Coyote is in the forest and loses his needle. Owl comes and asks coyote ‘what’s wrong’? Coyote tells Owl ‘I’m looking for my needle.’ Owl says to Coyote ‘I’ll help you find your needle’ and then soars up into the sky and circles the area looking for the needle. He comes back down and tells […]
Tag Archives | Personal Reflections
Workshop Breakout I Group 6 Community Members and Elders Personal and Institutional Reflections on Indigenizing the Academy
Personal & Institutional Reflections on Indigenizing the Academy Workshop Breakout I Breakout Group 6 (Community Members & Elders) Language an important part of education Language immersion suggested Build bridges between institutions and communications Communication bridging important Superficial indigenization Cannot indigenize a non-indigenous program by “slapping a name on it” Native way of teaching – patience […]
Aboriginal students who complete undergrads more likely to go onto higher degrees
The process of aboriginal education is improving but very slowly. Only recently, aboriginal people were limited to a grade 5 education. It is only this generation that sees aboriginal people at university. Unfortunately, there is only a 50% graduation rate for aboriginal students from the k-12 system. However, aboriginal students who complete their undergraduate degrees […]
It is very easy to underestimate the challenges involved — UFV Caucus Reflections
Staff (Caucus) observed that it was very easy to underestimate the challenges involved, and wondered how to make the curriculum more balanced for aboriginal students, and if there were a way to incorporate and promote understanding through staff training and development. It was suggested that ceremonial activities, like sweats, were important to indigenization, as they […]
Learn to think with your heart: Reflections on Indigenizing the Academy
Indigenizing the Academy workshops produced a lot of reflection around the best way forward for everyone, indigenous and non-indigenous alike. It was noted by Senior Administrators that Student retention was closely tied to support structures, including a culturally safe (decolonized) space, funding support, daycare support, community involvement, aboriginal advisors, elders in residence, and Indigenous faculty and programming. Elders […]
Elders, Aboriginal advisors and Culture: a “way of being”, not an event
Communities where there are no bands makes the community liaison job difficult. The students do not self-identify as First Nations. There is an advisory committee to build a better approach to the First Nation program and approaches but the systemic barriers need to be acknowledged before they can be changed. Changes have begun in the […]
Learning Does Not Need to Be Uncomfortable
Just because learning was uncomfortable for me does not mean that I need to make it uncomfortable for my students. I try very hard to create compassionate, genuine, reciprocal relationships with my students.