USask alum reflects on his teaching career as he embraces retirement, and offers advice for future educators.

Jeff Pete received his education degree from USask in 1991, and went on to pursue a career with a focus on providing resources and care to Indigenous students. As he approaches retirement, Pete looks forward to the next challenge ahead of him and recalls some of the most powerful moments from his time teaching in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

During his time at USask, Pete recalls surrounding himself with friends and getting involved with campus events and rec sports. “I had a lot of fun, met lots of people,” Pete said. “It was a very good experience for me.”

He was encouraged by his father, who valued education very highly, and a high school English teacher who praised his writing skills. He followed in his older sister’s footsteps by deciding to pursue a degree in education.

Pete earned his degree through the Indian Teacher Education Program (ITEP), which is a program at USask designed for First Nations students who are interested in getting their Bachelor of Education degree. Pete feels that this smaller program was very supportive and offered a greater level of connection for students.

Pete said that he didn’t connect with his Indigenous culture very much growing up, and that USask and the ITEP program offered him new channels to do this. 

“Once I got into university and started taking Indigenous Studies classes, it really opened my eyes in terms of understanding the history of First Nations people in Canada.”

Despite his limited experience working with Indigenous students during his time as a student, Pete made working with First Nations youth a goal as he completed his studies. The ITEP program gave him the opportunity to make connections with First Nations students, and he knew he wanted to continue that work after graduation.

“When my university training was all done, I applied for jobs on reserves, both in Saskatchewan and Alberta, just basically to challenge myself to see if I could do this,” Pete said.

Pete spent the first 11 years of his career working on a reserve in Alberta, beginning in a grade six classroom before moving through various classroom and administration positions, including assistant principal and principal. He said that he was encouraged to try work on the administration side of education by a superintendent, whose support was very valuable to him. His time in Alberta was continually dedicated to fostering connections and bonds with the students and community.

Recalling his first year teaching, Pete said that he was told before the semester began that there were four young boys in his class who were known to have a lot of energy, as well as possibly some issues keeping up good behaviour in class. As a new teacher, Pete wasn’t sure what to expect, but he said that he and the boys bonded right from the beginning. The kids later told Pete that being in his class was the most fun they had ever had in school, and they attended school more that year than ever before because of that experience.

“We laughed and we joked and we did crazy things all the time,” Pete said. “But to me, that’s what they needed. They just needed to be kids.”

Pete said that he believes education is about more than just the curriculum: it’s about personal relationships and helping students to grow and thrive.

“Yes, the curriculum is important … [and] for some students, grades are important. But I think being a good person is way more important, and being able to laugh at each other and support each other when we need to.”

In 2002, Pete moved back to Saskatoon. The combined experiences of not having a strong background or connection with his culture when he was young and working on the reserve in Alberta continued to shape his career. He wanted to continue making positive connections with Indigenous students, and became interested in working in inner city schools. In this next stage of his career, student success continued to be particularly important to Pete, and watching or being able to help students achieve their goals was very meaningful for him. 

Another memory that was close to Pete’s heart came from one of the many sports programs he was involved in, a learn-to-skate hockey program. One of his students had never skated before, but by the end of the program had improved immensely, and could confidently skate forward, backward, and more. Pete said that after the student started learning, her excitement grew, and she would look forward to trying again every chance she got. Because of this experience, Pete said that “she was a different student.” She was proud of her accomplishments, and of the knowledge that she had achieved that much herself, and Pete described how that attitude translated into the classroom.

For Pete, Indigenous engagement in schools is important because there are so many Indigenous students who can benefit from it. He noted that as Canada’s Indigenous population continues to grow at such a high rate, more Indigenous peoples are moving from reserves or rural communities to larger urban areas, such as Saskatoon, and that transition can be very difficult to navigate, especially for students and young people.

“I think it’s our job to make sure that that transition for them is as smooth as possible. And we can only do that by building good relations with them. And that’s something that takes time but it’s not hard to do,” Pete said.

Those relationships can be vital for students and teachers to really understand each other and have the best experience. Pete discussed another memory, when he taught a boy who was from a community in Northern Saskatchewan but had moved in with some family friends in the city. The student hadn’t been at school for a few days, and when Pete pulled him aside to discuss this with him, he learned that some of the people in the house the student was staying in were treating him very badly. As a result, the student had left, and had spent the last few nights sleeping by the riverbank in his sleeping bag. 

Pete described how his focus immediately switched from academics to just trying to help the student out in other areas. With the help of Pete and the school’s administration, the student was able to retrieve his belongings from where he’d been staying, find new accommodations, and Pete said that a few days later the student was “back in school with a smile on his face.” 

Pete said that this experience taught him to be very conscious of the various backgrounds or situations that his students might be facing, and that the wellbeing of a student should be prioritized above academics. That said, Pete also recognized that school can be very important for a student’s wellbeing at times.

“We get these students for six hours a day, so in those six hours we want to make sure that we’re doing everything that we can to make them feel good about themselves so that they want to be at school.”

After 32 years of teaching, Pete views his retirement as a step toward the next chapter of his life, and looks forward to new challenges and opportunities that might await him. This might mean other forms of teaching, but Pete is open to the possibilities as they present themselves to him, and is not nervous or concerned about the change. 

“I think if we’ve looked after our own health and well-being our entire lives, then what we have to do is recognize that this is just another change that we’re going to make and there is lots of opportunity out there,” Pete said.

Pete values the opportunity he has had to be a role model for Indigenous youth, and hopes that “by being an Aboriginal teacher, it may spark an interest for students who may want to choose [teaching] as a profession.” He said that he loves his students and what he does, but he is ready for something different, and hopes to leave this chapter in a positive way. 

“I’d like to think that the students that I’ve worked with over the years, that I’ve left them in a good way, with the tools so that they can look out for themselves in a positive way moving forward.”

Pete’s advice for current students pursuing an education degree is to challenge yourself, get involved with the school you’re working at, and try lessons or classes that are outside of your comfort zone. He said that it is important to try many things in order to be a well-rounded teacher, and that “it just helps in the long run to show a more balanced portfolio of yourself.” He encourages students to take advantage of opportunities for personal development in their career, and to not be too hard on themselves.

“Yes, it does require a lot of time and effort, but it is a rewarding profession,” Pete said. “I think anybody who goes into it with an open mind will have a good long career that has some success, for sure.”