Symposium 2017

What does it mean to indigenize teaching and learning in post-secondary? How do I know if I’m doing it well? Why is indigenization suddenly an imperative?

For several years I have worked as a consultant and an adjunct professor supporting post-secondary instructors as they explore these questions. I often find there is a lack of background needed for understanding why indigenization is a critical social and political necessity in education. There is also a need for sharing ideas and anxieties concerning the process of indigenizing teaching and learning in the post-secondary classroom. Resistance to indigenization, as well as generalizations, is also a reality that persists.

This workshop operates on two levels, giving participants an experience of indigenized learning while imparting information. Instructors often misunderstand the issue, trying to approach it from a perspective of multiculturalism. From this lens, the purpose and importance of indigenizing teaching and learning is missed. The goal is to shift our point of view to more deeply grasp that aboriginal issues are actually everyone’s issues. We are all treaty people and this reality transcends knowing about and respecting an ‘other’ culture.

I will role model how an instructor can share their expertise with students by revising the one-way format of a lecture into a responsive conversation circle, where all voices are heard and acknowledged. Thus, the protocol of the longhouse will be animated – respect, reverence, relationship, and reciprocity. This workshop is not only about indigenizing education but an experience of indigenized teaching and learning itself.