Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services

IQALUIT (May 25/98) - Teaching got a whole lot easier in the Baffin last week thanks to the efforts of four people.

On an initiative from the Baffin Divisional Board of Education, the group designed and produced a series of teaching units for students and teachers in classrooms where Inuktitut is the first language.

"Our mandate was to produce materials in Inuktitut to use in the classroom," said Gwen Coffin, a member of the board.

"It's a program of study based on a single-topic theme ... designed to support the mandated Inuit curriculum," said Coffin.

Since September of last year, the group has produced seven units on different topics, including rain and fog, boats, occupations, Ulaayuk (an important community member in Pond Inlet), whales, snow and plants. Coffin said that by the end of the year, they hope to produce a total of 18 units, each of which is intended to last for three weeks.

"The background information is collected for people who are not experts and there are links to the curricula so they can say, 'This can fit into my science program,'" said Coffin, who added that each classroom will adapt the units to meet specific needs and dialects.

Having community members and elders contribute to the units was also important to the group.

"We worked with elders to gain terminology, to get old, new and forgotten words and to get information on traditional practices.... It's getting better and better and involving the whole community," said Coffin.

Part of what makes the new units attractive is their ability to save time.

"These units have a plan -- these are the materials you need, this sheet tells you what to do. For much of the past, teachers teaching in Inuktitut have had to do all of that. Now the teacher has essentially three weeks of things. It's an enormous time-saver for the classroom."

Coffin said the project is unique in that each person was able to do the work in their own community and send it to her to proofread in Iqaluit.

Kathy Oqallak, the Nanisivik representative, said her primary goal is to bring more science into the classroom.

"Language is very strong in the schools and I really feel that science should be as strong as language," said Oqallak.

She said the release of the units was just the start of the new curriculum.

"It's by no means finished. This is just a framework. We encourage the teachers to write books and stories," said Oqallak, who added that one teacher from each Baffin community travelled to Iqaluit for the event to learn how to use the units. She hoped they would take their knowledge home and share it with other teachers in their communities.

"There's a real need for professional-looking materials for kids. It gives them a sense of pride in their language. Teachers often have to make the materials themselves and the kids wonder why it doesn't look like it does in English. They see that their language is important," said Oqallak.

Pond Inlet member Martha Kyak said the group had received much praise over the units. "They really like them, they really commended us for doing it. It's going to have a huge impact," she said.