Nunavik visits Institute of Learning

By Sabine Christiansen

Thursday through Friday in week 16, and Monday through Wednesday in week 17, Institute of Learning at Ilisimatusarfik received a visit from 10 teacher students and two leaders from Nunavik in Canada. The students live and teach in settlements spread across Nunavik. They are enrolled at the University of Québec, where they are currently undertaking a master's degree.

The goal of the visit was, among other things, to observe the lectures at the teacher program in Greenland - and to visit schools in Nuuk with the purpose of fostering connections with the Greenlandic teacher program and the school system with the aim of further cooperation.

Unfortunately, the guests arrived a day late due to bad weather conditions, so the Canadian students missed the first day of their week-long program. However, they did get the chance to visit some of the different courses at the teacher program, including improvised participation in the course “cooking” - initiated by one of our students with the backing of the teacher of the course.

Besides visiting various lectures, a mutual lunch at Ilimmarfik was also held - which consisted of Greenlandic delicacies. Colleagues, who were not directly involved in the visit, also had the opportunity to greet the guests and have an informal chat.

On Saturday, students in their 3rd year English class invited the Canadian guests to a lunch at Ilinniarfissuaq, and then proceeded with a guided tour of Nuuk.

Monday through Wednesday consisted of visits to the various schools in Nuuk.

The Canadian students had looked forward to visiting the schools and commented that the visits were very insightful.

The visit from Nunavik concluded with a presentation from the Canadian students about their own educational programs, home-settlements, and culture in general.

Everyone involved agreed that Nunavik and Greenland share a lot of commonalities of both the good and bad.

A special delightful surprise for both our students, colleagues and guests was the realization related to the similarities between the two languages, and how much everyone seemingly understood each other.

The guests from Canada showed a remarkable openness and interest in the things they were shown and presented, and they helped spread a good atmosphere with their enthusiasm.

Our Institute for Learning hope that the visit helped facilitate further contact with the teacher program in Québec - with further opportunities for revisits, cooperation, and internships.