(Re)Invigorating family and community leadership in Inuit bilingual education

Abstract

This article contextualizes community discourse about promising practices in Inuit bilingual education within the findings of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Arviat, Nunavut (Canada), is recognized as a success story in English-Inuktitut bilingualism. It has also been a nexus of elder- and Inuit-driven curriculum reform for strong bilingual education. A community-based research team facilitated conversations with 17 elders, teachers, and parents in Arviat, and 10 Inuit leaders elsewhere, about what is supporting bilingual education. Grounded theory analysis revealed family and community leadership as a key theme. Participants attributed successful bilingual education outcomes to family- and community-based language policies and practices that prioritize Inuktitut and support lifelong language learning. Their emphasis is echoed in discourse in other Inuit and Indigenous contexts. We argue that reclaiming the family leadership that was interrupted by residential schooling is a key to achieving or sustaining bilingualism and school success, and is also one aspect of achieving reconciliation.