Centering Voices: Weaving Indigenous Perspectives in Teacher Education

Abstract

The value of weaving Indigenous perspectives into the mainstream curricula of Ontario teacher education programs is gaining prominence (Bell & Brant, 2015; Nardozi, Restoule, Broad, Steele, & James, 2014; Tanaka, 2016). Since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action (2015), efforts are being made across Ontario to “educate teachers on how to integrate Indigenous knowledge and teaching methods into classrooms” (TRC #62, p. 7). Despite growing efforts within teacher preparation programs, many settler teacher candidates are still anxious (Kanu, 2011; Morcom & Freeman, 2019); they fear practicing inadvertent cultural appropriation, and/or offending or misinforming their students and colleagues. To address these concerns, we posed the research question: What impact would Indigenous guest speakers and workshop leaders have on helping Settler teacher candidates navigate Indigenous content in a culturally appropriate and respectful manner? Using an action research framework, we explored how Indigenous ways of knowing impacted the attitudes of teacher candidates in a Bachelor of Education program. The data we collected suggests that by listening to and learning from Indigenous teachings, teacher candidates can attain a deeper understanding of relationality (Wilson, 2008) as it applies to Indigenous ways ofknowing. While certain questions remained, pre-service teachers had an increased knowledge of Indigenous content, and felt more comfortable integrating Indigenous perspectives into their classroom practice.