Educators Doing the Deep, Unsettling Work of Treaty Education

Researchers: Raquel Oberkirsch and Michael Graham 

The purpose of the research was to investigate how developing a community of educators to do the unsettling work of treaty education might have positively influenced their implementation of treaty education in their respective schools. By doing the unsettling work of treaty education, we meant revealing and unpacking settler identities through counter narratives (Tupper, 2011), disrupting dominant discourses of colonialism, and troubling common-sense understandings of Canadian history (Hildebrandt et al., 2016) to consider and reflect on our treaty responsibilities. 

Our objective was to provide a relational community of educators who supported one another’s ongoing critical reflection, to unpack our/their own identities, and to consider our treaty responsibilities so we could interpret the curriculum towards more ethical treaty education. We also aimed to explore the idea of teaching through treaty rather than teaching about treaty; in other words, to move “beyond teaching Treaty as an historical artifact to that of a living protocol for how to exist in a world that is honourable, just, and caring of each other” (Kovach, 2013, p. 116). We tried to accomplish this though the facilitation of a series of collaborative learning sessions over the course of two school years, which included virtual (due to COVID-19) collaborative learning days with Knowledge Keepers, academics, and participants as well as in-person collaborative learning opportunities from (and with) Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers, through participation in ceremony and land-based learning, and by reading and discussing works by Indigenous authors. Over the course of the two years, we had 27 participants (13 of which participated both years).

While our results are still being reviewed, initial analysis identified several common themes (ascertained through focus groups and interviews with participants): reconciliation and treaty responsibilities, participant self-learning (growth), relationships (connections with community), Indigenous ways of teaching and learning and experiential learning. Combining each of these recurrent themes, participants also identified ways in which they felt ready (or comfortable, or confident with) to apply their own learning in their context.

Panelists : Amos McArthur, Knowledge Keeper from Pheasant Rump.

Date March 22^nd 2023. 7-830pm on Zoom

Registration link: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Zi5p8MAMQcGl30KMCBwhGg 

To listen to a recording of the evening click here