1. Supporting Native American Students with Traditional Spirituality
Dr. Jean-Paul Restoule
Leadership, Higher and Adult Education
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
Of the University of Toronto
Exploring spaces for learning
HETL Conference
Orlando, Florida
January 14, 2013

2. Overview
This study examined barriers and supports to Aboriginal students within an Anishinaabe methodological framework (Restoule & Chacaby, 2008).
We integrated institutional ethnography, looking at the everyday experiences of Aboriginal people interfacing with university organizational practices (Smith, 1987, 2006; Wilson & Pence, 2006).
ERIN
Relevance to adult ed: given that Aboriginal people are underrepresented in PSIs, and more likely to seek admission later in life, this study offers important insight into how institutions can improve enrollment and retention rates of Aboriginal students. It also raises relevant questions for the field of adult education related to the importance of traditional spirituality for mature adult Aboriginal students in post-secondary institutions

3. Aboriginal people and PSIs
Rae report (2005) found Aboriginal people (First Nations, Métis, and Inuit) were among several underrepresented groups in post-secondary education institutions.
Our study looked at the barriers that Aboriginal people face in accessing PSE & how PSIs can better support Aboriginal students once they enrol.
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Aboriginal people are still significantly under-represented at colleges, universities and other post-secondary institutions in Canada. Only 39% of those between the ages of 25 and 64 have graduated from some form of post-secondary education. This is far below the aspirations that Aboriginal youth and their families have for higher education, and also well below the overall Canadian post-secondary attainment level of 54%

4. An Anishinaabe Research FrameworkJP
An Indigenous-led research team at the University of Toronto set out to research how Aboriginal people experience and engage with PSI’s and how Aboriginal applicants and students are “interpreted” and understood by post-secondary institutions.
Source:

5. Methods Combine Anishinaabe methodology with Institutional Ethnography
Phase One: Literature review and online survey
Phase Two: Follow-up interviews
Phase Three: Interviews and textual analysis with university admin staff JP
The online survey reached over 250 Aboriginal students across Ontario. For the second phase of the study, survey respondents who indicated their willingness to be contacted for an interview were telephoned. In total there were six telephone interviews completed with two men and four women. While the participants’ experiences in education were diverse, all of the participants were mature students at some point in their post-secondary education and all participants were parents while attending PSIs.

6. Who are Aboriginal Students?
Our survey backs up the literature:
Majority are mature female
All interviewees were mature students
Interviewees reported their mature status as a strength
Many have family and community responsibilities
Child care affects participation and attendance
Many interviewees reported working while studying
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7. Barriers to Success at PSIs
inadequate financial resources
poor academic preparation
lack of self-confidence and motivation
absence of role models who have PSE
lack of understanding of Aboriginal culture on campus
racism on campus
legacy of mistrust re: residential schools
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Important to note that these are the barriers AT PSI’s. There were many barriers prior to attending that are not reported in this presentation.

8. Family and Community Supports
Mentors and role models
Family members who complete
Aboriginal teachers in high school and PSE
Feeling of belonging on campus crucial
Community ties strengthened by PSE
Strong traditional spirituality linked to retention and completion

9. Spirituality & Student Retention
Survey found spirituality linked to PSE retention and completion
Participants highlighted the need to balance their education with spiritual supports:
Elders
traditional teachings
ceremonies JP

10. Spirituality & Student Retention
Survey found spirituality linked to PSE retention and completion
Participants highlighted the need to balance their PSE with spiritual supports:
Elders
traditional teachings
ceremonies JP

11. Learning in Balance
Most participants interviewed emphasized the value of the interconnected and holistic nature of Aboriginal ways of knowing.
Aboriginal students tended not
to separate their learning into compartmentalized areas like
mind, emotion and spirit JP
students demonstrated resiliency in finding ways to bring together different ways of learning (western and Indigenous) to create a more balanced learning experience.

12. “I didn’t get what I needed spiritually from the academic system – I had to seek that out in other places.” JP
the majority of the students interviewed were reluctant to directly attribute the strengthening of their sense of spirituality to post-secondary institutions
There were different, sometimes contradicting, ideas expressed about the role of spirituality in PSIs. For example, one student felt that his sense of Aboriginal spirituality was informed more by living and hunting on the land, and was less interested in seeking out Aboriginal spirituality and worldview in the university. Another student stated that gaining a stronger spiritual understanding was the catalyst for applying [to PSE] in the first place

13. Aboriginal students in Eurocentric academic settings tended to embrace Aboriginal spirituality
Aboriginal spirituality provides:
cultural pride
strength in affirming one’s identity, and
a solid base from which to express worldview, knowledge and conduct research in a bicultural world. JP

14. Making a place for Aboriginal students
Students interviewed emphasized need to foster spirituality at all levels of institution:
Infuse Aboriginal perspectives: need for PSIs to hire more Aboriginal staff, faculty and Elders
Enhance Aboriginal student services: create a sense of place
Value traditional knowledge: acknowledgment and support
Build community: importance of community and events
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15. References
Rae, B. (2005). Ontario: A leader in learning. Toronto: Queen’s Printer for Ontario.
Restoule, JP & Chacaby, M. (2008). Bringing together Anishinaabe methodology and Institutional Ethnography to study access to post-secondary education for Aboriginal people in Ontario.
Smith, D.E. (1987). The everyday world as problematic: A feminist sociology. Northeastern University Press.
Smith, D.E. (Ed.). (2005). Institutional Ethnography: A sociology for people. Toronto: AltaMira Press.
Wilson, A. & Pence, E. (2006). US Legal interventions in the lives of battered women: An Indigenous assessment. In Institutional Ethnography as Practice, D.E. Smith (Ed.), pp Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.

16. Supporting Native American Students with Traditional Spirituality
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