Abstracts
Abstract
This paper reflects on the process of developing an undergraduate social work course curriculum that sought to re-imagine a traditionally Eurocentric format into a blended Indigenized learning experience. Two researchers came together in partnership to determine if students would have a richer learning experience if Indigenous Ways of Knowing (IWK) was included in the delivery of a standard social work curriculum. Much like the alliance model of the “Kanien’kehaka Kaswenta (Two Row Wampum)” (Sinclair et al., 2009, p. 237), this curriculum development sought to respectfully integrate IWK and Western knowledge in order to provide an alternative, inclusive educational experience for students. Students provided qualitative reflections on the course that embodied Indigenous values such as relationality, reciprocity, responsibility, and respect. This paper is a reflection and in-depth analysis of the driving forces, inspiration, and process the Indigenous author went through to re-imagine a transformative, decolonized educational experiences for students.
Keywords:
- Indigenous pedagogy,
- Nanadagikenim (‘Seek to Know’),
- Indigenous Ways of Knowing,
- curriculum development,
- decolonizing
Appendices
Bibliography
- Absolon (Minogiizhigokwe), K. E. (2022). Kaandossiwin: How we come to know: Indigenous re-search methodologies (2nd ed.). Fernwood Publishing.
- APTN National News. (2022, March, 18). Hate crimes against Indigenous people spiked 152 per cent in 2020: Report. APTN News. https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/hate-crimes-against-indigenous-people-spiked-2020-statistics-canada/
- Stirbys, C. (2016). Potentializing wellness through the stories of female survivors and descendants of Indian Residential School survivors: A grounded theory study. [Doctoral dissertation, University of Ottawa].
- Bastien, B., & Chief, D. M. (2004). Blackfoot ways of knowing: The worldview of the Siksikaitsitapi. University of Calgary Press.
- Bartlett, C., Marshall, M., & Marshall, A. (2012). Two-Eyed Seeing and other lessons learned within a co-learning journey of bringing together indigenous and mainstream knowledges and ways of knowing. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, 2(4), 331–340. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13412-012-0086-8
- Broomé, R. E. (2017). Review of transformation beyond greed: Native self-actualization. The Humanistic Psychologist, 45(4), 397–407. https://doi.org/10.1037/hum0000073
- Choate, P. W. (2019). The call to decolonise: Social work’s challenge for working with Indigenous Peoples. The British Journal of Social Work, 49(4), 1081–1099. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcz011
- First Nations and Indigenous Studies. (2009). Terminology. The University of British Columbia. https://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/terminology/
- Freeman, B. M., & Van Katwyk, T. (2020). Navigating the waters: Understanding allied relationships through a Tekeni Teyoha:ke Kahswenhtake Two Row research paradigm. Journal of Indigenous Social Development, 9(1), 60–76.
- Hart, M. A. (2009). Anti-colonial Indigenous social work: Reflections on an Aboriginal approach. In R. Sinclair, M.A. Hart, & G. Bruyere (Eds.), Wicihitowin: Aboriginal social work in Canada (pp. 25–41). Fernwood Publishing.
- Indigenous Services Canada. (2025). Reducing the number of Indigenous children in care. Government of Canada. https://www.sac-isc.gc.ca/eng/1541187352297/1541187392851.
- Jaber, L., Stirbys, C., & Saint-Cyr, C. (2024). Decolonizing the higher education curriculum: An evaluation of incorporating Indigenous Ways of Knowing and pedagogy. The Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.5206/cjsotlrcacea.2024.1.14796
- Kirkness, V., & Barnhardt, R. (2001). First Nations and higher education: The four Rs: Respect, relevance, reciprocity, responsibility. In R. Hayoe, & J. Pan (Eds.), Knowledge across cultures: A contribution to dialogue among civilizations (pp. 1–18). University of Hong Kong: Hong Kong Comparative Education Research Centre. http://www.afn.ca/uploads/files/education2/the4rs.pdf
- Little Black Bear & Associates. (2015). Moving toward a stronger future: An Aboriginal resource guide for community development. Public Safety Canada. https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/mvng-twrd-strngr-ftr/index-en.aspx
- Long, R., Heffernan, C., Cardinal-Grant, M., Lynn, A., Sparling, L., Piche, D., Nokohoo, M., & Janvier, D. (2019). Two Row Wampum, human rights, and the elimination of tuberculosis from high-incidence Indigenous communities. Health and Human Rights, 21(1), 253–265.
- Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370–396. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0054346
- McQuaid, R. J., Schwartz, F. D., Blackstock, C., Matheson, K., Anisman, H., & Bombay, A. (2022). Parent-Child separations and mental health among First Nations and Métis peoples in Canada: Links to intergenerational residential school attendance. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(11), 6877.
- Parmenter, J. (2013). The Meaning of Kaswentha and the two row wampum belt in Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) history: Can indigenous oral tradition be reconciled with the documentary record? Journal of Early American History, 3(1), 82–109. https://doi.org/10.1163/18770703-00301005
- Parsons, J., McColl, M., Martin, A., & Rynard, D. (2021). Accommodations and academic performance: First-year university students with disabilities. Canadian Journal of Higher Education / Revue canadienne d’enseignement supérieur, 51(1), 41–56. https://doi.org/10.47678/cjhe.vi0.188985
- Reid, A. J., Eckert, L. E., Lane, J., Young, N., Hinch, S. G., Darimont, C. T., Cooke, S. J., Ban, N. C., & Marshall, A. (2021). “Two-Eyed Seeing”: An Indigenous framework to transform fisheries research and management. Fish and Fisheries, 22(2), 243–261. https://doi.org/10.1111/faf.12516
- Sinclair, R., Hart, M. A., & Bruyere, G. (Eds.). (2009). Wicihitowin: Aboriginal social work in Canada. Fernwood Publishing
- Stein, S. (2020). ‘Truth before reconciliation’: The difficulties of transforming higher education in settler colonial contexts, Higher Education Research & Development, 39(1), 156–170, https://doi.org/ 10.1080/07294360.2019.1666255
- Stratford Public Library. (n.d.). The Dish with One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant of 1701. https://splibrary.ca/dish-one-spoon
- Tanaka, M., Williams, L., Benoit, Y. J., Duggan, R. K., Moir, L., & Scarrow, J. C. (2007). Transforming pedagogies: Pre-service reflections on learning and teaching in an Indigenous World. Teacher Development, 11(1), 99–109.
- Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. (2015a). Education. In Truth and reconciliation commission of Canada: Calls to action (pp. 7–8). https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/british-columbians-our-governments/indigenous-people/aboriginal-peoples-documents/calls_to_action_english2.pdf
- Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. (2015b). Honouring the truth, reconciling for the future: Summary of the final report of the truth and reconciliation commission of Canada. https://ehprnh2mwo3.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Executive_Summary_English_Web.pdf
- Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. (2015c). Canada’s Residential Schools: The History, part 1 origins to 1939. The final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (Vol. 1). McGill–Queen’s University Press.
- Wilson, S. (2008). Research is Ceremony: Indigenous research methods. Fernwood Publishing.
- Wolbring, G., & Lillywhite, A. (2021). Equity/equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in universities: The case of disabled people. Societies, 11(2), 49. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc11020049