Teacher Recruitment in Rural and Aboriginal Communities

Abstract

The north coast of Labrador is full of rough terrain and rugged coastlines.  There are six active communities in the northern most area of this region: Nain, Natuashish, Hopedale, Makkovik, Postville and Rigolet, which have a population of about 300-1200 each, consisting of a majority of Inuit descent, while the one, Natuashish, is mainly Innu/First Nations.  People in these communities spend most of their time on the land and water, taking part in culturally rich activities such as hunting, fishing, and gathering wood.  The conditions can be harsh in the north with temperatures ranging from about 25 degrees Celsius in summer to about -50 degrees in winter.  There is a great respect for understanding and navigating the land and water, especially for knowledge of survival and awareness of incoming weather which can include days of low visibility with blowing snow and winds from 80 to 100 km/h in some of the most desolate places in our province. All the six communities are rural communities. Budge (2006) argues that it is very difficult to establish a set of common characteristics among rural communities, however, many rural communities have similar traits and challenges such as decline in population, remoteness, out migration, and conflict over purposes of schooling. She illustrates that many people from rural communities have prominent attachment to their place. She goes further and explains that understanding of place is possible through the observation of our relationship to each other and to the world. She presents six characteristics to understand the sense of place: connectedness, development of identity and culture, interdependence with the land, spirituality, ideology and politics, and activism and civic engagement.