104th Meeting of the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC)

Yellowknife, July 2, 2015 – Provincial and territorial ministers  of education were in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, this week for the  first-ever pan-Canadian Aboriginal Educators’ Symposium as well as the annual  meeting of their intergovernmental organization, the Council of Ministers of  Education, Canada (CMEC).

CMEC Aboriginal Educators’ Symposium

The CMEC Aboriginal Educators’ Symposium was an unprecedented CMEC-led  initiative to identify how best to encourage more Aboriginal people to pursue a  teaching career and ensure that seasoned Aboriginal educators remain in the profession  and flourish. It brought together delegations of Aboriginal educators and Elders  from across Canada for two days of brainstorming through keynote presentations,  panels of Indigenous scholars, breakout sessions, talking circles, and Elders’  sharing.

Education ministers joined the proceedings on Tuesday afternoon to engage  with participants on teacher recruitment, training, and retention in the context  of Aboriginal education in Canada.

“Research has shown that hiring Aboriginal teachers enriches learning  and produces positive results for Aboriginal students,” said the Honourable Jackson  Lafferty, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment for Northwest  Territories and co-chair of CMEC’s working group on Aboriginal education. “With  the symposium, we’ve looked to the experts — Aboriginal educators themselves — to  determine how to make teaching an attractive career choice for Aboriginal youth  and facilitate the professional development of educators already in the field.”

A report on the ideas developed and shared during the symposium will be  made public in the coming months. 

Aboriginal education at CMEC

Aboriginal education was also high on the agenda of the 104th  meeting of CMEC. Ministers met with commissioners Dr. Marie Wilson and Chief  Wilton Littlechild of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRCC)  to discuss findings and recommendations from the recently released report on the  legacy of Indian Residential Schools, in particular those related to education.  It was acknowledged that Recommendation 63 of the TRCC’s report calls on CMEC  to maintain a commitment to Aboriginal education issues.  

Ministers noted that much of what the TRCC recommends is already  underway or planned across jurisdictions, working in collaboration with First  Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities, according to their unique needs. The  CMEC Aboriginal Education Plan closely aligns with Recommendation 63 by supporting  the professional development of Aboriginal students interested in pursuing  teaching as a career; developing teaching resources that highlight the legacy  of Indian Residential Schools for use in Bachelor of Education and teacher-education  programs across Canada; promoting understanding about the history and legacy of  Indian Residential Schools in all K–12 education systems across the country;  and sharing promising practices in Aboriginal education.

Ministers welcomed the TRCC recommendation and committed to maintain momentum  and further advance Aboriginal education across Canada. They also reiterated  their commitment to ensure that curricula in provincial and territorial school  systems enable students to gain an understanding of how residential schools  affected Aboriginal children, families, and communities and, ultimately, the  country as a whole.

“All educators — regardless of where they live or what they teach — need  to have a clear understanding of the history and legacy of this dark chapter of  Canadian history,” said Minister Lafferty. “Achieving this goal is an important  step toward preventing future generations from carrying the heavy burden of the  past.”

Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to eliminating the gap in education  achievement between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students. Building strong  linkages between CMEC and the Aboriginal Affairs Working Group is part of  addressing that commitment.

Ministers also encouraged the federal government to work collaboratively  with Aboriginal communities and organizations to address the financial and  governance issues faced by on‑reserve schools, for which it has fiduciary  responsibility.

Postsecondary education

Postsecondary education (PSE) was another major focus of discussion at the  council’s meeting in Yellowknife. Following presentations from Ontario, Nova  Scotia, and British Columbia, ministers shared information on provincial and  territorial PSE transformation initiatives and on ways to support the changing  landscape of PSE for the benefit of students. Key topics discussed included learning  outcomes, pathways, and transitions; sustainability and accountability; access  and affordability; and higher education and labour markets.

Ministers have agreed to work together by sharing information and  exploring issues of collective interest.

Aligning education and labour  markets

In follow-up to “Skills for the Future,” the highly successful joint  symposium hosted by provincial and territorial education and labour-market  ministers last summer in Charlottetown, ministers reviewed a version of a pan-Canadian  tool kit of promising practices to better align education systems and skills training  with the evolving needs of labour markets. The practices identified fall under  four broad themes: upgrading the skills of Canadians; K–12 programming targeting  labour-market needs; PSE programming targeting labour-market needs; and supporting  the entry of target populations into the labour market.

Ministers will share the tool kit with  the Canadian public in the coming months.

Canadian education on the world  stage

In keeping  with CMEC’s commitment to promote international dialogue and cooperation in  education, Canada hosted the 2015 International Summit on the Teaching  Profession (ISTP 2015) in Banff, Alberta, last March. The flagship event  drew over 400 educators from 17 countries.

“Enhancing  the teaching profession is a collective responsibility that provides collective  rewards. ISTP is the leading forum for doing that internationally, and Canada  was very proud to have been able to work with so many partners to make ISTP  2015 a great success,” said the Honourable Peter Fassbender, Minister of  Education for British Columbia and Acting Chair for the 104th CMEC  meeting.

Ministers  reviewed the Banff proceedings, discussed Canada’s participation in the next  ISTP, to be held in Berlin in 2016, and defined themes for the summit that  could be proposed to organizers.

Global competencies

Ministers continued their conversation on the skills and knowledge that  Canadians need to succeed in the increasingly knowledge-based economy of the  early 21st century. These “global competencies” include critical  thinking, resilience, adaptability, and emotional intelligence and build on foundational  competencies like literacy, numeracy, and scientific understanding.

Ministers discussed the progress being made in each province and  territory with respect to integrating global competencies in the classroom.  They also considered what provinces and territories could contribute and gain  through participation in international projects focused on global competencies.  For example, OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is  planning to introduce a global competencies component in 2018.

CMEC Agreed Memorandum

Finally, at the meeting, ministers renewed their commitment to strengthening intergovernmental  collaboration on education issues by approving in principle a new draft of the CMEC Agreed Memorandum. The agreement was  first adopted by ministers with the creation of the CMEC in 1967, and was last  renewed in 2005. Of particular note, the renewed CMEC Agreed Memorandum:

   
• includes the provision that Yukon, Northwest Territories, and       Nunavut will now be able to serve as Chair of CMEC, while recognizing the       distinction between the exclusive jurisdiction of the provinces in       education and the delegated jurisdiction of the territories;
   
• clarifies and streamlines roles, responsibilities, and governance       procedures to ensure CMEC’s operational effectiveness for the coming years;
   
• reaffirms and strengthens the role of CMEC as a forum for       provincial and territorial leadership and cooperation on pan-Canadian and       international education issues.

It is expected ministers  will formally adopt the Agreed Memorandum in early fall.

About CMEC

Founded in 1967, CMEC is the collective voice  of Canada’s ministers of education. It provides leadership in education at the  pan-Canadian and international levels and contributes to the exercise of the  exclusive jurisdiction of provinces and territories over education. For more  information, visit us at www.cmec.ca.

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Information

CMEC 104
Colin Bailey
Director, Communications
Cell: 416-938-1911
Tel.: 416-962-8100, ext. 259
E-mail: c.bailey@cmec.ca
Twitter: @CCMEC

CMEC Aboriginal Educators’ Symposium
Jacqueline McKinnon
Manager, Public Affairs and Communications
Department of Education, Culture, and Employment
Northwest Territories
Cell: 867-446-6002
Tel.: 867-920-6222
E-mail: Jacqueline_McKinnon@gov.nt.ca