Diverse Contexts Within an Inuit School Setting—Schooling in Nunavik

Abstract

This is a qualitative case study of one school in one of the 14 communities of Nunavik. Nunavik is an Inuit Nunangat region located at the Northern tip of Quebec. Nunavik is also bounded by Hudson Bay to the west, Nunavut to the north, and Nunatsiavut (Newfoundland and Labrador) to the east. As is the case across the Canadian North and more specifically Inuit Nunangat, schools are responding to the challenges faced by their students and communities in a variety of ways to promote success. The case study shares the context of one of the 14 Nunavik communities and outlines success factors of the school, the determinants of success for students, and highlight many important links between the school and the community in support of culture and language. In this case the promotion of the Inuit language is a strong element in their success, Unique to this case while English language influence is quite high, this is modified by the additional influence of French language.