Closing the Gap' at the Peril of Widening the Void: Implications of the Ontario Ministry of Education's Policy for Aboriginal Education (Report‪)‬

There is a crisis relevant to the publicly funded education of Aboriginal students in Ontario. This article, which presents the details of the crisis, analyzes recent policy statements released by the Ontario Ministry of Education designed to address that crisis. By defining the nature of this critical juncture, presenting how these policies may be "widening the void" rather than "closing the gap," and offering opportunities to respond by improving the capabilities of teachers to enact those policies in their classrooms, the authors appeal to school boards, faculty associations, as well as Deans of Education, to act decisively to support Aboriginal self-determination. Key words: Aboriginal student achievement, Aboriginal languages and student identity, teacher education