Indigenous Knowledge and Pedagogy in First Nations Education: A Literature Review with Recommendations is a paper written by Dr. Marie Battiste for Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC).  I started reading the article with a little bit of skepticism given its intended audience.  However, early on Dr. Battiste comments that:

“In the context of Indigenous knowledge, therefore, a literature review is an oxymoron because Indigenous knowledge is typically embedded in the cumulative experiences and teachings of Indigenous peoples rather than in a library.  The second point is that conducting a literature review on Indigenous knowledge implies that Eurocentric research can reveal an understanding of Indigenous knowledge.”  (Battiste, 2002; p. 1)

I have not read the entire paper yet, but the sections that I have read are interesting and explain the differences between Indigenous knowledge and western knowledge clearly and comprehensively.

I was surprised to find a strong Aboriginal education Centre within the Toronto DSB because the GTA has become so urbanized.  Upon reflection I realized how essential it would be to provide support for the sometimes hidden urban Aboriginal youth in Canada’s largest city.  The TDSB website provides various resources and articles, including a reference to Attawapiskat in a discussion of decolonization in education: Moving Beyond the Colonial Legacy.  An excellent resource for teachers is also provided titled Since Time Immemorial.  This curriculum resource offers best practices in including Aboriginal Peoples in the curriculum through instructional strategies, activities, and curriculum connections.  A link to Ontario Government’s Aboriginal Teacher’s Tool Kit provides teachers with further strategies and ways to integrate Aboriginal experiences, learning and culture into their teaching.

Camille

I felt like I hit the jackpot when I found the “Decolonizing Pedagogies Booklet.”   This booklet answered many of my questions regarding how teachers could decolonize instruction. Heather E. McGregor, UBC PhD candidate, prepared this booklet in 2012, referencing key Indigenous Studies Scholars: Linda Smith, Marie Battiste, Michael Marker, Susan Dion and Paulette Regan.    McGregor suggests Aboriginal ways of learning, various decolonizing pedagogies, samples of decolonizing pedagogy and challenges to decolonizing education. Key decolonizing pedagogies include:

• Helping learners come to recognize and know the structures of colonization and their implications.
• Engaging in activities that disrupt those structures on an individual and collective level.
• Recentring of Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing.
• Facilitating engagement with possibilities for making change in the world.
• Supporting Indigenous self-determination (McGregor, 2012, p. 4)

McGregor, H. (2012). Decolonizing pedagogies booklet. Service Project for Aboriginal Focus School: Vancouver School Board.  Retrieved from http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=7&ved=0CEwQFjAG&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblogs.ubc.ca%2Fedst591%2Ffiles%2F2012%2F03%2FDecolonizing_Pedagogies_Booklet.pdf&ei=j92SUI-2CqfDiwKm24GIDQ&usg=AFQjCNEQgK6SfXKcz7Thr9CSLhDaliR6cA

Camille