Collaborating With and Learning From Indigenous People: Navigating Transformative Pedagogy in Teacher Education

• In Event: Collaborative and Community-Informed Teacher Education

Abstract

This case study explores how pre-service teachers, engaged in critical service-learning with an Indigenous cultural organization. They learned from Indigenous people in order to understand how they could incorporate more Indigenous focused curricula in their practice. By decentering the learner/teacher relationship and “learning” prior to being of “service,” many non-Indigenous pre-service teachers were able to transform their understandings. Quantitative and qualitative data illustrate that most pre-service teachers challenged stereotypes, deficit thinking, and expanded their awareness; while a minority experienced some levels of cognitive dissonance as their own privileged world views were challenged. This study explores the hope and tensions of decolonizing teacher education by being socially justice orientated and collaborating with educational Indigenous stakeholders.

Author

• Laura-Lee Kearns, Saint Francis Xavier University