The Faculty of Education at the University of Lethbridge, in partnership with Red Crow Community College, is pleased to offer the Niitsitapi Teacher Education Program, beginning in the fall of 2018.

“We look forward to working with the U of L on the Niitsitapi Teacher Education Program,” says Roy Weasel Fat, president of Red Crow Community College. “The program will prepare students to teach from a Blackfoot perspective and ultimately, to pass along language and culture to future generations.”

“We are happy to once again offer the Niitsitapi Teacher Education Program in collaboration with our partners at Red Crow Community College,” says Dr. Nancy Grigg, acting associate dean of the Faculty of Education. “We first offered the program in 2004 to a full cohort of students and we look forward to building on that success.”

The program is for First Nations, Métis and Inuit students or interested non-Indigenous students, who want to become qualified teachers and work with Blackfoot children and youth. The program is offered as a five-year combined degree or a two-year, after-degree program. Students will first complete courses—Kipatapisanooni I and II—which address Blackfoot language, values and ways of knowing. These classes form the foundation of the program, which is designed to meet all the expectations and competencies of the Alberta Teaching Quality Standard and to further prepare teachers to work within the Blackfoot culture.

“We learned a lot of lessons from the first Niitsitapi program so we have a better understanding of what our students need,” says Dr. Chris Mattatall, an education professor and a member of the Niitsitapi steering committee. “We have been planning with our partners at Red Crow College from the start so we have a shared vision.”

The upcoming academic year will focus on recruitment and anyone interested in the program can contact Student Program Services at edu.sps@uleth.ca.