The South Slave Divisional Education Council was created in 1991 alongside five local District Education Authorities in each of the major communities of the South Slave Region. These five DEAs are responsible for setting Council goals and priorities, while the SSDEC is responsible for implementing their decisions within the schools. Both the SSDEC and the five community DEAs are granted power by the Government of the Northwest Territories through the Education Act.
In an effort to improve literacy outcomes in the region, the SSDEC began implementation of its Leadership for Literacy initiative in 2007. The initiative placed a Literacy Coach in each of the eight schools in the region, providing job-embedded professional development to teachers and training them on research-based skills and strategies to aid in student achievement. The initiative has also moved away from the summative evaluation of students in favour of more frequent formative evaluations so that "instruction can be tailored to the needs to individual students". Since its implementation, the initiative has seen literacy scores across the region rise significantly, from "less than 50 per cent" in 2005-2006 to 62 per cent in 2017-2018. The Canadian norm is 77 per cent.
Aboriginal languages
The SSDEC is involved with Aboriginal language instruction in each of its five communities. According to a report published by the Government of the Northwest Territories, the SSDEC employs 18 Aboriginal language instructors who supply over 700 students in the region with daily instruction. Students are instructed in Chipewyan, Cree, or South Slavey, depending on where they live. Typically, students from Hay River and K'atl'odeche First Nation are instructed in South Slavey, while students from Fort Resolution and Lutsel K'e are instructed in Chipewyan. Students in Fort Smith receive instruction in both Cree and Chipewyan. Approximately 90% of students in the South Slave have Indigenous heritage and the Council knows that it is important that students have books that represent their language, culture, communities, and people. Since 2005, the SSDEC has been developing resources for Aboriginal language classrooms. The Council has now published over 300 books, most of them dual-language stories in Chipewyan, Cree, or South Slavey alongside English. The stories are not meant to replace oral stories, but rather preserve stories and create opportunities for the community to become involved in revitalizing culture and language. Aboriginal language instructors began their involvement in publishing following a set of writing workshops in 2005, following which they wrote many Northern-themed and traditional stories. The publishing process has always been a community effort, involving locals to write, illustrate, translate, and design the books. The Council has also worked with established authors like Richard Van Camp and David Bouchard to publish books; and has worked with other school boards and organizations across the country to translate and publish their stories.
''Three Feathers: The Movie''
is a drama film that explores the power and grace of restorative justice and the cultural legacy that can empower future generations. The film was written and directed by Carla Ulrich and is based on the novel Three Feathers.] by Richard Van Camp]. The film, which is being produced by the Council, is scheduled to come out in summer 2018. The film stars David Burke as Flinch, Joel Evans as Bryce, and Dwight Moses as Rupert; along with Eileen and Henry Beaver as Elders Irene and Raymond. The cast also includes Tantoo Cardinal, Pat Burke, Crystal Benwell, Frankie Laviolette, Dante Kay-Grenier, and Trey Currie.
Children's storytelling contest
Beginning in 2016, the Council began holding an annual Children's Storytelling Contest. The contest encourages the Northwest Territories communities to submit stories with Northern themes that lend themselves to translation and illustration. Winners receive a cash prize and have their story published in the three Aboriginal languages of the region. The contest opens in March in celebration of Aboriginal Languages Month and closes at the end of June when the school year ends.
First Nations Storybook app
The Council has also released three First Nations Storybook apps which are available for iOS and Android devices. The apps display a bookshelf filled with the children's stories that the Council has published, and when a book is opened in the app an audio recording of an Elder reading the story begins playing. While popular with Aboriginal language teachers in the region, the app is also available to be downloaded for free through the iTunes store. Apps were released in 2014, 2016, and 2017.
"Shopping in Two Worlds" program
In March 2017, the Council rolled out a program called “Shopping in Two Worlds” in Fort Resolution, Fort Smith, K'atl'odeche First Nation, Hay River, and Lutselk'e grocery stores. Common grocery store item names were translated into the Aboriginal language of the community, and then the item name was printed on a label along with a QR code that directed to a voice recording of the word. The program has since spread across Canada, with The North West Company working with Elders, translators, and community members across the country to translate sets of words into approximately 30 different dialects to publish on grocery store labels in the communities the stores serve.
Dictionaries
In 2008, the Council published a South Slavey-to-English dictionary, developed in partnership with the K’atl’odeeche First Nation. In March 2012, the Council produced, in collaboration with a group of community leaders from Fort Resolution, a Chipewyan-to-English dictionary.South Slave Divisional Education Council#cite note-6| In 2013, the Council produced a second Chipewyan-to-English dictionary with the community of Lutsel K’e. The 400-page Lutsel K’e version includes an additional 1,200 words and images. As dialects vary from community to community, the two Chipewyan dictionaries reflect the language of their respective communities. All dictionaries come with a CD containing clickable words that voice proper pronunciation.
In 2009, the Council produced a music video called “Strong Like Two People.” The song was written by Cree hip hop artist Shawn Bernard and features students from Fort Smith, Hay River, and Fort Resolution schools. The song won the 2010 Canadian Aboriginal Music Award for “Best Rap/Hip Hop Music Video.”
"Scramble" Game
Paul Boucher, a Chipewyan teacher in Fort Smith, has created a Scrabble-like game called "Ɂëk’éch’a Helá" or "Scramble". The board is labelled in Chipewyan, e.g. "Ta Yati" for "Triple Word Score", and the tiles are labelled not with the letters of the English alphabet but with the grapheme sequences of Chipewyan. For example, there are tiles labelled "ddh" since that sequence represents a single sound in Chipewyan.
