Aboriginals' Residential School
Aboriginals
Imagine being treated in a degraded way, deprived from communicating in your own language and unable to make use of your knowledge and traditions because of discriminatory beliefs about your culture and appearance. The following paper is an attempt to give a thorough explanation on residential schools and their impact on Aboriginal people by examining theoretical perspectives on their current education. One must first examine why residential schools came into being. Fear of others results in the belief that some are superior while others are inferior beings, and the dominant white, European culture saw residential schools as a way for their “superior” culture to be taught to the “inferior” Aboriginal students. Language is an important part of our lives; it is a uniquely human gift which lets us communicate, and which differentiates us from primates. Knowledge is an essential part of the human experience and knowledge is first transmitted through culture and family ties. In residential schools, Aboriginals were not allowed to speak their Native language and their knowledge was denigrated. Where residential schools tried to assimilate Aboriginal students into the dominant white culture, current Aboriginal education supports the teaching of language and culture as a way for students to regain their Native identity.
Residential schools were started in 19th century by the Canadian government to educate and assimilate the Aboriginal people. Aboriginals were taught how to speak English and the aim was for them to adopt Christianity and Canadian customs. The curriculum was designed to civilize the Native peoples to make sure they also adopted the new lifestyle on to their children and diminish Native traditions. The government wanted to remove and isolate these children from their traditions and culture and so assimilate them into the dominant culture. The Canadian government believed that the Aboriginal culture and religion were inferior, thus left
Imagine being treated in a degraded way, deprived from communicating in your own language and unable to make use of your knowledge and traditions because of discriminatory beliefs about your culture and appearance. The following paper is an attempt to give a thorough explanation on residential schools and their impact on Aboriginal people by examining theoretical perspectives on their current education. One must first examine why residential schools came into being. Fear of others results in the belief that some are superior while others are inferior beings, and the dominant white, European culture saw residential schools as a way for their “superior” culture to be taught to the “inferior” Aboriginal students. Language is an important part of our lives; it is a uniquely human gift which lets us communicate, and which differentiates us from primates. Knowledge is an essential part of the human experience and knowledge is first transmitted through culture and family ties. In residential schools, Aboriginals were not allowed to speak their Native language and their knowledge was denigrated. Where residential schools tried to assimilate Aboriginal students into the dominant white culture, current Aboriginal education supports the teaching of language and culture as a way for students to regain their Native identity.
Residential schools were started in 19th century by the Canadian government to educate and assimilate the Aboriginal people. Aboriginals were taught how to speak English and the aim was for them to adopt Christianity and Canadian customs. The curriculum was designed to civilize the Native peoples to make sure they also adopted the new lifestyle on to their children and diminish Native traditions. The government wanted to remove and isolate these children from their traditions and culture and so assimilate them into the dominant culture. The Canadian government believed that the Aboriginal culture and religion were inferior, thus left