Schools snap up graduates of Dene teaching program

Graduate are fluent in Dene, can help students read and write the language

Being able to train to be as a teacher and eventually be hired at the school she once attended has been an empowering experience for Farris Lemaigre.

Lemaigre, a recent graduate of the Dene Teacher Education Program (DTEP), will be teaching high school math at Clearwater River Dene School in the upcoming school year.

Aside from being able to remain in community, what’s really made her education journey meaningful is she’ll be teaching in her own language.

Graduates from DTEP, a fouryear bachelor of education program delivered out of Clearwater River Dene Nation, are fluent in Dene and can teach their students how to read and write the language.

“It brings back that identity, and a sense of belonging back to the community and the youth,” she said. “And shows kids that if you set your heart and your mind to it, you could do pretty much anything you want.

“Being able to be that role model for the kids in my community was very rewarding. It pushed me to even try harder.”

DTEP is a partnership between Clearwater River Dene Nation, Northern Lights School Division, Meadow Lake Tribal Council, First Nations University of Canada, the University of Regina and the provincial and federal governments.

Thirty-two students started the program in 2016, and 21 recently graduated with their bachelor’s degree, with more than half of the graduates already accepting positions for the upcoming academic year.

COVID-19 didn’t have much of an impact on graduates finishing their degrees — internships at Clearwater and La Loche Community School ended early due to school closures in March.

But a local ceremony and celebration set to take place on Saturday has been postponed and the cohort’s U of R convocation has been cancelled.

Clearwater Director of Education and Principal Mark Klein said it was important that the program both take place in the traditional Denesuline territory and focus on Dene language and culture.

“I think language is identity, and without language and culture, kids really can’t know, don’t know who they are,” Klein said. “I think it has to be the cornerstone of many of the schools up north.”

Between the demand for Dene immersion programming, teacher shortages and high rates of unemployment in the north, DTEP teachers enter the workforce at a pivotal time, Klein said.

Clearwater, which entered the 2019-2020 school year with two openings, is now fully staffed for the first time in three years.

But that model, of northerners training northerners to fill northern positions, has even more room to expand, Klein said.

At points in the program, a community member with a master’s degree was able to teach a course, “almost a self-sustaining education system.”

His hope is that the second round of DTEP be taught entirely by local educators.

While the program was in running, there were students from kindergarten to university level all learning Dene in one building, Klein said. It was something he’s proud to have been a part of.

“A lot of the DTEP students have children, have grandchildren in our school,” he said. “They’re role models for all of those kids. It gives them hope for their future and shows that they can do something too.”