Border work: Teachers’ expressions of their literacy-related professional development needs in a First Nations school

This paper reports on a case study of teachers’ expressions of their literacy-related professional development needs in a First Nations school located in Ontario, Canada. The paper construes the work of the teachers as “border work” and argues that their literacy teaching work was complex and tied to an ongoing legacy of colonialism. Four interrelated themes are discussed. The paper recommends improving compensation and job security for educators in First Nations schools and supporting them to see themselves as knowledgeable professionals who can entertain sophisticated notions of literacy that consider its relationship to situation including culture.

► Examines teachers’ views on literacy PD in a Canadian First Nations school.
► The preferred PD was training in use of commercial and standardized programs.
► Teachers looked to the local provincial schools as exemplars of good practice.
► There was little talk about the nature of literacy teaching in First Nations schools.
► Employs a neocolonial lens to discuss power relations in teachers’ views of PD.