Early Years Professional Development Centre

Alan Pence, Ph.D.Professor, School of Youth and Child Care, University of VictoriaUNESCO Chair for Early Childhood Education, Care and Development, University of Victoria Dr Pence founded the First Nations Partnership Programs (FNPP) in 1989/90 while working in partnership with the Meadow Lake Tribal Council (MLTC), Saskatchewan. That collaboration resulted in the development of a 'generative approach' to Indigenous education that ensured local voices were incorporated into the educational program. The pilot programs with the MLTC were externally evaluated, with the lead evaluator noting the importance of broader community development impacts achieved through the program (Jette, 1993). The FNPP entered into partnership arrangements with a total of ten Tribal Organizations over an 18 year period (1989-2007). Dr. Pence was joined by Dr. Jessica Ball in 1994, and when Dr. Pence became engaged with tertiary education in Africa in 1999/2000 (see www.ecdvu.org), Dr. Ball continued as FNPP Director through 2007.Jessica Ball, M.P.H., Ph.D.Professor, School of Youth and Child Care, University of VictoriaJessica brings to this work over a dozen years of working internationally and cross-culturally in innovative projects that incorporate indigenous knowledge and involve community members as full partners in designing, delivering, and evaluating culturally responsive programs of training and human service delivery. Jessica led the program evaluation research project. Jessica led a study evaluating the first 7 partnership programs (1998-2000) and a follow-up study of community capacity building (2003-2004).