenting the inter-generational impact of previous re-location programs for indigenous families. Not only were the conditions at these residential schools terrible, exploitative and abusive, their impact shows up in future generations. In this study, "data were collected from a longitudinal study currently underway on four American Indian reservations in the Northern Midwest and four Canadian First Nation reserves where residents share a common Indigenous cultural heritage. This article includes information from 507 10- to 12-year-old Indigenous youth and their biological mothers who participated in the study. Results of path analysis revealed significant direct and indirect effects whereby grandparent-generation participation in government relocation programs negatively affects not only grandparent-generation well-being but also ripples out to affect subsequent generations". Read more..  

(An item taken from the daily/weekly/monthly ISHN Member information service)  An article in the August 2012 Issue of Harm Reduction is part of a new gtrend in the research to examine indigenous culture and family life as a protective factor in youth risk behaviours. The authors of this study found that the key cultural factors that contributed to whether Pacific youth participants were abstinent or responsible drinkers were: significant experiences within Pacific family environments (e.g. young person directly links their decision about alcohol consumption to a positive or negative role model); awareness of the belief that their actions as children of Pacific parents affects the reputation and standing of their Pacific family and community (e.g. church); awareness of traditional Pacific values of respect, reciprocity and cultural taboos (e.g. male-female socialising); commitment to no-alcohol teachings of church or religious faith; having peer support and experiences that force them to consider negative effects of excessive alcohol consumption; and personal awareness that being part of an (excessive) drinking culture may seriously affect health or impede career aspirations. Read more..