275 MacLaren Street, Ottawa, ON K2P 0L9
Aboriginal Life Skills and Financial Literacy Curriculum and Education through the Newo Yotina Friendship Centre (NYFC)
Research Start-up Summary and Abstract:
NYFC is an incorporated, non-profit, broad-based, collaborative, community organization that assists Aboriginal people within the Regina community to empower themselves, pursue education, employment training and advocacy in a comfortable environment which allows them to heal, grow, and adjust to life in an urban setting. The NYFC has had experience in delivering financial literacy curriculum. According to NYFC, the participants showed tremendous growth in their understanding of various topics, such as savings, banking, credit and debt. However, during the delivery of this program, the NYFC identified many barriers that participants faced that interfered with attendance, consistency and the overall attainment and application of information, indicating the need for life skills curriculum to be linked to the financial literacy curriculum delivered. The NYFC also identified that many of the concepts in the curriculum are designed from a mainstream perspective. NYFC has stated the need to develop curriculum that incorporates an Aboriginal worldview and a culturally sensitive approach in order to eliminate barriers and to provide a greater opportunity for a holistic, multi-pronged, sustainable program for urban Aboriginal clientele. The potential significance of this project is to successfully deliver Aboriginal relevant life skills and financial literacy curriculum to the NYFC clientele and to determine overall best practices and challenges in the delivery of this curriculum so that the NYFC and other organizations may benefit.
Final Paper PDF: UAKN PRC Final Report_Aboriginal Life Skills and Financial Literacy Curriculum Development and Education-Schneider-Wenger_Spring 2014_
Research Brief: UAKN Research Brief_Aboriginal Life Skills and Financial Literacy Curriculum Development and Education_2015