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New program graduates cultural and linguistic saviour
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Contact:
Laura Buker, 604.268.6625, laura_buker@sfu.ca
Laura Buker, 604.268.6625, laura_buker@sfu.ca
June 21, 2005
The first cohort of graduates has come through Simon Fraser University's new Developmental Standard Term Certificate (DSTC) program for First Nations people. The eight Sto:lo women, many of them grandmothers, are now qualified to teach any subject across a curriculum in their native tongue and culture in aboriginal and non-aboriginal public and community schools.
Sto:lo elders, in collaboration with SFU and the BC College of Teachers, developed the one-of-a-kind program in Canada to help First Nations people save their dying languages and cultures. Through academic courses and a 12 week practicum, the two year DSTC program helps Sto:lo student teachers become fluent in their native tongue, Halq'emeylem, learn Sto:lo culture, and meet the requirements of the faculty of education's teacher professional development program (PDP). DSTC student teachers learn to create Sto:lo language and culture-based learning resources using new media technologies. DSTC graduates can use their certificate to ladder into education degree programs at SFU.
“With only a handful of Sto:lo elders left who are fluent in Halq'emeylem, these graduates will become cultural and linguistic saviours,” says Laura Buker. Of Sto:lo ancestry, the indigenous lecturer in the faculty of education teaches First Nations courses. She is also doing her doctoral thesis at SFU on the history of the revitalization of the Halq'emeylem language.
The inaugural cohort of graduates is not your average group of student teachers. They range in age from middle aged to older, and came into the DSTC program with little more than a high school education. Their shared passion for reviving their dying language and culture kept them going through a rigorous program. They had to beg, borrow and juggle time to maintain an 80 percent course load and complete their practicum in Chilliwack and Agassiz, while maintaining a demanding schedule of family and community responsibilities. The women have colourful stories to tell about their time in the classroom while engaging in activities such as canoe pulling, salmon canning and buckskin dressmaking outside the classroom.
-30-
(electronic photo available)
Websites:
DSTC graduates: www.educ.sfu.ca/index.php?page=11
Sto:lo elders, in collaboration with SFU and the BC College of Teachers, developed the one-of-a-kind program in Canada to help First Nations people save their dying languages and cultures. Through academic courses and a 12 week practicum, the two year DSTC program helps Sto:lo student teachers become fluent in their native tongue, Halq'emeylem, learn Sto:lo culture, and meet the requirements of the faculty of education's teacher professional development program (PDP). DSTC student teachers learn to create Sto:lo language and culture-based learning resources using new media technologies. DSTC graduates can use their certificate to ladder into education degree programs at SFU.
“With only a handful of Sto:lo elders left who are fluent in Halq'emeylem, these graduates will become cultural and linguistic saviours,” says Laura Buker. Of Sto:lo ancestry, the indigenous lecturer in the faculty of education teaches First Nations courses. She is also doing her doctoral thesis at SFU on the history of the revitalization of the Halq'emeylem language.
The inaugural cohort of graduates is not your average group of student teachers. They range in age from middle aged to older, and came into the DSTC program with little more than a high school education. Their shared passion for reviving their dying language and culture kept them going through a rigorous program. They had to beg, borrow and juggle time to maintain an 80 percent course load and complete their practicum in Chilliwack and Agassiz, while maintaining a demanding schedule of family and community responsibilities. The women have colourful stories to tell about their time in the classroom while engaging in activities such as canoe pulling, salmon canning and buckskin dressmaking outside the classroom.
-30-
(electronic photo available)
Websites:
DSTC graduates: www.educ.sfu.ca/index.php?page=11