Decolonizing and Indigenizing Education in Canada
- For development
- Summary created: 2023
This book provided insights and experiences from authors across Canada about why decolonising and indigenising in academia matters, and what it means to them.
This summary, including its recommendations and ideas, was created by Dr Taima Moeke-Pickering and is based on original research. The original research itself was conducted in collaboration with the following researcher.
There is difficulty in creating a universal approach to indigenizing and decolonising universities. Indigenous people have different experiences across the globe, and no one approach works. This book highlights how approaches needs to be tailored to contexts. Universities are at different stages in the decolonisation process: some are just starting to understand decolonisation and have a long way to go, while others have already implemented anti-racism policies, hired indigenous faculty members, and addressed systemic oppression. The different chapters reflect these different stages.
Insights
The book offers a series of chapters providing different experiences and perspectives on indigenising and decolonising in academia.
The first chapter asks what decolonizing is. It provides the whole 'frontier' of what decolonising looks like, offers a series of definitions, and explains why we must change things.
Another chapter asks if decolonising is really possible. Indigenous communities have long experienced their knowledge being ignored or crushed in mainstream academia. This chapter asks how we can ensure that the gift of indigenous knowledge is looked after.
Other chapters offer examples of how indigenising in the academy is happening, for example through support groups for indigenous students to discussing assignments and research projects together, and strategies for Indigenous youth living in urban settings.
The final chapter focuses on the future, emphasising the importance of technology in decolonising and indigenising. It argues that if we don't keep up with technology, we will fall further behind in our efforts to decolonise. Indigenous children are already using technology to create content, communicate with friends across the world, and access information. Therefore, decolonising and indigenising technology is essential for future generations
What it means
This book offers insights into decolonising and indigenising academia from a range of academic thinkers, and provides a variety of examples of what Indigenous knowledge looks like, from language revitalisation, to poetry, to policymaking through to different youth research projects. At the end of each chapter, there are questions and resources, allowing the reader to become part of the decolonising strategy.
Suggested next steps
Universities are at different stages on the pathway to indigenising or decolonising
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