As part of a commitment to deepen the braiding and weaving of Indigenous knowledge in teacher education, ten Alberta programs came together to examine how Indigenous ways of knowing, being, and doing were attended to within our programs. We discovered that there are three key characteristics that work to deepen the level of Indigenous knowledge in teacher education programs:
• the existence of a mandatory Indigenous education course;
• integration that goes beyond content;
• the presence of Indigenous faculty.
The research set out to determine how programs were actioning integration, what challenges they faced, and the successes they experienced. Representatives from each of the ten teacher education programs, including Indigenous faculty, participated in an online survey about their programs and engaged in collaborative data analysis to make meaning of the findings (Danyluk et al., 2023). The research utilized a case study methodology and a critical race theory theoretical perspective. The use of critical race theory (Ladson-Billings, 2005, Gillborn, 2006) was employed as it rejects the multi-cultural narrative that we are all settlers. As the original inhabitants of this land, Indigenous peoples do not fit into the multi-cultural narrative (St. Denis, 2011).
The study results pointed to three ways in which teacher education programs can deepen the braiding and weaving of Indigenous knowledge in programs.
1. A mandatory Indigenous education course, plus…
The existence of a mandatory Indigenous education course in a teacher education program allows the time and space required to begin the work of decolonization. Decolonization requires students to examine their own positionality (St. Denis 2011) and how they, in relation, are connected to all living things (Donald, 2012). However, while the existence of a mandatory course was significant, it was not enough to ensure deeper levels of integration. To ensure deeper levels of integration, Indigenous perspectives must also be present in all other courses within the program.
2. Integrationthroughcontentand…
While providing content on historical policies, residential schools, and Treaties are important, students require opportunities to engage in Indigenous pedagogies such as land-based learning, talking circles, and storytelling to deepen their understanding. Opportunities for teacher education students to apply their learning to the requirements of the profession, such as lesson plans, result in closer connections between theory and practice.
3. The presence of Indigenous faculty, but…
Indigenous faculty offer lived experiences and community connections that are key to deepening Indigenous perspectives. It is crucial that Indigenous faculty are part of the design team for courses which integrate Indigenous perspectives. However, the presence of a sole Indigenous voice can result in burnout
for Indigenous faculty who are continually called upon to offer their perspectives on a wide variety of equity issues (Mohamed & Beagan, 2019).
While the programs reported experiencing successes, including land-based learning activities and witnessing students share their learning in the classroom during practicum, there were challenges. The number one challenge identified by the programs was a lack of funding, with nine of the ten programs pointing to a reliance on short-term grant funding to support the braiding and weaving of Indigenous knowledge.
This year, the researchers are working with Alberta school districts to learn more about how Alberta teachers are incorporating Indigenous perspectives into their classrooms and how we can work together to combat anti-Indigenous racism. Note: This project received funding from the Social Services and Humanities Council (SSHRC).
References
Danyluk, P., Burns, A., Poitras Pratt, Y., Kendrick, A., Plante, M., Wessel, S., Crawford, K.L. Lemaire, E., Hill, J., Brights, R., Burleigh, D., Weir, C. D., Hill, S.L. & Boschman, L. (2023). Examining the braiding and weaving of Indigenous ways of knowing, being, and doing in Alberta Teacher Education. Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 69(3), 384-405. https://doi.org/10.11575/ajer.v69i3.76174
Donald, D. (2012). Forts, Colonial Frontier Logics, and Aboriginal-Canadian Relations: Imagining Decolonizing Educational Philosophies in Canadian Contexts. In Decolonizing Philosophies of Education. 91-111. Brill.
Gillborn. D. (2006) Critical Race Theory and Education: Racism and anti-racism in educational theory and praxis, Discourse. Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 27(1), 11-32, DOI:10.1080/01596300500510229
Ladson-Billings, G. (2005). The evolving role of critical race theory in educational scholarship. Race, Ethnicity and Education, 8(1). 115-119, DOI 10.1080/136133052000341024.
Mohamed, T. & Beagan, B.L. (2019). ‘Strange faces’ in the academy: Experiences of racialized and Indigenous faculty in Canadian universities. Race, Ethnicity and Education, 22(3), 338-354. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2018.1511532
St. Denis, V. (2011). Silencing Aboriginal Curricular Content and Perspectives Through Multiculturalism: ‘There Are Other Children Here. The Review of Education/Pedagogy/Cultural Studies, 33,(4), pp. 306–17, https://doi.org/10.1080/10714413.2011.597638.
P. Danyluk, A. Burns, Y. Poitras Pratt, A. Kendrick, S. Wessel, K.L. Crawford, E. Lemaire, J. Hill, R. Brights, D. Burleigh, C.D. Weir, S.L.Hill, and L. Boschman
The authors of this article are teacher educators from a variety of institutions in Alberta who are committed to working together to improve their programs and practice.
This article is featured in Canadian Teacher Magazine’s Winter 2024 issue.