







































Emerging Perspectives 
ep.journalhosting.ucalgary.ca 
 
 

Review of the book Aboriginal Student Engagement and Achievement: 
Educational Practices and Cultural Sustainability 

 

by Lorenzo Cherubini 
Vancouver, British Columbia/Canada: UBC Press, 2014, 200 pages 

ISBN: 978-0-7748—2656-3 (paperback) 

Reviewed by 

Gabrielle Lindstrom 

University of Calgary 

 

Lindstrom, G. (2017). [Review of the book Aboriginal student engagement and 

achievement: Educational practices and cultural sustainability, by L. Cherubini]. 

Emerging Perspectives, 1, (1), 31-33. 

 

“The ASP is successful because students believe that it can sustain their cultural identity and 

foster their abilities as learners” (Cherubini, p. 104). 

Introduction 

In his book, Lorenzo Cherubini, a professor in education from Brock University, presents 

the culmination of a comprehensive and holistic research study that evaluates an Aboriginal 

Student Program (ASP) implemented at a secondary school in Ontario in order to address high 

dropout rates amongst Aboriginal students attending grades 9-12. Importantly, the book not only 

tells a story of Aboriginal students in public education systems but also situates the narrative 

within a broader socio-historical context that serves to provide the reader with significant insights 

into how the education system in Canada has failed Aboriginal youth. Cherubini’s exploration of 

the ASP offers educators, administrators, parents, policymakers and other stakeholders an 

alternate vision of Aboriginal student engagement that is grounded in traditional Aboriginal 

cultural practices and integrated with mainstream academic supports, thus fostering positive 

cultural identity and nurturing the academic success of Aboriginal students. 

In this review, I will provide an overview of the contextual background and organization 

of the book, highlight key points within each chapter, and offer an evaluative and critical 

commentary on its overall impact. 

Background of the Study 

Using an education policy document put forth by the Ontario Ministry of Education 

(2007) as the impetus for the undertaking this study, Cherubini establishes that the ASP was 

implemented because of high Aboriginal student dropout rates resulting from a general lack of 

cultural supports and culturally-appropriate learning materials. The ASP is mandated to provide 

peer leadership opportunities and culturally relevant supports to instil positive attachment to 

Aboriginal identity and awareness in Aboriginal students.  

 



Lindstrom / Emerging Perspectives (2017) 31-33  32 

Organization of the Book 

The book consists of five chapters that are divided into two parts. Part one offers an 

introduction and background of the study coupled with the author’s methodological approach to 

the research and accompanying methods. Cherubini employed a mixed-methods, case study, or 

‘case-story,’ approach, and a qualitative, social constructivist approach to data analysis that was 

translated into a sequential narrative. Qualitative and quantitative data were supplemented with 

document analyses of student attendance records and progress reports. Part two, encompassing 

chapters three to five, provides an overview of the qualitative data from the perspectives of 

students, teachers, school administrators, Aboriginal parents and community members, as well as 

quantitative findings and recommendations. Specifically, chapter three findings highlight the 

importance of relationship-building and implementing cultural practices to foster student 

identities, and address power imbalances and epistemic conflicts within the context of 

contemporary educational practices. Chapter four provides a snapshot of the findings gleaned 

from the quantitative survey data and document analysis geared specifically to school 

administrators, and program and curriculum developers. In chapter five, the concluding chapter, 

Cherubini offers a holistic vision of Aboriginal student engagement using the aspects of the 

Medicine Wheel as the framework for realizing this vision, and argues that educational relevance 

means creating opportunities for Aboriginal students to connect to their culture to create a 

“positive self-image that speaks to their everyday realities” (p. 119). 

Critical Evaluation 

The aim of the Cherubini’s book was to develop a holistic framework for evaluating an 

Aboriginal student support program in a high school that has a large population of Aboriginal 

students, and it successfully achieved this goal. This undertaking was especially challenging in 

that Cherubini approached the project from an Aboriginal perspective and incorporated 

Aboriginal research methods; a difficult task for one who is not Aboriginal.  

The faculty survey was most telling of how teacher education programs and entrance 

benchmarks are reflective of an overall Eurocentric worldview endemic to Canadian society. 

Moreover, Cherubini highlights how teacher education programs are effective in replicating this 

worldview and smothering the perspectives of Aboriginal students. The Eurocentric approach of 

teacher education programs points to a general need for the overhaul of teacher education 

programs in universities in order to provide pre-service teachers with opportunities to foster 

reflexive practice, confront Eurocentrism and develop a culturally-inclusive approach to teaching. 

Additionally, Cherubini provides alarming evidence that professional development (PD) aimed at 

increasing awareness of the learning needs of Aboriginal students goes largely unheeded and has 

little impact on teachers’ evaluation or teaching strategies regardless of teaching experience or 

number of PD opportunities offered by school districts. 

Although Cherubini provides a comprehensive analysis of his data and synthesizes this 

into useful recommendations for supporting Aboriginal students in high school in the context of 

accommodating their learning styles, he does not identify or make reference to what these 

learning styles are or how they might differ from mainstream students. This was an aspect of the 

book that created a cognitive separation between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students, which 

relationship-building and cultural supports seemed inadequate to bridge. Reports similar to 

Cherubini’s, such as the Canadian Council on Learning (2007), also emphasize how education 

systems must take into account the lived realities of Aboriginal students but further considers 

Aboriginal learning in a more tangible and focused way than Cherubini is able to offer.   



Lindstrom / Emerging Perspectives (2017) 31-33  33 

Conclusion 

 As an Aboriginal person who has both experienced mainstream schooling within a high 

school context and now instructs pre-service teachers, certain aspects of Cherubini’s overall 

narrative validate these experiences but also provide significant insight into the future challenges 

we need to overcome in order to successfully engage Aboriginal students and increase school 

completion rates. Cherubini’s book offers a significant contribution to the landscape of 

Aboriginal education, opportunities to make further advances in this field, and expands on 

specific areas related to learning in order to provide increased clarity into the nature of how 

Aboriginal students learn most effectively.  

References 

Canadian Council on Learning. (2007). Redefining how success is defined in First Nations, Metis 

and Inuit learning. Ottawa: Communications, Canadian Council on Learning. 

Cherubini, L. (2014). Aboriginal student engagement and achievement: Educational practices 

and cultural sustainability. Vancouver: UBC Press. 

Ontario Federation of Indian Friendship Centres. (2007). Ontario First Nations, Metis and Inuit 

policy framework. Toronto: Aboriginal Education Office. 


