The Management Committee for the Needs
Assessment project were Marjorie Gould, Director of Mi'kmaw Kina'matnewey,
John Jerome Paul, Director for Programs for MK, Marian Paul, Director of
Education for Eskasoni School Board, and Mary Rose Julian, Coordinator
for the Centre of Excellence. The committee set out the criteria
for the study.
The project started February 3rd, 1999
and ended March 31st, 1999. Results were tabulated from April 1st
to May 17th, 1999.
The questionnaire (Appendix 1) was developed and approved by the Director of Mi'kmaw Kina'matnewey, the Programs Coordinator for MK, the Director of Education for the Eskasoni School Board, and the Coordinator for the Centre of Excellence.
Direction was given to interview all the directors in each of the First Nation communities. For this reason, a separate questionnaire (Appendix 2) was developed to find out what was presently available for teaching the Mi'kmaw language in each First Nation community, as well as to find out what initiatives have been pursued to effect such training.
The third questionnaire (Appendix
3) was intended for superintendents of each school district in the
study area. Ideally, the school districts in Nova Scotia would have
been visited by the coordinator if there was more time. The questionnaires
were nevertheless filled out by each district giving us a good idea of
what was available in the provincial schools. For more information
refer to the section on "Provincial School Districts."
The surveyors were selected by their respective Directors of Education or their Band Managers. The First Nation communities selected the following surveyors:
Acadia First Nation and Bear River
Donna Amirault
Annapolis First Nation and Horton
Valerie Paradise
Afton
Mary Catherine Lafford
Chapel Island
Lynn Johnson
Conne River
Darlene Joe
Eskasoni
Andrew Lafford
Jacqueline Basque
Vanessa Toney
Indian Brook
Leslie Googoo
Curtis Michael
Membertou
Laura Marshall
Millbrook
Theresa Wilmot
Pictou Landing
Fran Nicholas Googoo
Wagmatcook
John James Gould
Waycobah
Cynthia Sark
Surveyors from the Mainland include front row from left to right: Leslie Googoo (Shubenacadie), Mary Catherine Lafford (Afton), Donna Amirault (Acadia). Back row: Curtis Michael (Shubenacadie), Theresa Wilmot (Millbrook), and Fran Nicholas (Pictou Landing).
Most of the surveyors were experienced
in carrying out surveys. In the communities where Mi'kmaw was spoken,
the surveyors had to be fluent. In communities where there was very
little or no Mi'kmaw spoken there, fluency or knowledge of Mi'kmaw was
desirable but not necessary.
The Director for Mi'kmaw Kin'amatnewey notified all chiefs in writing in all First Nation communities that the needs assessment was to take place. The Director also notified all the superintendents of school boards in Nova Scotia that they could expect their schools to be visited and/or interviewed regarding Mi'kmaw language programs in their districts.
In addition a notice was sent to all
First Nation band offices informing the band members that a needs assessment
was to be carried out and that the head of household could expect to be
interviewed. Bands were also asked to post the notice in their local
community channels or newsletters wherever available. Bands displayed
notices at the Band offices.
Middle of winter is not a good time to do a house-to-house survey. There was great difficulty for some surveyors in getting around during the first three weeks in March, especially in the Annapolis Valley and Acadia areas. There was a lot of snow in these areas. In fact, just a week before March break, Bear River school was closed for three consecutive days. Surveyors also mentioned that it was hard to get to the homes when so many driveways were not plowed.
Six weeks to do a major study is a serious restraint. Extending the deadline was a help, but analyzing and compiling data required more time.
The fifteen surveyors had three weeks
to complete their questionnaires. The number of households surveyed
varied from 75% to 97%. For more details refer to the final analysis
for the number of households surveyed in each community.
When you have fifteen individuals doing a survey using one instrument, you have fifteen different perspectives in interpreting the questions and the answers. Plus, if people fill out questionnaires themselves, the variables increase.
When compiling the data, there were inconsistencies in the way the tallies were carried out by each of the surveyors. In order to narrow down these inconsistencies, the tallies had to be redone. This presented another problem, the re-tallying lengthened the timing of the project. But in the long run, it improved the accuracy of the results.
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