10. Innovation in indigenous education

Today, as I begin this last blog, I am reflecting on the change it has brought about in me. At first, the idea of a publicly published blog terrified me. I wasn't sure what voice to adopt or how academic VS personal it should be. I struggled to identify topics I wanted to share. Over time, I made some progress on these fronts, uncovering new avenues of research, which linked to yet other areas of interest. Now that this course is almost done, I am struggling to choose which one of many topics I still want to explore! This has opened an interesting door for me, one that I have embraced and that I wish I had more time to devote to, currently. 

So, here we are, the last post (for now). I've decided to spotlight a few Canadian organizations who are innovating in education: they are bringing new knowledge to Canadian students and taking action to address the calls-to-action made by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2015. The first is the University of Prince Edward Island, the second is Indspire, a Canadian organization that invests money to help educate First Nations, Inuit and Métis for the long term benefit of these individuals, their families, their communities, and Canada.

UPEI has been working over the last few years on how it can further its work on the TRC's calls-to-action. The collaboration between many individuals has resulted in some innovative developments. UPEI recently announced that a new faculty has joined the institution, that of the newly formed Faculty of Indigenous Knowledge, Education, Research, and Applied Science (Doria-Brown, 2022). The faculty is small, but is the first of its kind in Canada. They are not a department under anybody else, they sit at the dean's table with all the other deans. OK, so UPEI is breaking new ground here, this is really positive news, but they are also innovating in another way. Beginning this fall (2022), they are requiring that all students at UPEI take an Indigenous Teachings Course. For something like this to happen, across all Faculties, you know loads of discussion went on behind the scenes at many levels of the university's administration. They didn't stop there, they took action and built the course, built the requirement into every student's educational pathway. In so doing, they are making a solid commitment to educating, not just Canadians, but also all of their international students, about the history, cultures and current issues relating to Indigenous Peoples.

The second very interesting organization making strides is Indspire, and their program, Teach for Tomorrow. Indspire seeks donations and grants to help indigenous students succeed. From their website (Indspire.ca), here is their mission statement:

Indspire is a national Indigenous registered charity that invests in the education of First Nations, Inuit and Métis people for the long term benefit of these individuals, their families and communities, and Canada.

Our vision is to enrich Canada through Indigenous education and by inspiring achievement. In partnership with Indigenous, private and public sector stakeholders, Indspire educates, connects and invests in First Nations, Inuit and Métis people so they will achieve their highest potential.

One of the programs they have successfully gotten off the ground in 2019 is called Teach for Tomorrow. Through partnering with the University of Winnipeg Faculty of Education and Winnipeg School District, they have supported 27 new aboriginal teachers-in-training. Indspire is passionate about their mandate, has had innovative ideas about how to achieve their goals and have had the staying power to organize discussions with all kinds of government stakeholders which resulted in positive change for the future. Because of its success in Winnipeg, Indspire is now looking to expand to other areas across Canada. 

I'm looking forward to following the success of Indspire as it grows, and of other initiatives across the nation, that seek to make change and support the learning of Aboriginal students and of non-Indigenous students ABOUT Aboriginal history, issues. 

Doria-Brown, J. (2022). UPEI makes Indigenous Studies course mandatory in order to graduate. CBCnews. Retrieved August 11, 2022, from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-indigenous-faculty-upei-1.6547157

Indspire. (2019). Winnipeg School Division and the University of Winnipeg celebrate first cohort of indigenous students in teach for tomorrow program. Retrieved August 11, 2022, from https://indspire.ca/indspire-winnipeg-school-division-and-the-university-of-winnipeg-celebrate-first-cohort-of-indigenous-students-in-teach-for-tomorrow-program/