IN-PERSON Prague Research & Teaching Conference

Abstract

This presentation discusses findings of a research project funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada that studied an Indigenous teacher education model (wâhkôhtowin) in Saskatchewan, Canada. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (2015) found that Canada’s education system attempted to “kill the Indian in the child” in order to assimilate Indigenous peoples into society. Today, teacher preparation continues to be critiqued for reifying whiteness and colonial assumptions that perpetuate inequitable experiences for Indigenous peoples. To counteract this critique, the Indian Teacher Education Program at the University of Saskatchewan co-created with educational partners and Indigenous knowledge keepers the wâhkôhtowin model premised upon relationality, ceremony, language, and child-centredness. Teacher education experiences are designed to create safe spaces for Indigenous teacher candidates in school settings, support cultural learning and identity, and foster pedagogical growth. Our research employs qualitative mixed methods framed as “practice research” and we hold to a spirit of research as ceremony. This presentation focuses on lessons learned, including: privileging field experiences premised in Indigenous epistemologies; responding to changing needs across school systems; the impacts of diverse personal experiences and comfort with Indigeneity; the value of language, culture, land-based experiences and Elder engagement; the need to incorporate anti-racist education within cultural learning models; and, sensitivity around the placement of Indigenous students within religiously-based schools in Canada. Findings have the potential to mitigate intergenerational effects of colonial policies; increase educational and employment outcomes for Indigenous peoples; provide direction for successful partnerships, and; offer strategies for decolonizing teacher education.