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Offering a sorely needed fresh perspective on an issue vital to the community, First Nations Education Policy in Canada is grounds for critical reflection not only on education but on the future of Aboriginal self-determination

In this article, I explore the incongruence between the federal government's proposed First Nations Education Act and the approach of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) regarding language and culture education. I also examine research concerning potential outcomes of their approaches to determine what would be most beneficial to learners. Language and culture inclusion in schools has been shown to impact significantly on academic and social outcomes for Aboriginal youth, and there are substantial financial and practical differences involved in creating and maintaining different types of language and culture programs. Therefore, this incongruence is of great practical importance for policy makers and education practitioners.

In Canada, education is generally referred to as being the exclusive constitutional responsibility of the provinces and territories. However, the federal government has a constitutional responsibility. This responsibility comes from the Constitution Act 1982 and Treaties 1 - 11 between the Crown (i.e., The Government of Canada) and First Nations throughout Canada. It is very difficult to find any mention of the federal government's constitutional education responsibilities in the literature or documents. This has allowed the federal government to downplay their educational responsibilities throughout Canada and the world. This paper examines the federal government's constitutional responsibilities in First Nations education and makes recommendations.LE MINISTRE D'ÉDUCATION CANADIEN ABSENT : LE RÔLE CONSTITUTIONNEL DU GOUVERNEMENT CANADIEN DANS L'ÉDUCATION DES PREMIÈRES NATIONSAu Canada, l'éducation est généralement considérée comme une responsabilité exclusive des provinces et des territoires. Or, le gouvernement fédéral possède une responsabilité constitutionnelle. Celle-ci émane de l'Acte constitutionnel de 1982 et des traités 1 - 11 ratifiés entre la Couronne (le gouvernement du Canada) et les Premières Nations à travers le Canada. Malgré cela, il est extrêmement ardu de déceler une quelconque mention des responsabilités constitutionnelles du gouvernement fédéral en matière d'éducation dans la littérature ou des documents. Cette situation a permis au gouvernement fédéral de minimiser leurs responsabilités en éducation au Canada et sur le plan international. Cet article analyse donc les responsabilités constitutionnelles du palier fédéral relativement à l'éducation des populations autochtones et formule des recommandations. ; Au Canada, l'éducation est généralement considérée comme une responsabilité exclusive des provinces et des territoires. Or, le gouvernement fédéral possède une responsabilité constitutionnelle. Celle-ci émane de l'Acte constitutionnel de 1982 et des traités 1 - 11 ratifiés entre la Couronne (le gouvernement du Canada) et les Premières Nations à travers le Canada. Malgré cela, il est extrêmement ardu de déceler une quelconque mention des responsabilités constitutionnelles du gouvernement fédéral en matière d'éducation dans la littérature ou des documents. Cette situation a permis au gouvernement fédéral de minimiser leurs responsabilités en éducation au Canada et sur le plan international. Cet article analyse donc les responsabilités constitutionnelles du palier fédéral relativement à l'éducation des populations autochtones et formule des recommandations.

During the past five years, First Nations elementary-secondary education has been the focus of some useful recommendations in two major reports: The Senate Standing Committee on Aboriginal Peoples in 2011, "Reforming FN Education: From Crisis to Hope," and the 2012 Report of the National Panel on First Nations Elementary-Secondary Education. In response, the Harper government introduced Bill C-33 in 2014, the first-ever federal First Nations Education Act. Both reports identified much-needed reforms and despite vociferous opposition by most First Nations leaders the First Nations Education Act was a serious effort to accommodate some of them. But neither the reports nor the eventually torpedoed Bill C-33 zeroed in on the three key components that serve as the foundation of any education program: teachers, principals, and the curriculum. If these three elements remain untouched in the new Liberal government's First Nations education policies, First Nations education outcomes will continue to be a national humiliation. This conceptual paper offers a critique of the provincial and federal governments' approaches to remedying the dire condition of elementary and secondary school education for First Nations youth, with a focus on teachers, principals, and curriculum.

Education for First Nations must be understood within the historical context which saw their cultural, linguistic, and traditional knowledge undermined and devalued (Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 2015). The conditions that exist for First Nations today are a result of First Nations people having been disadvantaged in a multitude of ways by colonization and nowhere more so than in the First Nations education system, because the structure of formal schooling has as its foundation colonial institutions (Battiste, 2013). It is for these reasons that I use a postcolonial theoretical framework to guide this study. As the education leaders in First Nations communities, I examine the nature of the work of First Nations Directors of Education working or who worked recently in First Nations band-operated on-reserve school systems in Manitoba, Canada. This qualitative research study explores selected aspects of their experiences, perspectives, preparation, and training. Through the eyes, voices, and stories of the participants, this study seeks to understand the milieu that is First Nations on-reserve education. The results of the study identify what can be done to bring about transformational change for First Nations students. The study found that the role of the First Nations Director of Education is multi-faceted and complex. The roles and responsibilities that the participants identified were categorized using Cuban's (1988) typology of core roles: managerial, political, and instructional. Their work is influenced by many factors including underfunding, lack of resources, high teacher turnover, and the on-going impacts of the residential schools and colonialism. The study identifies the need for specific training and provides recommendations for practice and future research. ; October 2016

In the wake of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada report into the 'cultural genocide' perpetrated by the State of Canada against First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples, through the widespread use of Residential Schools, the federal government offered an apology and an apparent opportunity for reconciliation[i]. Part of this programme was new legislation that would govern the relationship between First Nations and the federal government over First Nations education. Entitled the First Nations Control of First Nations' Education (FNCFNE), the proposed bill promised a new deal and an apparent chance to renew a tarnished relationship. Yet in spite of its name, the bill offered very little in terms of progress. Indeed if it had been implemented, in many cases, the bill would have done little to increase First Nations' control over the education of First Nations' children and likely would have made effective language education extremely difficult. Indeed, this article's analysis of the bill shows that, at its core, the law represents little more than the reinforcing of existing settler-colonial power dynamics. In particular, while it would have shifted virtually the totality of administrative responsibility for on-reserve education to First Nations it would have reserved ultimate power – manifest through control over funding – to Ottawa. As a result the FNCFNE would have represented a profound step in undermining First Nations language rights and language education in Canada. [i] "Prime Minister Stephen Harper's statement of apology", CBC News, 11 June 2008