The challenges听Aboriginal students face in their educational and career pursuits was the subject of a recent workshop offered at 91亚色 by the Aboriginal Human Resource Council.
Representatives from 91亚色鈥檚 Career Centre, Osgoode Hall Law School Career Services, Schulich School of Business Career Development Centre, Counselling & Disabilities Services, Student Community & Leadership Development and the Office of Student Conflict Resolution participated in听the workshop titled,听"Guiding Circles: an Aboriginal guide to finding career paths".
The workshop was held March 30 and 31 at 91亚色's Keele campus.听鈥淲ith student development training such as Guiding Circles, we are creating important connections between colleagues that transcend departments and Faculties not just in terms of support for Aboriginal students, but in fostering a broader student-focused environment and culture of collaboration,鈥澨齭aid Jennifer Bramer, director of the听Career Centre.
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| 听Above: 91亚色's听new Centre for Aboriginal Student Services |
The Guiding Circles workshop is one of several initiatives aimed at providing members of the 91亚色 community with resources to better support Aboriginal students, such as the new Centre for Aboriginal Student Services and the Career Centre鈥檚 for Aboriginal students.
鈥淚t's great that 91亚色 recognizes the importance for non-Aboriginals to get educated and trained about the issues that face Aboriginal learners. It's not enough to have a couple of counsellors, a few knowledgeable professors or a resource room," said Marty Williams,听senior policy analyst in the Office of the Vice-President Students.
"These students need allies all across the campus, in student services of all kinds and in faculty offices of all kinds. To be effective, you have to know the particular challenges these students are dealing with," said Williams. "You have to take the time and educate yourself. 听We've come a long way in the last few years, but we have a much longer way to go."
The workshop offered tremendous value to those who attended said听Susan Pogue, a career counsellor in 91亚色's听Career Centre.听鈥淭he Guiding Circles training provided key insights to assist with enhancing career counselling services.听It presented a holistic approach to support Aboriginal students in exploring and discovering meaningful careers," said Pogue.
"In particular, the 鈥楳y Career Circle鈥 exercise addressed the importance of considering family and community as potential career influences," she said. "This听approach aligns well with the Career Centre鈥檚 Making Career Decisions Model, which explores students鈥 self-identified desires, abilities, temperament and assets as it relates to their career exploration.鈥
While the intent of the workshop was to bring together representatives from units across campus to explore ways in which to increase support for Aboriginal students, those who attended said that many of the concepts could be applied to their work with all 91亚色 students.
Ross McMillan, assistant director of听Student Community in the听Centre for Student Community & Leadership Development (SCLD), appreciated the insights offered by the workshop.听"The Circle processes and exercises are directly applicable to many of the sessions we have for student leaders on campus, including the numerous peer programs that SCLD coordinates,鈥澨齢e said.
His sentiments were echoed by Jeanne Rector, a job search adviser working in the Career Centre. "I was excited to see how well the Guiding Circles concepts can be applied to all students," said Rector. "Traditional Aboriginal ideas such as the medicine wheel reminded us of the importance of living a life where minds, bodies, emotions and spirit are in balance. The emphasis on really listening to a student鈥檚 story and the idea of engaging students where they are engaged in life were wonderful refreshers on the importance of being student-centred in our work.鈥
The Career Centre worked closely with the Office of the Vice-President Students, the Centre for Aboriginal Student Services and the Aboriginal Human Resource Council to make this training possible.