This paper draws upon the findings of a federally funded research project that examined Indigenous student success, literacy achievement and overall well- being in classrooms. We explored ways to address literacy achievement gaps by implementing an Indigenous led Indigenized tutoring program for urban Indigenous learners. Research shows that literacy achievement is directly related to Indigenous student success, retention and well-being. The overall goal of the research explored what it means to be Indigenous within K-12 learning experiences; and to create ways of advancing the role of storywork in transforming literacy for Indigenous learners through 3 critical questions: (1) How might an Indigenous tutoring program better prepare Indigenous students for success; (2) How would an Indigenized guided readers/diagnostic tool increase overall achievement scores, and contribute to the well- being of Indigenous learners; (3) How can we develop wiser practices in preparing student teachers to better support Indigenous student success/well-being in their future classrooms.

Author: Sandra D. Styres

Published in: Ireland International Conference on Education (IICE-2024)

• Date of Conference: 2-4 April, 2024
• DOI: 10.20533/IICE.2024.0031
• ISBN: 978-1-913572-70-9
• Conference Location: Dún Laoghaire, Ireland