Education Commons^™

A Grounded Theory Of New Aboriginal Teachers’ Perceptions: The Cultural Attributions Of Medicine Wheel Teachings, Lorenzo Cherubini, Ewelina Niemczyk, John Hudson, Sarah Mcgean

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

The stress and anxiety of new teachers is a pervasive problem that impacts upon teacher preparation and retention. Although new mainstream teacher concerns and experiences have been readily discussed in the literature, the same attention has not been invested for new Aboriginal teachers. In Ontario, Canada, in excess of 60% of the Aboriginal population live off-reserve and reside in urban communities. Well over 50,000 Aboriginal students attend publicly funded kindergarten to Grade 12 schools that are governed by the Ontario Ministry of Education. There is a growing socio-political awareness that Aboriginal epistemologies are distinct from colonial paradigms, and that Aboriginal …