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Cited by 8Indigenous Health, Education, and RightsHigher Education Research StudiesIndigenous and Place-Based Education

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Bending the box : learning from Indigenous students transitioning from high school to university

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Parent, Amy·2014·University of British Columbia
DOI 10.14288/1.0072168
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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to understand how the unique social, historical, cultural, and Indigenous knowledge contexts of Aboriginal communities in British Columbia shaped high school to university transitions for Aboriginal youth. To this end, the Northwest Coast bentwood box acted as a metaphor that framed the theoretical inquiry and methodology for this study, which examined four Aboriginal Early University Promotion Initiatives (AEUPI) and three Aboriginal University Transition Programs (AUTP) in British Columbia. In addition, I utilized Archibald’s (2008) storywork and Kirkness and Barnhardt’s (1991) 4Rs of Indigenous methodologies, with an additional 5th R (relationships). The study also drew upon Martin Nakata’s (2007) concept of the cultural interface, to analyze 32 interviews conducted with Aboriginal youth, and faculty and staff from the AEUPIs and AUTPs. Key findings from the Aboriginal youth in this study suggest that learning about university through real-life experience offered by the initiatives/programs was meaningful. Second, both the AEUPIs and AUTPs provided youth with concrete opportunities to explore future academic and career pathways. Third, ensuring that the youth were provided with opportunities to develop relationships with positive Aboriginal role models in the university was seen as a success factor. Fourth, the AEUPI youth shared stories about the important leadership skills they developed as role models and mentors to younger youth in the initiatives, which in turn assisted them with their visioning process for university. Fifth, the students’ sense of belonging at university was fostered by relationships with AEUPI and AUTP staff, Indigenous student support staff, Elders, and faculty. Sixth, the AEUPI youth overwhelmingly agreed that the experiences they had in these initiatives led them to feel wholistically successful. However, the AUTP youth had a conflicting experience. Ultimately, insights from the youths’ stories suggest that the future of AEUPIs and AUTPs is a promising one if universities take heed. To this end, all participants in the study critically detailed how Canadian universities can apply a wholistic conception of the 5 Rs to Indigenous high school to university transition programs.

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  • One article added relationships as a fifth R to represent the transformation of relationships in the academic setting.

    “One article added relationships as a fifth R to represent the transformation of relationships in the academic setting (Parent, 2014), while another reinterpreted the 4Rs to identify the four As of accommodation, acquiescence, affiliation, and acceptance (Hobenshield, 2016).”

    From What we learned from the Nokomisag/Grandmothers: Adapting the 4 Rs for storytelling in Indigenous health research (2025) · cites this paper as Parent, 2014

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Authors
Parent, A.
Affiliations
University of British Columbia (CA)
Corresponding author
Parent, Amy
Venue
University of British Columbia
Publisher
University of British Columbia
Published
2014
DOI
10.14288/1.0072168
OpenAlex
W2295185463
Cited by
8
References
0
Citations by year
2023: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 1
Type
dissertation
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by-nc-nd
Locations
  • cIRcle (University of British Columbia) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • Open Collections
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Health › Indigenous Health, Education, and Rights
  • Social Sciences › Education › Higher Education Research Studies
  • Social Sciences › Education › Indigenous and Place-Based Education
Keywords
Indigenous students, high school to university transition, Indigenous research methodologies, cultural interface, mentoring, sense of belonging, Indigenous student support, university access programs

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