Beyond the Classroom: The Impact of a Required Indigenous Education Course in the Lives of Pre-service Teachers

Abstract

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC, 2015) released in June 2015 marked a pivotal moment in the history of education in Canada. The report included 94 calls ‘Calls to action’ that stressed the importance of addressing the many injustices committed against Indigenous1 peoples attending residential schools between 1876 and 1996. In these calls the need for federal, provincial, territorial and Aboriginal governments to play a key role in developing education for reconciliation was highlighted. In particular, Call 62i recommended that educators work to develop ‘age-appropriate curriculum on residential schools, Treaties, and Aboriginal peoples’ historical and contemporary contributions to Canada a mandatory education requirement for Kindergarten to Grade Twelve students’ (p. 11). Similarly, Call 62ii states that the provincial and territorial governments, who are responsible for education, need to ‘provide the necessary funding to postsecondary institutions to educate teachers on how to integrate Indigenous knowledge and teaching methods into classrooms’ (p.11). This chapter will describe how three instructors, working in two post-secondary Canadian institutions, have worked to introduce required courses in Indigenous education with an aim towards shifting the minds and hearts of pre-service teachers in becoming more culturally aware, responsive, and inclusive to the learning aspirations and experiences of Indigenous peoples in Canada.