The Department of Integrated Studies in Education administers programs that are offered in First Nations and Inuit communities for First Nations and Inuit teachers.
- History
- FNIE Program Descriptions
- Ongoing Research
- FNIE Staff Directory
- Assistant Professor Position Available
History
In the mid-1970s, Faculty of Education Professor Jack Cram and Hélène Beauchemin of the Kativik School Board organized courses to meet the growing need for Inuttitut-speaking teachers in the Board's elementary schools. These courses were structured into a 45-credit program, which was approved by McGill University Senate in 1981. Graduates received a McGill Certificate of Native and Northern Education and a Quebec permit to teach at the elementary school level in Aboriginal schools.
The McGill-Kativik program was so successful that the Eastern Arctic Teacher Education Program, (now Nunavut Teacher Education Program), based in Iqaluit, sought the same kind of link with McGill.
When Professor Cram died in July 1986, his legacy was already well established. Two flourishing programs existed for Inuit teachers. Moreover, two small programs had been set up for other Aboriginal groups: one for Algonquin teachers in Winneway, Quebec, and another for Mi’kmaq teachers in Wagmatcook, Nova Scotia.
Community-based teacher education programs are provided to the Inuit of Nunavut and Nunavik, to the Cree of the coastal communities of eastern James Bay and the inland communities of subarctic Quebec, to the Algonquin of western Quebec, to the Mohawk of south-western Quebec, and to the Mi'kmaq of Nova Scotia.