Supporting the Ojibwe language immersion cohort and development of Ojibwe teacher language standards

Midwest Indigenous Immersion Network (MIIN) works with over a dozen Ojibwe language programs across Minnesota and Wisconsin to develop teacher and curriculum standards for Ojibwe language instruction. A previous grant from HLF helped MIIN conduct an original research study to understand if and how schools across Minnesota and Wisconsin are providing Native language access to students, get a census on language teachers and explored curriculum standards across schools. The research found that across school’s curriculum standards were inconsistent and there were not enough qualified language teachers. The next phase of their will work focus on piloting a teacher licensure program that will train the next generation of Ojibwe language teachers through a partnership with Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University (LCOOU) and will be based in Ojibwe language immersion and have a heavy focus on language curriculum development for students. MIIN will serve as a model for language programs across the county in helping build and train Native language teachers and strengthening Native language curriculum standards.

This grant aligns with IKI program strategy 1a: To strengthen and sustain the field of Indigenous knowledge in the U.S.