Actions for reconciliation as citizens and educators

Land Acknowledgment

BCcampus acknowledges the səl̓ilwətaɁɬ təməxʷ (Tsleil-Waututh), Skwxwú7mesh-ulh Temíx̱w (Squamish), xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), and W̱SÁNEĆ (Saanich) Peoples and the Esquimalt and Songhees Nations of the lək̓ʷəŋən (Lekwungen) Peoples on whose traditional territories we are privileged to live, work, and play. Through our work we are learning to incorporate Indigenous epistemologies into our actions and understandings, supporting decolonization, reconciliation, and Indigenization to advocate systemic changes in the post-secondary environment of B.C.

What are your responsibilities as a citizen and as a professional educator in the B.C. public post-secondary system?

“Together, Canadians must do more than just talk about reconciliation; we must learn how to practice reconciliation in our everyday lives – within ourselves and our families, and in our communities, governments, places of worship, schools and workplaces. To do so constructively, Canadians must remain committed to the ongoing work of establishing and maintaining respectful relationships.”
(Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 2015, 21)

The goal as citizens and educators is to decolonize our thinking and our actions. Educators have a great deal of power and agency to make choices that affect thousands of students over a career – choices about course curriculum, policies, assessment, technologies, and their own behaviours and approaches to facilitating learning.

The first and ongoing action is your own deep listening and active pursuit of learning about Indigenous Peoples and histories. And there are specific things you can do as an educator. If you are non-Indigenous, don’t rely on your Indigenous colleagues, friends, and acquaintances to help you navigate your own learning and feelings.

Here is a list of resources and actions you can take

Learn whose land you’re on, and write a personal land acknowledgement:

Action for teaching: Give a personal land acknowledgement before each class.
Resources: The Canadian Association of University Teachers provides a list of all institutions across Canada, and native-land.ca provides territory information from across Canada. Indigenous Corporate Training offers information on why it’s important to offer land acknowledgments.

Learn about residential schools in Canada:

Action for teaching: Understand that the residential school system is not part of history; it has lasting impacts on intergenerational survivors and the education system. Seek out learning about trauma-informed communication and trauma-informed practice such as FLO Friday: Teaching with a Trauma-Informed Lens.
Podcast: Residential Schools
UBC Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre
List of residential schools in Canada, with locations, dates they opened and closed, and which religious denomination operated the school
Excerpt from Residential Schools section of the Pulling Together Foundations Guide

Learn about Indigenous histories in Canada:

Actions for teaching: Engage and collaborate with Indigenous peoples, knowledges, and cultures in your course design and curriculum.
Sign up to take Indigenous Canada, a Massive Open Online Course from the University of Alberta.
Read: Indigenous History Month Reading List from Massey Books
Indigenous Ally Toolkit, compiled by Dakota Swiftwolfe and others from the Montreal Indigenous Community Network

Learn about decolonizing your course materials and teaching practices:

Actions for teaching: Learn and integrate First Peoples Principles of Learning into your work as a designer and facilitator of learning experiences for all students.
The BCcampus Pulling Together Indigenization guides include a foundations guide as well as guides for teachers, leaders and administrators, front-line staff, curriculum developers, and researchers.
Indigenous Pedagogy: Decolonizing Higher Education resource from Vancouver Community College
Consider adopting one or more of these 100 Ways: Indigenizing & Decolonizing Academic Programs.

Provide counselling and supports:

Action for teaching: Provide your students with information about supports and services available at your institution and from the Indian Residential School Survivors Society as resources they can use for counselling, healing, and crisis support.