Community-Based Access to Apprenticeship: An Indigenous Work-Integrated Learning Model

Fresh approaches to trades training are essential for decolonizing educational access and success for Indigenous people. Holistic approaches to supporting student success are needed for the unique learning needs and contexts of Indigenous learners. Community-based training presents opportunities for this type of innovation. Using a Canadian case study and an Indigenous storytelling approach of "witnessing," this paper introduces an Indigenous work-integrated learning conceptual model to support apprentice access and success through a community-based program. This student-centered approach ensures the apprentice is grounded in culture and Indigenous ways of knowing, doing, and being. Key features are described in a medicine wheel, which includes community, training providers, funders, and industry, and has the apprentice at the core.