Overview
"Decolonization is the process of undoing colonizing practices. Within the educational context, this means confronting and challenging the colonizing practices that have influenced education in the past, and which are still present today. In the past, schools have been used for colonial purposes of forced assimilation. The TRC reports remind us that residential schools were specifically designed to colonize the mind, the heart, and the spirit. Nowadays, colonialism is more subtle, and is often perpetuated through curriculum, power relations, and institutional structures. Perhaps the most essential part of decolonization is continual reflection. Schools should be willing to reflect on curriculum, power dynamics, their own structuring, and any action undertaken on behalf of their students." From University of Victoria Centre for Youth & Society
Online Resources & Grey Literature
- "Walk With Us": Report of the Simon Fraser University Aboriginal Reconciliation CouncilThis Report is meant to guide SFU's journey toward reconciliation. It features general and specific calls to action for Indigenizing post-secondary education at SFU, including the allocation of funds to support Indigenous initiatives.
- 100 Ways to DecolonizeA resource for ideas on how to include decolonization in the classroom and how to make Indigenous students feel accepted.
- Canadian Council on Learning's "State of Aboriginal Learning in Canada: A Holistic Approach to Measuring Success"(2009). Based on the 2007 report, this one creates a "comprehensive framework for measuring Aboriginal learning and marks an innovative approach to measuring Aboriginal learning in Canada."
- Canadian Council on Learning's report on "Redefining How Success is Measured"(2007). "Outlines the key characteristics of holistic lifelong learning for First Nations, Inuit and Métis as identified in the literature; identifies data gaps and challenges that limit our understanding of Aboriginal learning; presents three draft Holistic Lifelong Learning Models for First Nations, Inuit and Métis; and proposes how each model can be used to develop a national, holistic framework for measuring lifelong learning."
- Orange Shirt Day"The annual Orange Shirt Day on September 30th opens the door to global conversation on all aspects of Residential Schools. It is an opportunity to create meaningful discussion about the effects of Residential Schools and the legacy they have left behind."
- What Does an Indigenous University Look Like?TEDx talk by Niigaanwewidam (James) Sinclair of UManitoba.
- Books to Build On: Indigenous Literatures for LearningAn interactive web resource that is designed to assist educators with weaving Indigenous ways of knowing, being, and doing into their teaching and learning, starting with story.
Selected Books
Decolonizing Education: Nourishing the Learning Spirit by Call Number: EC B38 D43 2013ISBN: 189583077XPublication Date: 2013Also available online. http://resolve.library.ubc.ca/cgi-bin/catsearch?bid=8966821
Colonized Classrooms: Racism, Trauma and Resistance in Post-secondary Education by Call Number: EC C68 C65 2014ISBN: 1552666530Publication Date: 2014
Culture Counts: Changing Power Relations in Education by Call Number: DME B57 C85 2003ISBN: 1842773364Publication Date: 2003
"Chapter 10: Learning from Indigenous Knowledge in Education" In Visions of the Heart by ISBN: 9780199014774Publication Date: 2016-06-04
Professional Development Opportunities at UBC
- Reconciliation Through Indigenous Education6-week course designed to engage participants with Indigenous knowledge, worldviews and approaches to learning. Offered once a year.
Professional Development Opportunities Outside UBC
- Wilfred Laurier University Indigegogy programOffers certificates and workshops to promote wholistic education and training that is grounded in culture, traditions, anti-colonialism, decolonizing and Indigenizing knowledges.
- Pulling Together: A Guide for Front-Line Staff, Student Services, and AdvisorsOnline course to help educators confront their biases and work toward personal decolonization and how to implement this in the classroom.