Panel

Due to colonization, post-secondary education programs delivered in Canada largely reflect a Euro-Western learning paradigm, marginalizing Indigenous ways of knowing, being, and doing. A lack of systemic support and meaningful relationships among Indigenous and non-Indigenous community members reinforces a dominant Euro-Western paradigm, depriving Indigenous and non-Indigenous students of diverse rich learning experiences while missing a prime opportunity to foster Reconciliation and to advance the CICan Indigenous Education Protocol.

To address this problem, we will share a 2024 framework for systemic change (More Than a New Course: A Framework for Embedding Outdoor and Land-based Pedagogies in Post-Secondary ECE Programs), which offers a model which can be applied to other programs and departments across the post-secondary system beyond early childhood education. The working group for the framework (from CICan, Humber Polytechnic, Vancouver Island University, Lawson Foundation, Waltons Trust) worked with the principle of ethical engagement, facilitated by a non-Indigenous consultant and guided by Noella Wells, Elder, Piikani Nation, Blackfoot Confederacy. Our presentation will include pre-recorded video clips from Indigenous working group members who cannot present in person.

Our vision for post-secondary systemic change embeds Indigenous perspectives in post-secondary education towards Reconciliation and the wholistic development of all learners. We will highlight governance and leadership empowerment in our framework, the related mechanisms of systemic change from decolonization to Indigenization, and the development of reciprocal relationships with local Indigenous Peoples. We will discuss the human resources, financial resources, and the time required to achieve lasting change. Specifically, we will discuss core issues of senior leadership support and partners across the post-secondary institution and broader community; hiring Indigenous faculty and recognizing equivalent qualifications; supporting professional learning among faculty; braiding worldviews into curricula; delivering courses on the Land; and building reciprocal relationships among Indigenous and non-Indigenous administrators, faculty, students, industry, Nations, and community members.

This session touches on two more symposium streams: Approaches to Addressing the Indigenous Teacher and Knowledge Resources Shortages in PSE Programming and Indigenous Learner Success.