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Arctic Yearbook 2014
teachers in the North. Providing a consistent training model for all regions that adequately prepares
new teachers will be a key strategy moving forward.
Overall, teachers felt energized and motivated by their teaching experiences, and felt a sense of
professional growth and learning as a result of teaching this module. After teaching the module,
teachers had increased confidence in their ability to engage students in civic learning and ethical
awareness. The challenge will be how to sustain this level and quality of teacher training given the
high rates of teacher turnover in the NWT and Nunavut (Aboriginal Student Achievement Education Plan
2011; NTI 2010-2011 Annual Report: The status of Inuit children and youth in Nunavut 2011). This will be
crucial in retaining the promising levels of teacher self-efficacy, and satisfaction with their
professional development and growth that were demonstrated in the territorial pilot study.
Student Learning
Findings indicated that students developed deeper understandings of the significance of historical
events and an enhanced ability to understand historical perspectives. After completing the module,
students and teachers reported increased student empathy, critical thinking skills, ethical awareness
and decision-making strategies through the pedagogies employed. Students reflected on the different
experiences of former residential school students, and showed an understanding of the moral and
ethical aspects of decision-making in history. The development of empathy towards former
residential school students9 was widespread and strong amongst Indigenous and non-Indigenous
students, including in non-Indigenous students who identified themselves as being from families
that had recently immigrated to Canada.10
Daitch