Author Archives: JordenHabib

M4, P5: Engaging with Indigenous Learners (PD)

In my search for more PD… CALP offers a few different PD opportunities on supporting Indigenous learners that are all worth taking. In 2018, the Community Adult Learning Program (CALP) piloted a program called Engaging with Indigenous Learners, and it has been offered regularly due to it’s success. The next one is in August 2021, and because there is an online component, it opens up the learning opportunities for those of us who can’t travel for PD. This workshop is will help those who work with adult Indigenous learners and help us create a supportive and welcoming learning environment.

Engaging with Indigenous Learners

University nuhelot’įne thaiyots’į nistameyimâkanak Blue Quills

This professional development workshop arose out of the recognition that success in an adult learning environment inclusive of Indigenous learners is best accomplished through understanding. It is unique in the sense that it engages participation from the variety of Indigenous peoples who live in the Treaty 6, 7, and 8 areas of Alberta, as well as with the Indigenous Postsecondary Educational Institutions. There is no ‘one’ singular specialization of Indigenous knowledge. Each Nation and tribe is unique, and the collaborative nature of this professional development opportunity allows you to hear the Indigenous voices in your local area.

This training is for CALP practitioners who work with or would like to work with adult Indigenous learners, but who may not have had previous opportunities to learn about Indigenous people, knowledge, issues, and culture, or who have had limited exposure to the Indigenous experience.

Learn about local, regional, and national issues of relevance to adult Indigenous learners to help you create a supportive and welcoming learning experience for Indigenous learners in your community. Connect with and build relationships with community members from your local First Nations Colleges/University.

For more info click here!!

M4, P4: Professional Development Collection

For one part of my final project, I want to focus on professional development and staff training, and this amazing flipcard collection PD opportunities. There’s a huge range of learning opportunities here– from microlearning or multi-day workshops. There are labels for Indigenous, Indigenous Information, and Indigenous Language. A few of the courses I flagged to explore (many have passed but could be offered again, and the materials might be available for review):

Outreach and Engaging with Indigenous Communities
Oral History and Social Justice
Indigitization Program
Decolonization workshop
How to create an oral history collection

It looks like it’ll be a great resource for professional development opportunities for educators in many contexts.

M4, P3: Library Services to Indigenous Populations: Case Studies

In 2013, the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) sponsored the publication of a ebook of . The global collection of case studies cover resources, library programs and collections. Although not an exhaustive collection of case studies, it provides an excellent snapshot of initiatives from around the world. There are lots of inspiring examples within the book, and working in an online university with students from around the world, it’s worth exploring local-to-the-students library initiatives and consider how they could inform some of our library outreach.

Roy, L. & Frydman, A. (2013). Library services to Indigenous populations: Case studies. https://www.ifla.org/files/assets/indigenous-matters/publications/indigenous-librarianship-2013.pdf

M4, P2: Supporting Transitions from Secondary to Post-Secondary

In working on support Indigenous learners in a post-secondary environment, I think it’s beneficial to explore successful programs or current initiatives in secondary education. Facilitating the transition to higher education, would increased student retention and satisfaction with their learning experiences. The OECD’s Supporting Success for Indigenous Students (2017) paper briefly summarizes supports for Indigenous K-12 students including the student, family, school, and leadership elements to consider.

There is a decent and recent pool of research on supporting Indigenous learners in higher education (e.g., Restoule et al., 2013; Shah & Widin, 2010), specifically during the transition period. I’ll be exploring this research stream further to evaluate how academic libraries can support Indigenous students during this period.

—–

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2017). Supporting success for Indigenous students. https://www.oecd.org/education/Supporting-Success-for-Indigenous-Students.pdf

Restoule, J. P., Mashford-Pringle, A., Chacaby, M., Smillie, C., Brunette, C., & Russel, G. (2013). Supporting successful transitions to post-secondary education for Indigenous students: Lessons from an institutional ethnography in Ontario, Canada. International Indigenous Policy Journal, 4(4).

Shah, M., & Widin, J. (2010). Indigenous Students’ Voices: Monitoring Indigenous Student Satisfaction and Retention in a Large Australian University. Journal of Institutional Research, 15(1), 28-41.

M4, P1: Decolonizing Knowledge Production

One of the most challenging aspects of my decolonizing the library action plan is challenging the theoretically underpinnings that established libraries. They are largely organized in a falsely subjective classification schemes and the conversation around decolonization needs serious focus on knowledge production. One of my colleagues shared some work by Louis Yako, and I found it very compelling. Yako (2021) challenges the “long-held Western claims to objectivity, and the assumption that knowledge produced by the West about the rest is independent, unbiased, and unaffected by power relations and inequalities.”

Decolonizing Knowledge Production: a Practical Guide

This has implications both for our classification of resources– how we label them, how we rank them in knowledge system hierarchies–, how we teach about source evaluation, and how we provide public service. There is an gatekeeper element to librarianship that implies that we hold the keys to the secure and “best” information, that we are arbiters of what makes reliable information, and our field has historically aligned itself with Western knowledge systems at the exclusion of other sources. In order to move forward, we need to examine our systems of knowledge production, reflectively assess ourselves, our values, and our biases, so we can move forward in a more inclusive direction.

Yako, L. (2021, April 19). Decolonizing knowledge production: A practical guide. CounterPunch.https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/04/09/decolonizing-knowledge-production-a-practical-guide/

M3, P5: Reconciliation and the Canadian Federation of Library Associations

Library & Literacy Services for Indigenous (First Nations, Métis & Inuit) Peoples of Canada Position Statement

The Canadian Federation of Library Association represents library and information professionals from across Canada, from public, academic, and special libraries. The CFLA has been committed to developing policies and position papers to provide best practices and guidance on all issues related to libraries. The Committee on Indigenous Matters develops plans, policies, and position papers to help libraries address and implement TRC Calls to Action, implement the CFLA Truth & Reconciliation report recommendations, promote learning opportunities and engagement with colleagues. CFLA collaborates with Indigenous peoples to address library, archival, and cultural memory issues and engage in reconciliation. They use a medicine wheel to represent the working groups and their priority areas; they prepare materials, PD, policies, and position papers; and they promote courses and learning opportunities for library and information professionals.

For my final project, I want to create an action plan for my library and the CFLA policies and positions will help develop the strategic foundation necessary for a well-designed, professionally-sound strategic plan. My library serves people from across Canada, so having a less immediately local and more cross-country approved approach would best inform my planning process.

M3, P4: Traditional Knowledge Licenses

Most post-secondary learners and staff are familiar (or are becoming increasingly familiar) with license labels for materials (e.g., CC, CC-NC, CCbySA). TK labels are an educational intervention to identify traditional knowledge resources, their original, intended and ongoing uses, and protocols and practices for use. This video (above) introduces core colonial issues around theft of Indigenous materials and knowledge, reconciling practices, and introduces TK labels as an education tool for the future. However, there are inherent issues with the use of blanket labels without local context. One TK label for all TK knowledge resources treats all Indigenous Peoples knowledge as one shared knowledge, which disregards the locality and place-based nature of the knowledge. The resources below address provide more information on TK labels and the issues presented by the use of one label for all TK resources.

Creative Commons– Traditional Knowledge and the Commons: The Open Movement, Listening, and Learning

UBC Program for Open Scholarly and Education — Traditional Knowledge Licenses & Labels

We teach and provide support for licensing in academic libraries. Knowing labels and being familiar with the parameters of labeling systems and potential issues related to labels and licenses is an important area of professional knowledge. There resources would be valuable for professional development and would help library staff better support students and faculty in their work.

M3, P3: Indigenous Inclusion Toolkit

The College Libraries Ontario Learning Portal Faculty Toolkit to support Indigenous Inclusion is a fantastic collection of information, strategies, and resources to support developing Indigenous inclusivity. These resources are something I could use personally and recommend to others interested in a better understanding of how they can engage in culturally inclusive practices. I find it helpful to have collections of resources to explore to give me time for reflection and to know where I can return to deepen my knowledge. In libraries we rely on guides to collect resources in a subject area or on dedicated topics, so this design appeals to me professionally.

The section on Protecting Indigenous Knowledge would be especially relevant for information professionals as it directly relates the issues we need to be unpacking professionally.

M3, P2: Decolonizing Public Service

Canada Beyond 150: Decolonizing the Public Service

I’ve been searching for material to help guide how to offer culturally inclusive and responsive service in the library. I can see a lot of parallels between the guidance offered in this report and how I support staff and students in my library. At it’s core, library service is public service. Although the guidance in this report is intended for government relationships, many of the principles are transferable. In particular, supporting and encouraging public servant learning journeys and shifting to holistic support with long term relationships. One thing I could see bring very beneficial and entirely possible: secondment opportunities to work with Indigenous communities. Secondments are fantastic learning opportunities, if the participants are willing to immerse themselves in a new environment.

M3, P1: Indigenous Data Sovereignty

https://www.animikii.com/news/decolonizing-digital-contextualizing-indigenous-data-sovereignty

Animikii, an Indigenous-owned technology company, produced a 6-part data sovereignty series that contextualizes, explains, and explores Indigenous data sovereignty. Many of the same issues I see in libraries are discussed in this series– who owns the data/ knowledge; who has the right to interpret and reproduce it; how do we share this knowledge/data, respecting protocols and processes that safeguard the integrity of the information; and how can we use/keep/interpret data in a way that doesn’t reinforce colonialist practices?

The theoretical questions about ownership, access, and collection underpin library collections, and deserve deep consideration and reflection.