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Multiple Learning Tracks

For most Canadians, understanding the practice of traditional Aboriginal cultures is particularly difficult because we have been taught to view narrow and inaccurate stereotypes of Aboriginal cultures. The images of Aboriginal cultures presented in schools, popular culture, history books, and Hollywood films are totem poles, stone carvings, pow-wows dancing, moccasins and feather headdresses. These images tend to present Aboriginal peoples as a vanishing culture, or as primitive in development. Viewed in this way, culture is no more than a collection of objects and rituals, observed in isolation from their vitality and meaning within a particular cultural context.

If an individual accepts a narrow and limited view of Aboriginal cultures, or the idea that the only 'real' Aboriginal people existed in another time and space, we misunderstand the true essence, vitality, and longevity of Aboriginal cultures.

The core foundations, values, and belief systems of Aboriginal cultures have dynamically adapted to the modern era. This series will provide you with the tools for understanding Aboriginal culture and your Aboriginal employees, increasing recruitment and retention as well as increasing job satisfaction. This course consists of five modules: Culture, History, Cross Cultural Communication, Recruitment and Hiring, Management and Retention. The focus of the course is not on history, but on the real-life issues that face Aboriginal Canadians and their employers today.

This course is designed to help you as an employer or supervisor of Aboriginal employees understand the current social, economic, and political situation of Aboriginal peoples and provide you with the tools to increase Aboriginal employment and retention. The first two modules provide information regarding some of the historical events and cultural influences that affect First Nations youth as they head out into the work world where you will be encountering them. The third module discusses the way this history and culture influences communication. The fourth and fifth modules will show you how this knowledge will provide you with an advantage in the interview room or on the shop floor because you will become a better recruiter or boss through your increased understanding of the cross cultural differences.

This eLearning course can be taken at any time and modules taken in any order. The course participant simply needs to choose the module that seems most relevant to their needs. The content is fresh and designed with the Human Resources employer in mind.

This combination of expertise and modern delivery methods gives the course a speed and relevancy that may not be found in textbooks, outdated videos, and non-cultural specific courses.

eLearning is a flexible, cost-effective method of learning that provides users with the information they need to succeed when and where they need it. Learners will progress through the modules at their own pace, which enhances the learning process by allowing the learner to control when and where they access the information. Learners will be able to access this information in the privacy of their own home, at their workplace, in conjunction with other users, or on their own.

eLearning offers a multimedia format that uses streaming video and audio, and a combination of photos, graphics and texts to illustrate key concepts and engage the participant. The Aboriginal Awareness program will also include a downloadable booklet as a permanent resource that users will be able to refer to whenever they might need to refresh their memory about the key concepts of the program.

Culture

Many things influence and shape the way that culture is expressed including physical environments, language, enculturation, and cross-cultural adaptation. While culture is always fluid and dynamic, the culture of a people is the intergenerational accumulation and expression of knowledge, beliefs, practices, customs, norms, and behaviour patterns. There are four predominant and interrelated means for the transmission of culture: education, language, group modeling & the family, and place.

History

In Canada, Aboriginal peoples comprise approximately 3% of the total population. Of these, 65% of Aboriginal peoples are Indian, 30% are Metis, and 5% are Inuit. In 2001, the median age of Canada's Aboriginal population was 24.7 and is 13 years younger than that of the non-Aboriginal population, as a result of the higher birth rate among Aboriginal peoples.

Cross Cultural Communication

Our identities are rooted in our cultural experiences. Understanding another culture can be difficult because it requires us to appreciate, without having lived the same experiences, another people's way of comprehending the world. We have to set aside assumptions, beliefs, and cultural ethnocentricity in order to try and see the world as others see it.

Recruitment & Hiring

Increasing the number of Aboriginal employees in your organization will likely involve active recruitment of Aboriginal youth, encouraging them to apply for positions within your organization. This kind of targeted recruitment provides benefits for your organization as well.

Management & Retention

Understanding Aboriginal values will create a comfortable workplace for your Aboriginal employees, increasing job satisfaction and retention. The following values are generally universal ethics and principles which are of course subject to variation depending on the individual or the local population. The discussion is designed to provide those who recruit, train, and supervise Aboriginal employees tools to decipher workplace behaviour that is different from that of mainstream Canadian culture.

Multiple Learning Tracks

The content of this course is designed for Multiple Learning Tracks which cater to each learners needs. Learners will select which job category they best fit into: Upper Management, Human Resources Manager, Human Resources Specialist, Supervisor or Manager, or Employee. After selecting a learning track, the learner will be presented with material relevant to his or her job. Multiple Learning Tracks allows learners to only access the information that they need in order to maximize their expertise in a minimum of time.

Enroll Today!

Enrollment is fast free and easy with USAY"s new registration process. Simply log into the web link. Learners will then select which category they best fit in to and will be presented with material relevant to their job description. Only learn what you need to, your time is valuable.

• Upper Management-CEO, ED, CFO, President
• Human Resources Manager or Department Head
• Human Resources Interviewers, Generalists, Recruiters
• Front-line Managers & Supervisors
• Employees