School communities thrive when educators actively foster wellness. Educators working in First Nations communities conceptualize wellness in unique ways and are active agents in creating opportunities to meet their own wellness needs. This research explores conceptions, supports, and challenges related to wellness from the perspectives of teachers…

As more alarming truths are being revealed around the horrors of the residential schooling system in Canada, educators are being called to decolonize and Indigenize their teaching practices. As post-secondary teacher educators working in Indigenous education who have gained valuable insights around this difficult teaching, the authors offer…

In this paper, we draw upon a narrative inquiry alongside two creators of an out-of-doors Nipugtugewei Kindergarten program within a Mi'gmaw community, in northeastern Canada. Our intention was to understand their schooling, educational, and communal experiences over time. Diverse field texts were composed and interpreted alongside participants.…

Through the voice of a Metis educator, this work addresses the foundations of an Indigenous lifelong education. Lived experiences connect with unfolding personal narrative to demonstrate the ancient flow of Indigenous knowledge, and the continuity and expression of Indigenous being. The narratives implicitly references connections and…

This article describes the experiences of two Cree elementary school teachers who taught school mathematics through place-based education (PBE) in a Treaty 6 First Nations community in the Canadian prairie province of Saskatchewan. Using narrative inquiry, we discuss the teachers' understandings of Indigenizing school mathematics in relation to…

On March 7, 2017, Canadian Senator Lynn Beyak stood up in the Red Chamber and delivered a lengthy speech urging Canadians to recognise the positive aspects of the Indian Residential Schooling system that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission had failed to acknowledge. In their positions as settler teacher educators, the authors examine how…

This article offers a sampling and critique of the history of education in North America, including Canada, the United States and Mexico. Being Black and Indigenous academics, respectively, the authors' scholarship centres on community relationships, considering activism around #BlackLivesMatter and Indigenous Peoples, especially with the news of…

This article focuses on pedagogical talking circles as a practice of decolonizing and Indigenizing education. Based upon Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission's (TRC) Calls to Action and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), non-Indigenous educators have a responsibility, while Indigenous educators…

In this theoretical article, I examine various conceptions of focused listening--including those held by specific First Nations communities--to determine how each conception might offer insights for listening while conducting cross-cultural music education research. First, I discuss the notion of "Big Ears," as it is understood by the…

Michael Pitblado and Agnieszka Chalas, history teacher and art teacher respectively, describe how and why they responded to a call by Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission to engage students with difficult aspects of Canada's past, including the forced cultural assimilation of Indigenous peoples through the Indian Residential School System.…

Speaking to the need for decolonising the oppressed, Métis scholar and activist Howard Adams once questioned why many Métis became confused, puzzled, and lived in constant denial of their unique history and culture. His reflection speaks to the ways in which a colonial form of education strategically and effectively erased, subsumed, and demonised…

Investing in Indigenous education has been identified as a key priority by provinces and territories across Canada. In response, the Ontario Ministry of Education (OME) introduced the "Ontario First Nation, Métis, and Inuit Education Policy Framework" (the Framework). This policy directive outlines the OME's commitment to working in…

This article explores the environmental and sustainability programs of Indigenous Higher Education Institutions (IHEIs) in North America. There are 38 Tribal Colleges and Universities in the United States and 26 Indigenous post-secondary institutions in Canada. Deploying a critical discourse analysis, the study examines IHEI websites to document…

This article chronicles a crisis of alignment regarding Critical Pedagogy due to the top-down power structures of White authority that is pervasive in the theory's North American academic environment. Contesting the often touted "radical" or "revolutionary" nature of Critical Pedagogy in higher education spaces, the author…

This article looks at how colonialism has contributed to the racialized history of Indigenous people by unethical diagnostic implementations of categories and classifications, while overlooking exceptionalities when assessing Indigenous people. By understanding how settler-colonial assessments and/or diagnostic tests have been developed and…