The Role of Teacher Education in Decolonizing Education in Canada's North: A Yukon Teacher Education Case Study

• In Event: 25.058 - Pedagogy as Resilience for Indigenous Youth and Schools

Abstract

Recent developments in Canada’s Yukon Territory draw attention to how political changes have potential for accelerating practices in education that are responsive to Indigenous Peoples’ cultural knowledge systems and practices. The Yukon Native Teacher Education Program has a mandate to contribute to the realisation of these changes. Using a case study approach, we describe the philosophical intent and corresponding pedagogical/structural features of this program and draw accounts from YNTEP pre-service teachers and graduates of their experiences in enacting this imperative. These accounts provide some evidence for evaluation of the efficacy of teacher education in contributing to the decolonization of education in Canada's north. Finally, implications of this research for teacher education providers seeking to support such efforts are considered.

Authors

• Mark Connell, Yukon College

• Brian Ellis Lewthwaite, James Cook University - Australia