How one school teaches the Inuit language

GINA PIZZO
Special to Nunatsiaq News

TALOYOAK — Let me start off by saying that I am not a linguist. I am just a teacher and a principal and I have lived in Nunavut for 25 years.

I want to wade into the discussion about language that I read about in the story “Study: Inuit language schooling brings long-term benefits” (Nunatsiaq Online, June 6) without entering the political aspect. I’m sure I can’t do that entirely, but I will try.

I and several Inuit staff members have spent many years working towards bring Inuktitut language and culture back into our school and maybe there will be some value in what I have to say here for other schools who are struggling to meet the demands of the new legislation.

I was here when a decision was made to switch to English as the aanguage of instruction. Being a new teacher to the community, and a young teacher with only a few years under my belt at the time, I didn’t have much to bring to the discussion.

But when I think back to that time now, the children I taught at the time had unilingual or bilingual parents and the vast majority of those children spoke Inuktitut well and do so till this day.

They also function in English, some better than others of course, but I am happy to say that one of them is now a teacher and highly capable in both languages, another is a mechanic, and another works for an internet service provider, to name a few.

They were very proud of their Inuit heritage and liked to refer to themselves as Eskimos because they associated that term with being a real “Inuk” — they have since learned why that term is no longer used.

With the change to English, that attitude gradually changed and I noticed that children became more and more reluctant to learn Inuktitut or anything related to Inuit culture.

For me, it was disturbing that the children had developed that attitude towards their own language and culture. I came to feel that the change to English had been a mistake. There is something significantly wrong when children are learning to deny their own language and heritage.

When I became principal, and with the will and determination of several Inuit on staff who had a lot of pride in their own culture and the determination to renew language and culture in the school and community, we set a plan to try and reverse the loss of language and culture.

We moved in several aspects.

We hosted an Nunavut Teacher Education Program so that we could have local people trained to become teachers. Most of them had already worked in the school as classroom assistants and language specialists, so it was a natural evolution for them.

At a later date, they also worked at completing their bachelor of education degrees. Several years later, we hosted a second NTEP program and B.Ed. program.

It was important to make sure there was always a plan to bring new local teachers onto the staff. I always felt that when children look at their teachers they need to see themselves.

By that I am not referring to race, colour or creed. I mean they need to be taught by individuals who respect, honour and uphold the values of their culture and will be active participants in their success.

We also had to convince the community that it was the right way to go. That was tough. There was still some resistance and fear from some people but eventually we were able to proceed.

We began with a pre-school, which was run in Inuktitut by Inuit instructors. When those children entered kindergarten, that class became Inuktitut immersion, followed by Grade 1, Grade 2, and Grade 3. It was a gradual process that took years to accomplish.

When those students began entering the junior years, Grade 4 to Grade 6, the students began learning English formally as a language as well as using it as the language of instruction for math and science.

English is used for math and science because in some areas or themes the Inuktitut terminology did not yet exist. We have been working towards more Inuktitut in junior and senior high school now, but we need more qualified Inuit teachers and resources at that level and will continue to work towards that. We are also struggling with Inuit staff hitting their retirement years.

For now ,we have only one Inuktitut language class per day at the junior high level and one at the senior high level.

I have read the work and listened to linguists and experts in the field of language and have tried to follow their advice in implementing a plan gradually and with forethought. I believe that any real change probably takes two or three generations to be fully realized.

Materials and resources have always been an issue and still are but we are starting to see the flow increase. The staff at the Department of Education is a very hard working group and I have to say I am truly amazed with the strides they have made in producing made in Nunavut curriculum. The curriculum is solid and even stellar.

Locally, we also make materials. They are not as fancy as the stuff you can buy in an educational supply store, but we can’t allow our goals to be shelved by every roadblock that presents itself.

We have a local language committee to support the school and community initiatives, our DEA supports us, we have accessed third party funding to make materials, developed assessment and evaluation tools, and transcribed over 200 books into the Netsilik dialect, which we continue to build upon from year to year.

Finally, I know there are many out there who will criticize and find fault with what I have had to say here and that’s good because I might learn something from what you have to say to do a better job. I often hear our education system criticized for one reason or another, but we need to remember that there are several partners required to make the education of a child successful and if you criticize one you are criticizing all of them.

Parents must remember that they are their child’s first teacher and all learning including the learning of language and culture will start with them at home, send your children to school regularly, make sure they are doing their homework are respectful at school and support the school community.

Students need to try their best so they take advantage of the education afforded them. Teachers need to work their best to educate the children entrusted to their care and uphold the values and aspirations of the communities in which they work.