{"id":335,"date":"2013-09-05T05:11:36","date_gmt":"2013-09-05T05:11:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/projects.upei.ca\/nunavut\/?page_id=335"},"modified":"2013-09-27T02:44:17","modified_gmt":"2013-09-27T02:44:17","slug":"final-report-2006-09","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/projects.upei.ca\/nunavut\/final-report-2006-09\/","title":{"rendered":"Final Report (2006-09)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lighting the Qulliq: The\u00a0First Master of Education\u00a0Program in Nunavut<\/strong><\/p>\n

The complete report is available as a PDF on the Additional Information<\/a> page.<\/p>\n

The vision, purpose, and principles supporting the Nunavut MEd were based on the\u00a0Faculty of Education\u2019s mission statement and the principles, values, and goals established by the\u00a0Nunavut Government and Department of Education. Partners agreed that the MEd designed for the Nunavut\u00a0cohort would include most of the same courses offered at UPEI with adaptations to aspects of the\u00a0course content, sequence, and design to meet students\u2019 needs and ensure the centrality of Inuit\u00a0perspectives, worldview, and Nunavut-related language and content. Inuit epistemologies and\u00a0Elders\u2019 knowledge and wisdom, as well as the perspectives and content offered in campus-based\u00a0courses would provide a major focus in the courses.<\/p>\n

A major purpose of the program was to enable Inuit educators to gain graduate-level\u00a0quali”cations that were also decolonizing. A desire to interrogate and raise consciousness of the\u00a0colonial and neo-colonial structures, influences, and practices operating within the educational\u00a0domain in Nunavut, as well as the desire to enhance, strengthen, and highlight Inuit ways of\u00a0knowing, doing, and being provided a central focus as the program was designed. Inuit leadership\u00a0within the educational system in Nunavut was also stressed. Developing critical thinking and\u00a0academic writing skills in both English and Inuit Uqausingit were seen as priorities. Realizing that\u00a0the program originated in a southern university and was being led by Qallunaat (\u201csoutherners\u201d),\u00a0the planning team and instructors knew that institutional standards and policies, as well as the\u00a0teaching and learning processes, carried the potential to act as re-colonizing forces at an\u00a0unconscious level. Careful, conscious, and intentional dialogue and planning were essential\u00a0elements in the effort to design a graduate program with aspirations to become a decolonizing
\nlearning experience that strengthened Inuit identity and subjectivity.<\/p>\n

Vision<\/strong>
\nThe MEd for Nunavut created the time and space to enable Inuit educators to enhance\u00a0their academic knowledge, wisdom, critical understanding, and leadership skills. Participants were\u00a0encouraged to articulate, document, develop, and implement a personal and collective vision of\u00a0Inuit educational leadership founded on Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (Government of Nunavut, 2005)\u00a0that serves the community of Nunavut and works towards the creation of an Inuit educational
\nsystem.<\/p>\n

Purpose<\/strong>
\nThe MEd in Nunavut was designed to be an academically challenging process that would\u00a0lead to personal and professional transformation through the completion of a graduate degree\u00a0focusing on Leadership in Learning for Inuit educators. Leadership in Learning envisions\u00a0educational change characterized by collaborative efforts from teachers, program and student\u00a0support staff, Elders, parents, community members, and learners to provide an education for the
\nlearners in schools and other environments. Conceptions of Inuit leadership in education\u00a0provided a focus within the MEd program. These notions strengthened Inuit identity and\u00a0facilitated the exploration of Inuit ways of knowing, being, and doing in educational contexts at a\u00a0graduate level.<\/p>\n

Principles<\/strong>
\nThe following principles emerged from several discussions during the planning phases of\u00a0the program. These principles were drawn from Pinasuaqtavut 2004-2007, a Government of Nunavut document summarizing Inuit social values, and\u00a0integrated with principles articulated by the Faculty of Education at UPEI. Developed in 2006, the following guiding\u00a0principles continue to evolve as partners collaborate and suggest changes and additions.<\/p>\n