Indigenous Community Development (ICD) Training
Description
The Indigenous Community Development (ICD) Curriculum has been developed and revised through the hard work of many people both in the First Nation and Inuit Health Branch (FNIHB) and Indigenous Services (ISC). Throughout the years that the Indigenous Community Development training has been conducted there have been over 50 trainers from many federal departments, public servants who have advocated internally for the training and staff who have coordinated the many training events and many people who have supported the development of the training. Originally, this course was held in-person over two full days, and is now also offered in a virtual format.
This course is designed to support parts of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call to Action #57:
We call upon federal, provincial, territorial, and municipal governments to provide education to public servants on the history of Aboriginal peoples, including the history and legacy of residential schools, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Treaties and Aboriginal rights, Indigenous law, and Aboriginal–Crown relations. This will require skills-based training in intercultural competency, conflict resolution, human rights, and anti-racism.
Additionally, it will aid public servants in developing their cultural competence and not only learn the pillars and principles of community development, but how to apply them in their day-to-day work. The course includes facilitation and presentation by an Elder and qualified trainers, eight decks, group exercises, as well as a Talking Circle where participants share what they have learnt and felt throughout the training.
Topics Covered
- Indigenous Canada
- Community Development Framework – Pillars and Principles
- Community Development Framework – The Continuum
- History Matters
- Intergenerational Trauma and Resilience (presented by the Elder)
- Cultural Competence
- Relationships
History of the Indigenous Community Development curriculum
Both FNIHB and Indigenous Services have, through a number of initiatives, strived to strengthen the working relationship between Indigenous peoples and the Government of Canada.
In 2010, Health Canada’s Executive Committee identified community development, with the focus on building increased capacity in First Nation and Inuit communities, as a key approach to achieve the priority of Strengthening Health Services. In September 2010, the Health Canada Regional Directors requested that the Community Development & Capacity Building initiative take the lead to achieve two objectives:
- Build staff knowledge and skills in community development, and
- Initiate a “community of practice” or network between regions for staff to connect and learn from each other.
The key tool to achieve these objectives was the development of an in-person training for staff who work with Indigenous communities.
ISC through a number of initiatives, including Sustainable Communities was working to establish community- led organizational change within the department.
The First Nation and Inuit Health Branch National Advisory Committee in 2011 included representatives from Health Canada, ISC, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, Assembly of First Nations and Public Safety. The committee developed the Indigenous Community Development Framework, the foundation for the Indigenous Community Development curriculum, including the learning outcomes, content and process. The curriculum has gone through a number of steps and involved a number of experts.
Phase 1: 2009-2010
- Research is conducted on mainstream and Indigenous community development, interviews with First Nations communities, and Indigenous and non-Indigenous health leaders.
Phase 2: 2011
- The framework was reviewed by external experts who contributed to different parts of the framework and curriculum
Phase 3: 2012 -2013
- Development of the training curriculum with feedback from the First Nation, Inuit Health Branch National Advisory Committee
- Pre-pilot tested with HQ and regional FNIHB employees from Atlantic and Quebec, in Montreal
- Pilot tested with the CDCB National Advisory committee in January 2013.
Phase 4: 2013
- The Indigenous Community Development curriculum was tested with 150 employees of FNIHB and some representatives from AANDC through January to March 2013 and was revised and updated.
- A consistently high level of support for the curriculum was built with key partners. The curriculum approach and content was reviewed by the Assembly of First Nations, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the Aboriginal Employees Network, First Nation Health Professionals Association and FNIHB Regional Directors.
Phase 5: 2013 - 2015
- Over 1500 participants across federal governments, provincial governments, non-governmental organizations and Canadians participated in the training.
- All trainers received a one-week training session by Pauline Nottingham of the University of Toronto to support quality assurance goals.
Phase 6: 2016-2019
- The Committee for the Advancement of Native Employment (CANE) reviewed the existing material and provided feedback which was incorporated into the decks.
- ISC re-introduced the ICD training in response to article 57 of the “Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action” which highlighted the need for intercultural competency education for all public servants. The training includes the history of Indigenous peoples and the legacy of residential schools. Since November 2016, approximately 800 more participants have taken the training.
Indigenous Community Development Framework
The foundational value and belief of community development is that the people themselves can improve their community by working together, building consensus on priorities and actions, building on community assets, and developing individual and community capacity. Community development is a principled, values-based approach to support better outcomes in First Nations, Inuit and Métis well-being, by supporting communities to manage their own services, building on their own strengths including culture. Community development is not a program – the principle is to embed community development knowledge and expertise across departments, in every policy and program. The framework is to inform your every day work.
Continuum of Community Development
