1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«The goal of this study was to better understand the moral experiences of Indigenous children within an Anishinaabeg community.» (p. 3)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
In this study, «[t]hirty-one students aged 6–13 years who attended the elementary school in the community were recruited through consecutive sampling (drawn from approximately 50 students in total at the school). Seven children were recruited from grade 1, three from grade 2, three from grade 3, four from grade 4, 11 from grades 5 and 6, and three from the Teen Class. Participants were recruited via home and classroom visits. All participation was voluntary and conducted with parental consent as well as child assent.» (p. 5)

Instruments :
Guide d’entretien semi-directif

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse de contenu

3. Résumé

Results of this study identified five themes, which «demonstrate [that] Indigenous children had rich moral understandings of their experiences and actively chose to act in particular ways in light of their moral understandings.» (p. 9) In relation to identity and relationships, «children in this community described living in their community as “good”. They did not refer to isolation, familial substance use, political tension, unemployment, and unsafe housing as the most significant aspects of living in the community but instead identified the strong family and community relationships as most important to them. This indicates a hierarchy of “bads” because while children considered drug use and family strife as “bad’, staying in the community was the primary “good” for children. Children as young as 7-years-old judged their families as good and important because their families loved them, kept them safe and were loved by them. Children expressed pride in their Anishinaabeg heritage and the rhythm of community life. Children of all ages reported elements of Anishinaabeg identity (e.g. going to the bush, drumming, attending pow-wows, traditional dancing, hunting, speaking Anishinaabeg, relating with family) as sacred, important, and morally “good”.» (p. 8-9)