A Look at Residential Schools Through a Self-Determination Framework

Parker Bijl

Educational Psychology 3502

Jeffrey MacCormack

November 6th, 2019

 Introduction

The foundation of our school system is built on the importance of surrounding

knowledge, growth, and discovery for all students. Education has become a place where students

have the freedom to be who they are and explore their passions that they may want to make a

career in the future. Regardless of race, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic status, students

come to school without the fear of judgment or prejudice from the teachers or staff. When I look

back on my time in the school system, I cannot think of a time where I or my peers were in a

position of fear or restriction of being who they are and wanting to learn what was interesting to

them. Unfortunately, the way our system is currently developed was not the case for Indigenous

students in the twentieth century. In the time of Residential Schools, children were abducted

from their communities and placed in schools with hopes to assimilate them into the Euro-

Canadian culture. These children were stripped of their basic needs and lost every ounce of what

made them who they are. By examining the experiences of First Nations students who have

forcibly been in residential schools, this paper will show through the Self-Determination

framework, that it is evident First Nation students' proficiency, belongingness, and individuality

was stolen from them the moment they stepped in these schools.

Competence

In the article Autonomy, competence, and relatedness in the classroom: Applying self-

determination theory to educational practices, it discusses how the Self-Determination Theory

(SDT) highlights our motivation and personality, which are highlighted by three basic

psychological needs (Niemic & Ryan, 2009). The theory takes interest in factors that either help

guide our growth or restrict it. Niemic and Ryan (2009) highlight how when teachers can support

these needs in the classroom, it can improve the student's motivation and creative ability in the
classroom. However, when the practices are more restrictive of these traits, the results are

drastically different. The first basic psychological need to recognize is competence. Niemic and

Ryan (2009) refer to competence as "the experience of behavior as effectively enacted" (p.135).

In other words, competence is about a set of characteristics or skills that help an individual

achieve a task or meet a certain performance standard. An example of this would be when a

student feels well equipped with the specific set of skills to complete the criteria highlight for an

assignment. If students have a sense of competence in the work they are doing, they are more

likely to internalize their motivation to learn and synthesize the tasks with themselves. What this

means is that instead of doing the work for an external reward or to portray oneself in a positive

light to others, students now do it because they inherently enjoy it and find the inspiration from

within. Teachers can foster this need of competence by providing their students with constructive

feedback that guides them toward growth or offering tasks that is within their skill set but still

presents them with a challenge. If these options are not being offered by the teacher it can lead to

this psychological need of competence to be dismissed, which was the case in the residential

schools.

For First Nations people, at this time in the twentieth century, their need for competence

and skills involved were different compared to someone who lived outside of the reserve. Due to

the heavy reliance on land for food, shelter, and daily activities, the skills First Nations

developed were centered around that. Skills like hunting, fishing, trapping, and teepee making

were tools that were a part of their competency need, which they used for survival. In the book,

The Survivors Speak by The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Canada highlights

the many perspectives of First Nation peoples during this time (Truth and Reconciliation

Commission [TRC], 2015). Eva Lapage from northern Quebec stated how "we live with nature"
and it was "very simple, living, just survival in the way of looking for food and moving around"

(TRC, 2015, p. 5). Unfortunately, this set of competence the First Nations children began to

develop did not translate over, once they attended residential schools. Isabella Whitford, a past

student who attended the Sandy Bay school said how they "were like slaves" due to the tasks

instructed upon them (TRC, 2015, p. 80). Instead of building on their skills acquired from living

on the land, the residential schools used the students for physical labour. They would be

instructed to clean every inch of the school and help in the kitchen, which is completely different

from the way First Nations prepared their meals. "We kind of run the school based on our own

labor" is how Ilene Nepoose from the Blue Quills school referred to how it felt based on the

extraneous tasks they were forced to do (TRC, 2015, p.79). Regarding the environment of the

classroom, it was one where the basic need for competence was not positively instilled. Niemic

and Ryan (2009) explained how feelings such as "joy, enthusiasm, and interest" should

encompass learning, compared to "anxiety, boredom, or alienation," but the staff at the

residential schools created those negative feelings (p. 133). "Classroom life was foreign and

traumatic" for many students who attended these schools as the way they were being instructed

stripped them of their competence (TRC, 2015, p.121). As stated earlier, for competency to be

sustained in the classroom teachers need to provide positive and constructive feedback to their

students to aid their growth, but these teachers resorted to abuse. Students would get physically

assaulted for responding wrong to a prompt in class or reading a passage incorrectly and the

teachers would make an example of them in front of the entire class. The feedback the students

would get was far from encouraging and was meant to prohibit their progress. Walter Jones from

the Alberni, British Columbia reflected on being told "you don't need to go that far" because

"you're going to be working jobs the white man does not want" when he simply was wanting to
move up a grade (TRC, 2015, p. 123). Even those who became successful academically give

zero credit to the skills learned at the residential schools. They give credit to the competence they

learned from their culture. This is a prime example of how the need for competence was stripped

from these students in residential schools and the continual encouragement to feel as if they will

not accomplish anything.

Belongingness

The second basic psychological need highlighted is Belongingness or according to SDT

relatedness. In a classroom setting, this is where there are feelings of mutual likeness, respect and

value in the teacher-student relationship. Students who feel this sense of belongingness in the

classroom are more likely to be motivated internally and willingness to confide in their teacher.

Niemic and Ryan (2009) state to enhance the feeling of relatedness into the class it is important

for the teacher to convey feelings of warmth, care, and respect towards their students to create a

better sense of community (p.141). Unfortunately, this feeling of belongingness was not

represented in the residential schools and for most, it was destroyed among the students.

This lack of belongingness was almost immediate once the students arrived as many of

them came fluent in an Aboriginal language and had little understanding of either French or

English. They were unaware of the customs of this new world and were not able to communicate

with most people. Margo Wylde from Quebec expressed concerns about "how am I going to

express myself?" and how this feeling of exclusion felt as if she was a "captive" (TRC, 2015,

p.47). Students would be physically abused for not knowing how to pronounce their names and

were forced to only speak either French or English. The staff at the school did not make the

transition easy or help foster the sense of belonging they already had with their people. They

immediately split up the boys and girls and violently enforced a rule to separate the students
from their siblings. Inez Dieter stated how the only time she got to connect with her brother to

feel that sense of belonging was in class and if they were caught interacting with one another

they would be punished. Madeline Dion viewed it as "a sense of separation and a sense of, not

connecting to your own" (TRC, 2015, p. 91).

This loss of belonging caused by the residential schools stemmed farther than just within

the school, as it had a major impact on the relationship with the parents. The TRC (2015)

discusses how students' parents could live only five minutes away from the school but would still

be limited to only one hour a week. Even during these visits' nuns would be present to monitor

the discussion to make sure the students were speaking English and not informing the parents of

the torture they went through. If letters were being sent to and from the students, they would be

read by staff and they would determine whether or not it could be accepted. In an article done by

Barnes, Josefowitz, and Cole (2006), parental involvement in the school was prohibited,

ega dle of ho eage he e e o be a a of hei child ed ca ion. If he a en ha ened

to have a complaint regarding the treatment of their child, it would often be completely ignored

(Barnes, et al., 2006). The ramifications of losing that need of belongingness translated outside

of school when students would head home for the summer months. As students were forced to

only use English or French when in school, it made it impossible to communicate with family at

home. This forcible exclusion from their culture left them with feelings of abandonment and

resentment toward their people. Anges Moses recalls the feeling of wanting "to be white so bad"

because of the wedge the school put between them and their belongingness to their community

(TRC, 2015, p. 105). This lack of respect, empathy, and warmth that was shown to the First

Nations students not only obliterated the relationships with their people, but it got to the point

where students felt the need to take their own lives. Elizabeth Joyce Brass recalled the feeling of
wanting to end her life at the age of 11 or 12 because the physical and emotional suffrage that

was caused by the school was too much. The school officials would say she was "just pretending

to be sick" or that she was just "not wanting to go to school" (TRC, 2015, p. 117). With these

examples, it is evident how the feeling of belongingness was not only stolen from them

concerning their people, but it was never reinstated once they arrived at the residential school.

Autonomy

The last basic psychological need that is a part of the Self-Determination Theory is

autonomy. Niemic and Ryan (2009) refer to this need as "volitional and reflectively self-

endorsed" (p.135). In other terms, Autonomy focuses on the individuality of a person and what

makes them independent. People with a sense of autonomy tend to internalize their motivation,

which allows them to synthesize with tasks deeper than those who are externally motivated. In

the classroom setting when teachers support students' sense of autonomy, there is an increase in

intrinsic motivation, perceived competence, and an overall boost of self-esteem over time

(Niemic & Ryan, 2009). Teachers can show their support by providing more opportunities for

student choice, acknowledge individual students' feelings, and decrease the amount of pressure

or control they have on the students learning. When students can develop a sense of

independence in their learning it expands the scope of creativity and presents the opportunity for

them to demonstrate their learning how they want to do it. Once again, this need for autonomy

was stripped from each of the students who arrived at the residential schools.

Before these children even stepped foot inside these schools their independence was

stolen the moment they were forcibly removed from their community. First Nations people hold

their traditions, the land, and people to a high standard and this makes them who they are, which

is why the moment they were taken their autonomy was destroyed. Jaco Anaviapik recalls how
his parents were "put in a position where they could not say no" and how if they did not take him

to residential school his parents would be thrown in jail (TRC, 2015, P.15). Once they arrived,

every aspect that made them who they are was taken from them: their clothes, belongings, gifts

from home, and school officials would cut their long hair. Campbell Papequash, a residential

school survivor, states how First Nations hair "represents such a spiritual significance of [my]

life and [my] spirit" (TRC, 2015, p. 32). The First Nations people "were no longer free" as

Archie Hyacinthe states due to being removed from their community and no longer able to have

that autonomy of who they are (TRC, 2015, p. 36). When it came to what was done in the school,

the students were forced into every aspect of Euro-Canadian life. They were mandated to

religious training where prayer was instructed before every activity and pressured to change their

behaviour to be accepted by God. Their sense of autonomy was so minimal that they would hide

their true feelings just so they could "get by" and not face the physical, mental, or sexual abuse

(TRC, 2015, p. 119).

In relation to abuse, when someone has this inflicted on them it can be the last blow that

takes away their autonomy and makes them feel as if you're not yourself anymore, which is

exactly what happened to these students. Unfortunately, a majority of them faced physical,

verbal, sexual, and mental abuse by the school officials. They would start by making the student

feel favoured or comfortable around them and would then inflict the abuse to make the student

feel as if they were in the wrong. Priests and other school staff would bribe them with candy to

try to avoid being caught or threaten them by saying "God's going to punish you if you say

anything" (TRC, 2015, p.160). At this point, whatever autonomy these students had left was

stolen when these horrific individuals abused them, and it is clear that the residential schools

achieved their goal of completely stripping the First Nations people of who they were.
 Discussion

Due to the tremendous amount of wrong forced upon Indigenous people, we need to

know how to find ways to correct those mistakes, which can start with improving the self-

determination of our students in today's classrooms. I believe it starts with our ability as teachers

to support our Indigenous students with the three basic psychological needs the theory highlights.

We need to create a classroom environment that allows them to proudly represent who they are

and feel as if they can bring their culture into the classroom. This could be done through different

creative projects or when teaching an FNMI lesson, have some of the student's input and

collaboration on the topic. By doing this we instill that feeling of autonomy and acknowledge our

Indigenous students for who they are. Feelings of genuine care and respect must be shown to

these students because the impact of residential schools did not just affect those who attended, as

it tends to trickle down through the family. This may look like being a stable support system in

their lives and giving them that sense of warmth as we do not know what it is like for them

outside the school's walls. Another way to improve SDT with Indigenous students is to recognize

what their set of skills are and find creative ways to implement those into the class. This could be

them creating culturally significant art or developing an oral story for a language arts class. By

allowing the student to use their set of skills in the class it helps to increase the need for

competency within the learning environment.

As the teacher, by doing some of these things above it will help to increase SDT and the

three needs involved of the Indigenous students in the classroom. Speaking now on more general

terms it is clear that these psychological needs are key to development. In Niemic and Ryan's

(2009) article it is evident that when these three needs are supported it leads to an overall

improvement in development. It creates an inclusive community where individuals feel safe, it

allows them to have a sense of independence, and feel as if they have all the support in the

world. If these three needs can be properly facilitated by teachers, then the development of our

students has nowhere to go but up.

Conclusion

When reflecting on the history of First Nations people and the horrific harm inflicted on

them by residential schools it is evident that autonomy, competence, and relatedness were all

stolen from them. They were forcibly removed from their community with no choice,

consistently abused through a variety of means, and were provided with no opportunities to

demonstrate their skills. With none of these needs being met, it is fair to say that during their

time at the residential schools their development came to a stop and was forced to assimilate to a

culture vastly different from their own. Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do to wipe away

the harm that was caused by these terrible schools, but as teachers, we can take proactive

measures to make sure the needs of our Indigenous students are being met. By creating an

inclusive, respectful, and growth-oriented classroom it ensures that the three basic psychological

needs of the Self-Determination Theory are being met and that we provide all students with the

most optimal opportunity to develop.

 References

Barnes, R., Josefowitz, N., & Cole, E. (2006). Residential schools: Impact on Aboriginal
den academic and cogni i e de elo men . Canadian Journal of School
Psychology, 21(1-2), 18-32.

Niemiec, C. P., & Ryan, R. M. (2009). Autonomy, competence, and relatedness in the classroom:

Applying self-determination theory to educational practice. Theory and Research in

Education, 7(2), 133-144. DOI:10.1177/1477878509104318

The Survivors Speak: A report of the truth and reconciliation commission of Canada (2015).

Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.