BCIFV home > Newsletter > 1994 Archives > Summer 1994 articles

Native Education Centre

The Family and Community Counselling Program (FCCP) is the only course of study in Canada that offers First Nations students a certificate program in family violence issues. The FCCP is one of several academic and skills training programs being offered through the Native Education Centre, located on the east side of Vancouver.

The Family & Community Counselling Program was designed to assist Native adults to gain personal and family counselling skills leading to paraprofessional employment as counsellors or community workers in bands, tribal councils, Native and mainstream organizations. It is accredited through Langara College and runs for ten and one half months with two six-week placements earning 30 credits. The courses in which the credits are earned will work toward a coordinated diploma at Langara, if the student so chooses.

The program offers the following courses: Sociology of Family Violence, Developmental Psychology/ Human Development, English Writing and Communications I & II, Basic Counselling Skills, Legal and Policy Issues, Models of Intervention, Group Theory and Practice, Native Group Process and Community Development.

This program is challenging both on the academic and personal level. It requires determination and commitment on the part of the students. The focus of the program is on wife assault, with an emphasis on addressing this issue within, but not limited to, First Nations communities. Students are taught the skills to critically analyze the issues surrounding violence, the theories of male violence, the societal factors which have perpetuated and maintained violence against women, and theories of oppression. Equally important, the history of First Nations is examined at length.

Although the focus of this program is on wife assault and safety and protection issues in general, the program must integrate a relevant First Nations perspective.

It is vital that the student gain an understanding of how the process of assimilation and acculturation has impacted Native communities. This assists in the development of Native community models of intervention to address violence against women. For example, the Native community has now established its own transition home, which is specific and culturally appropriate to the needs of the community.

Moreover, it is important to understand how the dominant society has thwarted the development of First Nations communities. To do so, the students need to understand how Native social and political structures were broken down and re-modeled according to Euro-Canadian hierarchical systems. The importance of this is for them to understand their own political and organizational structures. This allows students to understand their own community and the historical factors which created the present conditions and barriers. For instance, due to the social, political and economic conditions of First Nations communities within the dominant society, First Nations organizations have to fight a little harder to receive the funds needed for community and program development.

The ideological differences which exist between agencies dedicated to ending violence against women are also examined in this program. There appears to be a rift between grassroots organizations and those who tout professionalism. There are practical, political and economic reasons surrounding this area of conflict. The students examine these issues so as to be able to understand the political climate that exists within the various agencies serving women within the community. Thus, an attempt is made to assist students to become socially conscious.

One of the most rewarding results of this kind of program is the students' personal growth, allowing them to understand themselves and their communities. Due to the nature and content of this program students are forced to examine painful issues, which at times results in the acknowledgment of the magnitude of losses they have suffered as a race. To counter the reality of these losses, students today are actively engaged in reclaiming their traditional values, practices and sense of self.

Maureen Hamilton, Program Coordinator