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The purpose of this paper is to identify motivators that support educational success, as perceived by Aboriginal high school students enrolled in two urban Saskatchewan schools. Twelve semi-structured individual interviews revealed that students were motivated by a hospitable school culture, relevant learning opportunities, and positive personal influences outside the realm of the school (e.g., family role models and Elder influence). Utilizing an Aboriginal worldview lens, student motivation stemmed from experiencing four quadrants of learning--awareness (physical), knowledge (mental), continuous improvement (emotional), and perseverance (spiritual). An implication is that educators need to incorporate features of Aboriginal pedagogy when teaching.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the leadership perceptions and practices of principals who promote positive school experiences for Aboriginal students. This qualitative multi-case study encapsulates 14 semi-structured individual interviews conducted with nine principals from the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Prince Edward Island. Findings indicate that the principal's belief in students, emphasis on student belonging, promotion of relationships and promotion of culturally relevant school experience were seminal in creating a positive school experiences for Aboriginal students. An implication of the study is that leadership embodied via an Aboriginal worldview has great merit for fostering educational success for all learners, regardless of ethnicity.

In this paper, we explain how principals across Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island, and Nunavut (Canada) promoted educational success for Indigenous students. Herein, success incorporates academic, physical, emotional and spiritual wellness. For this qualitative, multi-case study, the data were 29 individual interviews conducted with 17 principals. This study showed that building and nurturing relationships with Indigenous students, parents1 and the community supported Indigenous student success. Building principal-student relationships included principals informally talking with students and leading extracurricular activities for students. Building principal-parent relationships meant spending face-to-face time with parents, viewing parents as the experts of their child and not judging parents. Principal-community relationships formed when principals educated themselves about the culture of Indigenous communities, were present within the school community and were friends with Indigenous peoples. An implication of the study is that thick forms of social capital between principals and the members of Indigenous school communities are integral aspects of decolonizing education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to describe the leadership perceptions and practices of principals who promote positive school experiences for Aboriginal students. This qualitative multi-case study encapsulates 14 semi-structured individual interviews conducted with nine principals from the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Prince Edward Island. Findings indicate that the principal’s belief in students, emphasis on student belonging, promotion of relationships and promotion of culturally relevant school experience were seminal in creating a positive school experiences for Aboriginal students. An implication of the study is that leadership embodied via an Aboriginal worldview has great merit for fostering educational success for all learners, regardless of ethnicity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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