Jorge Barrera
Northern News Services
Iqaluit (Oct 02/00) - Nakasuk school grade 5 teacher Bobbi McLean fingers the corner of the page before turning it. She's reading the story of Jeremiah, an old man who wants to learn to read.
She holds the book open so the children, sitting on the floor and gathered in a multilayered semi-circle, can see the colourful drawings.
None of the expected whispers and giggles rise from the children, some sitting cross-legged on the floor, some sitting on their ankles. They sit silent, chins upturned, listening.
Just before she reads the story of Jeremiah, McLean tells the children that the deadline for book orders is coming. In the book catalogue that McLeanStone" goes for only eight dollars.
Literacy, McLean says, is the most important thing at this stage for the children in her class.
Most of the children know English as a second language. Nakasuk school has an option for parents to put their children in Inuktitut immersion from kindergarten up to grade three.
"My goal is for everyone to try their best and instill the love of reading," says McLean.
Mclean says that because most of the children only have half a year of English instruction she must adjust her teaching tactics
"The approach is different in the amount and style, a lot of repetition, a lot of drills and a lot of reviews," she says, " but I've done it for so long it just comes naturally now," says McLean.
McLean has never taught in a southern school. All her experience has been in isolated communities where English is an invading language.
She's been a teacher for over 20 years, from Innu communities in Labrador to Iqaluit. Her love for children started when she began to baby-sit at age 12 and her sister cemented her choice to be a teacher.
"My older sister became a teacher, and it seemed natural to me," she says.
In her long experience, McLean says that a parent is a teacher's best friend.
"You need the child, school and parent triangle to be strong," says McLean.
"If the triangle breaks down it affects the children."
