荔枝视频

For a group of child psychology graduate students, interning with schools serving Manitoba First Nations communities has been taken to a very personal level.

The students had the opportunity to hone their skills working directly with Indigenous students as part of the Werklund School of Education鈥檚 , in partnership with the.Their work included conducting research into how First Nations communities can build capacity in delivering school psychology services.

To be eligible for this internship program, the students themselves had to be of Indigenous heritage.

鈥淭raditionally, school psychology has been Eurocentric in its approach and has viewed people from other cultures and minority groups from this lens,鈥� says Dr. Meadow Schroeder, MSc鈥�05, PhD鈥�10, a Werklund associate professor and academic co-ordinator for the internship program. 鈥淲hen it comes to Indigenous people, school psychologists tend to use culturally inappropriate testing approaches and instruments that overly identify them as needing special education services.鈥�

Personal experience meets research

For the research component, students are writing 鈥渁utoethnographies,鈥� a form of research that incorporates self-reflection and personal experience. The MFNERC will get a final report reflecting the challenges and struggles the students identify in their autoethnographies, along with suggestions for change, explains Schroeder.

, a not-for-profit well-known for supporting business development and education, is providing funding for the research. It鈥檚 in the process of developing 鈥渁n Indigenous strategy to support not only 鈥� students, but also Indigenous communities and business,鈥� says Brent Wennekes, director of business development. 鈥淭his was a rather unique proposal. It is an emerging area for Mitacs and for research in general. It鈥檚 a different approach, meeting a practical and important challenge.鈥�

The MEd students were funded under the Mitacs Accelerate program, with matching support from MFNERC, he adds.

The autoethnographies are a vital aspect of the students鈥� internship with the Manitoba communities, says Werklund instructor Dr. Elisa Lacerda-Vandenborn, PhD, the cohort鈥檚 co-supervisor.

鈥淸The] idea of having autoethnographies where students are at the centre of the research enacts the importance of their voices and how much we 鈥� as Western practitioners and scholars 鈥� have to learn from them,鈥� she says.

Building capacity for school and child psychology

There is a need to build capacity in school and child psychology in First Nations communities, with Schroeder noting a recent paper in Canadian Psychology identified only 12 registered psychologists of Indigenous background in all of Canada.

MEd student Charity Sanderson, who grew up in the Fisher River Cree Nation on Lake Winnipeg, was assigned to schools in the Prairie Rose School Division in southern Manitoba.

鈥淭he biggest surprises came from working in the field. I've had such strange or surprising things occur. It's never a dull moment,鈥� she says of the challenges faced working with young people. 鈥淚 have helped so many children, the school division and other invested stakeholders (parents, etc.). I love giving a voice to others.鈥�

Sanderson says the research aspect is vital, 鈥渂ecause so often Indigenous people are looked down on or thought of in a certain way. However, it just isn鈥檛 the truth. Additionally, because of the pandemic, mental health has been at the forefront and people are realizing it is something to be considered. People do not like being isolated or cut off from others 鈥� nobody realized that this is how some Indigenous people have been feeling for years.鈥�

Increasing capacity for Indigenous school psychologists was identified as a need in 2016, says Derek Courchene, MFNERC鈥檚 program co-ordinator for graduate studies.

鈥淚t is an area that has been underserved,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he intention is to better serve First Nations children and communities 鈥� the quality of service is going to increase with stability, dependability and cultural relevance. The students being First Nations [themselves] are very familiar with the communities.鈥�

Connecting to the Indigenous Strategy

Schroeder says the internship program and research connect to U荔枝视频鈥檚 Indigenous Strategy, ii鈥� taa鈥檖oh鈥檛o鈥檖, as 鈥渁n opportunity to honour Indigenous people鈥檚 ways of knowing and culture. This project is an opportunity to critically examine school psychology approaches with the intent to identify problems and identify possible solutions. Furthermore, the identification of problems and potential solutions come from the students who [see them through] the Indigenous lens.鈥�

As for building capacity in an underserved area, the future looks bright for the students.

鈥淚鈥檇 like to work as a school clinician with my people full-time,鈥� says Sanderson, who not only has a job lined up after graduation, but is also considering adding medical courses to her skill set. 鈥淚t is amazing when doctors and school clinicians work together for a child. Why not be both?鈥�