Education department releases 11 new kids books

GREG YOUNGER-LEWIS

The government of Nunavut recently delivered a bookworm’s — and perhaps a teacher’s — dream, launching a list of books written and illustrated by elders and other residents around the territory.

The Department of Education released the latest in Nunavut literature on Monday, as part of their on-going effort to make Nunavut’s school system relevant to students.

Parents, teachers and school administrators applauded the burst of Nunavut-produced reading material, saying the 11 books would be a boon to Inuktitut classes.

But they also warned that teachers still lacked a made-in-Nunavut curriculum, the key ingredient to providing a quality education in the territory.

Lou Budgell, president of the Nunavut federation of teachers, said people often confuse new books with the guidelines and support material that teachers need to give lessons.

He said teachers would be relieved to have this week’s addition to Nunavut’s library of Inuktitut and local stories, but they still need to see the government create lesson plans for teachers to follow.

Currently, English teachers draw on a curriculum from the Alberta education system, a holdover from when Nunavut was still part of the Northwest Territories.

That means all of Nunavut’s teachers have to put in extra time developing their own lesson plans for books produced by the government.

In turn, Budgell said many Inuktitut teachers are burning out because they’ve had to create lesson plans from scratch, instead of relying on southern templates. He said only 38 per cent of Nunavut’s 617 teachers are Inuit — a 10-per-cent drop since 1999.

“Any and all resources are appreciated,” Budgell said of the new books. “But [the government] has still not come out with ready-to-teach teaching material.

“We have to go the next step.”

For now, teachers will have to be content with the new books based on Inuit legends and culture, written in English, Inuktitut, and Inuinnaqtun. None are written in French, one of the government’s official languages.

Ed Picco, Nunavut’s minister of education, highlighted the diversity of the books, which came from all three regions of the territory. His officials also said the publications reflect their commitment to the Inuit values called pijarnirniqsat katujjiqatigiittiarnirlu, which means “simplicity and unity.”

“The stories are great,” Picco said. “The public should look forward to seeing quite a few more of these.”

In one book, an author from Arviat writes about a famous hunter, shown on the cover in his kayak, wrestling with a walrus. In another, a writer from Cape Dorset tells the tale of an Inuk child searching for his thumb-sized friend. From the Kitikmeot region, an author put together a tale for beginner readers about tundra berries.

At least one parent hoped that the new reading material would help her child learn Inuktitut.

Christa Kunuk, a member of the Iqaluit District Education Authority, said she put her six-year-old daughter in Inuktitut programming because she wanted her to feel pride in speaking her ancestral language.

While Kunuk encouraged the government to focus more on getting a curriculum outline to teachers, she said she was especially happy that some of the books were aimed at lower age groups, like that of her daughter.

“I want her to feel that if someone speaks Inuktitut to her, she can speak back and feel confident about herself,” Kunuk said. “Given Inuktitut is supposed to be our working language, we have to ensure our children and children’s children have access to [Inuktitut] support.”

Young readers can also look forward to getting copies of two Inuinnaqtun stories, which one school official says are essential to preserving the language.

Millie Kuliktana, executive director of the Kitikmeot Schools Operations, said Inuinnaqtun often gets overshadowed by other languages in the territory, and needs all the support it can get in the Nunavut school system.

“The teaching centres do their best for Inuinnaqtun,” she said. “To do the best for our students, we need more Inuinnaqtun materials.”

The latest batch of Inuktitut books add to more than 400 others produced by northern governments since 1987.

With files from Sara Minogue