ABSTRACT
Aboriginal people in Canada, like those in Australia and elsewhere around the globe, struggle to overcome the legacy of white colonialism. Education has emerged as a key ingredient in their visions for a future as self-determined peoples. This chapter deals with a community outreach program of social work education offered by the McGill University School of Social Work for Inuit Students in Nunavik, which is the vast arctic region of the province of Quebec. It describes the northern practice setting and the distinctive needs of Inuit students and their communities to highlight some of particular challenges that confront us as mainstream educators. The chapter develops a reflective critique of the tradition itself by interrogating the potential of contemporary discourses of critical pedagogy to create and sustain a vision for transformative social work education. The challenges posed for critical social work educators in the postcolonial context of Inuit social work practice and education are formidable.
