Ab Original Residential Education

Ab Original Residential Education

Introduction

When one talks about the history of the Aboriginal schools, it can be seen that they were traced originally from the concept of the Canada government that planned to combine with the Anglican and United churches. The idea behind this collaboration and cooperation was that there was this need for making boarding and residential schools for the Aboriginal community. The aboriginal are originally the people who are belonging to the first nations, the Inuit, and Metis children (Zhao & Kuh, 2004). As it was discussed above that the main rational for the creation of these schools was that there must be opportunity for them to educate themselves in a better manner. They must be able to assimilate, and integrate into the fundamental of the Canadian society. As per the words of the few Canadian officials, what was needed to be done was so that the Indian children must be stripped from their cultural identity.

Discussion

Sexual Abuse

The aboriginal children admitted to Canadian schools had been subjected to various instances of sexual abuse and physical abuse. Such types of maltreatment greatly impacted the psychosocial and psychological development of aboriginal children. Their academic performance had suffered a great deal due to these traumas. The victimized children such as these had a poorer performance in comparison with other children. Not only the academic performance but also their mental development had been impacted in a negative manner (Barnes, Josefowitz, & Cole, 2006).

Lack of Appropriate Staffing

With a lack of proper staffing of teachers, the academic performance of aboriginal children suffered a great deal. They could not garner increased learning from the different lessons. With a lack of staffing of teachers, the aboriginal children had to deal with significant academic challenges. There was a lack of retention and thus there was no continuity with regards to the relationship development. Aboriginal children had to deal with different types of teachers on a regular basis. In addition, the teachers once employed do have the required experience and thus cannot deal with the issued faced by aboriginal children in a succinct manner.

Racism

Racist beliefs and attitudes had been a long standing phenomenon in the context of residential schools. As a result, aboriginal children had to deal with racist attitudes on a regular basis. The teachers employed at such residential schools often hurled racial slurs and comments on the children which hampered their mental development. The aboriginal children were often made fun of because of their distinct ethnicity. Their self esteem had suffered a great deal because of the increased racism and as such children had great difficulty in concentrating on their studies. The racist environment prevalent at the residential schools had greatly de motivated the aboriginal children and thus had no motivation to attend such residential schools (Barnes, Josefowitz, & Cole, 2006).

Disengagement

Absenteeism had been one of the significant factors arising out of the negative events experienced by aboriginal children in the residential ...