Promote and support the redevelopment of the K-12 curriculum so that it includes appropriate content on Indigenous histories, cultures, stories, and languages as well as a discussion of colonialism and its legacy in the province. This process must be undertaken with the collaboration of all Indigenous groups in the province, including urban Indigenous people.

First Light: Project proposed to NL Schools

In conversation with NL Schools, First Light has developed a proposal to train educators with foundational knowledge and understanding of Indigenous cultures, histories, and perspectives, as well as adapting and customizing content from First Light’s Indigenous Cultural Diversity Training for teens. This would be an integral interim step while the K-12 curriculum continues to underrepresent and misrepresent Indigenous Peoples in NL. 

Department of Education: Unclear on what, if any, progress has occurred

The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador has had an advisory committee of Indigenous representatives to give recommendations on improvements to the K-12 curriculum since 2015. First Voice was not able to find evidence that the curriculum has changed since then. In 2017, the Premier’s task force cited a review of the Indigenous content in the provincial K-12 curriculum, which found the depiction of Indigenous peoples and events as “inconsistent and contradictory”. In 2018, the Government of Newfoundland Labrador formed the Indigenous Education Advisory Committee (IEAC), as an expansion of the former Aboriginal Educational Advisory Committee (AEAC) within the Department of Education. The Province claims in its Indigenous Education Framework that the IEAC includes “full participation from the Indigenous communities in Newfoundland and Labrador.” However, the committee does not have any urban Indigenous representation. First Voice submitted a request to have First Light join the IEAC, which the Department of Education was reported to have brought to the table on October 4 and 5, 2023. This request was denied in communication received from the Department in February 2024.

On June 25, 2024, the Minister of Education announced that the Department of Education will review the high school curriculum for Newfoundland and Labrador Studies 2205 to more accurately reflect Indigenous history and that the Department will “begin consultation with Indigenous Governments and Organizations through meaningful discussion and conversation on the proper inclusion of Newfoundland and Labrador’s Indigenous heritage.” It is unclear whether the IEAC is or was involved with this initiative. The commitment was included in an announcement that the course, which is currently elective, will become mandatory in September 2027, but it is unclear whether the course will more accurately reflect Indigenous history by this date. It is also unclear whether alterations to the course will include information about the current landscape of Indigenous Peoples in the province or exclusively “Indigenous history” and “Indigenous heritage” as described in the news release.

First Voice contacted the Department of Education in July 2024 to request both an update from the IEAC and more information regarding plans for engaging Indigenous communities in updating NL Studies 2205. The response, delivered in August 2024, gave no information beyond the updates above and offered no evidence of any work accomplishments within the last 18 months.

For the Department of Education:

• Expand representation on the Indigenous Education Advisory Committee so that it includes the full range of diverse Indigenous perspectives and experiences in the province, including urban Indigenous Peoples.
• Conduct a full review of the curriculum to identify the most severe areas of Indigenous misrepresentation and prioritize areas in most urgent need of changes. This work should be done with full public transparency.
• Develop and publish a plan, with appropriate timelines, to complete the redevelopment of the K-12 curriculum.
• Allocate funding in the upcoming budget cycle so that NL Schools, as an interim measure, can provide training for all teachers and make available to them additional educational materials that have already been developed by Indigenous Peoples.