Page 13 - Building Bridges to Success for First Nation, Métis and Inuit Students – Developing Policies for Voluntary, Confidential Aboriginal Student Self-Identification: Successful Practices for Ontario School Boards

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Developing a Self-Identification Policy
Developing a voluntary, confidential self-identification policy involves
a number of key considerations, and follows an identifiable process.
The following three-step process reflects the successful practices of school boards in Ontario, and the experiences of school boards that participated in pilot projects across the province.
Step 1: Foundations
RECOGNITION OF FIRST NATION, MÉTIS, AND INUIT PEOPLES
In keeping with the definition of Aboriginal peoples under the Constitution, all self-identification policies developed by school boards need to recognize and address the following four cohorts of Aboriginal students attending provincially funded schools in Ontario:
1. First Nation students who live in First Nation communities but attend provin- cially funded elementary or secondary schools under tuition agreements
2. First Nation students who live in the jurisdictions of school boards and attend provincially funded elementary or second- ary schools
3. Métis students who attend provincially funded elementary or secondary schools
4. Inuit students who attend provincially funded elementary or secondary schools
1FOUNDATIONS 2 CONSULTATION 3 IMPLEMENTATION
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INSIGHT
There is a fifth cohort of Aboriginal
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in First Nation communities and
students in Ontario – those who live
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and secondary schools in First Nation
attend federally funded elementary
communities. These students, how- ever, would not be represented in the
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self-identification policies developed
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by provincial school boards.
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