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Why Vancouver's young aboriginal learners will be celebrated

On May 18, First Nations students will ceremonially transition from Grade 7 to high school
graduation

For the fifth year, aboriginal learners in the city’s public school system will be celebrated as they transition from Grade 7 to high school.

The Moving Forward Celebration for 12- and 13-year-olds on the cusp of starting secondary school is not about merely about completion but is especially about continuation, said Don Fiddler, the Vancouver district principal for aboriginal education.

“We don’t see it as a graduation ceremony,” he said. “It’s really to draw their attention to the fact they have gone through Grade 7 and have to get themselves ready for high school and to celebrate achievement up to this point, to recognize the support of their family, and to then encourage them to choose wisely at the next level.”

This stage of a child’s life is the definition of budding, and Fiddler said the Moving Forward ceremony recognizes aboriginal coming-of-age traditions that honour the passage through adolescence to maturity. High school represents approaching independence.

“We try to celebrate those things and encourage them to focus on their future as best they can,” said Fiddler, a Metis educator, counsellor and policy advisor with a PhD certificate in advanced leadership to his credit.

Graduation rates for First Nation students entering Grade 12 is holding steady in the district at roughly 80 per cent, said Fiddler. Although it has risen over the past decade, the rate is lower than the larger, general student population, which is why ceremonies like Moving Forward are important milestones.

Aboriginal learners are subject to unique difficulties and stressors as a result of colonial, assimilationist policies that resulted in inter-generational trauma still suffered today. Furthermore, urban aboriginal learners may be more transient as they move to and from the city for various reasons, said Fiddler.

“Within an urban environment, our people tend to be socially and economically stressed and many of them, though we have a good mixture in Vancouver as we have a lot of professional doing well, but a very significant portion of our families would be at the lower socio-economic strata and so all the attendant problems associated with poverty are there.

“In addition to that, Vancouver is a repository for families that are having difficulties in the Interior of B.C. or elsewhere. They come into Vancouver for many reasons, one of which is to be with other family members that they know of. And then there are also those escaping other particular issues and trying for a new start. There are many reasons for them being in our schools, and so our student population reflects that.”

While some Grade 7 classes in Vancouver will have one or two aboriginal students, other can have a dozen or more.

The Thursday afternoon ceremony will recognize roughly 140 students and their families, the people Fiddler said are key to a child’s educational success.

“I always tell people that the most important persons and groups in graduation is not the school, is not the teacher, it’s the parents,” he said. “They are the greatest determinant of educational success in terms of graduation. I think we are starting to reap the benefits of good parenting and we are reaping the benefits of our program also through that process.”

The Moving Forward Celebration begins at 1:30 p.m. May 18 at the Croatian Cultural Centre.

On June 8 at the Italian Cultural Centre, the Grade 12 graduating class of 2017 will be recognized in the Aboriginal Achievement Celebration.

mstewart@vancourier.com

Twitter: @MHStewart