Steeped in Belonging: Decolonizing Curriculum over Tea and Luskinikn
We Belong Together Workshop Series
Brought to you by the D-LITE Belong Cluster
Friday, March 1, 2024
11:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m.
Location
- Halifax campus (Ko’jua Okuom room, Killam Library)
- Online via Teams (link will be sent when you complete the registration form)
Decolonization efforts can cultivate student belonging by creating more equitable and inclusive learning environments. Join Elder in Residence – Ann LaBillois and CLT Education Developer, Indigenous Knowledges & Ways of Knowing – Rachelle McKay to discuss why decolonization is important and how it can be implemented in terms of both curriculum and pedagogy. Recognizing that decolonization is highly contextual work, this session aims to create space for faculty members to gather and share challenges and experiences surrounding curricular and pedagogic decolonization through guided discussion. Tea and Liskinikn (Mi’kmaq Bannock) will be served. We encourage you to reflect on this topic of belonging in the context of teaching and learning, and bring any thoughts that may arise on the topics of belonging, de-centering, identity, and continuous learning/unlearning.
Note
The session will begin with a smudging ceremony outside the Killam library, weather permitting.
Acknowledgements
Dalhousie University and the D-LITE Belong Cluster acknowledge that we are in Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq People and pays respect to the Indigenous knowledges held by the Mi’kmaq People, and to the wisdom of their Elders past and present. The Mi'kmaq People signed Peace and Friendship Treaties with the Crown, and section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982 recognizes and affirms Aboriginal and Treaty rights. We are all Treaty people.
We recognize that African Nova Scotians are a distinct people whose histories, legacies and contributions have enriched that part of Mi'kma'ki known as Nova Scotia for over 400 years.
A reflection on these acknowledgements: We must be intentional in acknowledging the communities that were residing on this land, having a symbiotic relationship with the environment, and communities that have historically been marginalized by the oppressive structures that were codified by colonization and that continue to exist and perpetuate harm to this day. Beginning with such acknowledgements allows us to recognize that we live in a society that has unjust elements, and that we are each responsible to work together to create a more just society.
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Additional Information
We Belong Together Workshop Series
The We Belong Together workshop series are a collection of workshops around the diverse aspects that contribute to the feeling of belonging in general, and approaches to foster belonging in our courses and classrooms. The first two workshops focused on beginning the personal work essential to facilitate a culture of inclusion and belonging, and on fostering a sense of belonging for students in our courses. Links to the recordings from the first two workshops are included below, in case you are interested:
- Workshop 1: Belonging – The comfort and discomfort
- Workshop 2: Creating a sense of belonging for students
About the Belong Cluster: The D-LITE Belong Cluster is a teaching cluster that is part of the D-LITE collaborative community of teachers at Dal. Our cluster focuses on attributes of student and teacher experiences that contribute to a sense of belonging in our classrooms and in our daily work, including equity, inclusion, culture, celebration of diversity in learning and knowing, accessibility, and well-being. If you have any questions about these workshops, please email the leads of the Belong Cluster, Raghav Sampangi (raghav@cs.dal.ca) and Jen Frail-Gauthier (jfrail@dal.ca).