Reconciling, Decolonization, and Indigenization with Teaching and Learning
Redefining exceptional teaching: At the Centre for Teaching and Learning, exceptional teaching cannot exist without the inclusion of Indigenous voices and the critical examination of colonial structures. We are committed to decolonizing our practices by interrogating the Eurocentric biases in curriculum design and assessment. Simultaneously, we are dedicated to Indigenizing the academy by validating and weaving Indigenous ways of knowing, being, and doing into our teaching frameworks. We support instructors and leaders not just in adding content, but in shifting paradigms.
At the University of Alberta, our Indigenous Strategic Plan, Braiding Past, Present and Future, articulates how reconciliation is rooted in relationships: with one another, with Indigenous Nations, and with the lands on which we live and learn. The plan guides us to act with respect, humility, and shared responsibility, and it grounds the work of Indigenization and decolonization across our campuses.
In Braiding Past, Present and Future, Dr. Florence Glanfield, Vice Provost, Indigenous Programming and Research, shares:
The plan recognizes our collective responsibility to acknowledge our history and to honour those who came before us and to follow the seven sacred teachings — love, respect, honesty, courage, wisdom and humility; to know the first six together is to know truth. The plan also recognizes our responsibilities to the generations to come, knowing that we have the power to leave them a beautiful legacy. (p. 16)
You are invited into this work.
Reconciliation is an ongoing process we undertake together, knowing that meaningful change depends on learning, unlearning, and engaging with openness.
Read the story: CTL welcomes Elder Evelyn Day
Need foundational knowledge about Indigenous Peoples in Canada? The Indigenous Canada Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) from the Faculty of Native Studies is a great place to start!
The Faculty of Native Studies also offers a variety of professional development courses? Explore their offerings.
Grounding our work in Braiding Past, Present, and Future
At the University of Alberta, our approach is guided by the values and principles articulated in Braiding Past, Present and Future. These concepts help ground our efforts and offer starting points for reflection and action:
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wahkohtowin (all my relations): Recognizes the interconnectedness and mutual responsibility of all peoples, creatures, and lands. This principle reminds us that our actions affect our communities, our relationships, and the land.
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Indigenization: Honouring and incorporating Indigenous perspectives, languages, and knowledge systems into educational environments that have historically marginalized them.
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Decolonization: Dismantling colonial structures and narratives while supporting the reclamation of Indigenous identities, cultures, languages, and governance systems.
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Indigenous ways of knowing, being, and doing: Affirming the validity, sophistication, and beauty of Indigenous knowledge systems—holistic approaches attending to mind, body, spirit, and relationships.
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Reconciliation: As defined by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, reconciliation is an ongoing process of establishing and maintaining respectful relationships among Indigenous Peoples, the state, and non-Indigenous peoples.
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Self-determination and sovereignty: Recognizing the inherent rights of Indigenous Nations and peoples to determine their own governance, cultural priorities, and educational pathways.
Together, they highlight the importance of relational accountability, the validity of Indigenous knowledge systems, and the inherent rights of Indigenous Nations and peoples.
These values shape how we learn from one another, how we understand our responsibilities, and how we work collectively toward more respectful, reciprocal relationships.
Take a deeper dive into the values and principles that guide Truth and Reconciliation work at the University of Alberta by exploring Braiding Past, Present, and Future: University of Alberta Indigenous Strategic Plan.
Understanding the academic context
Every school is either a site of reproduction or a site of change—education can be liberating or it can domesticate and maintain domination. It can sustain colonization in neo-colonial ways or it can decolonize.
Colonialism and racism continue to shape universities today, influencing curriculum, research priorities, governance structures, and everyday interactions. Recognizing this reality is essential to reconciliation and reflects the commitments outlined in Braiding Past, Present and Future.
Indigenization and decolonization are fundamentally anti-racist practices. They challenge the systems that marginalize Indigenous peoples and affirm the inherent legitimacy of Indigenous laws, knowledge systems, and worldviews.
As U of A professor Dr. D’Arcy Vermette reminds us, education in Canada has often functioned as a tool of assimilation rather than empowerment: “ Education has been used as a weapon to destroy Aboriginal cultures. … We can continue to carry out assimilationist programming or we can endeavour to empower both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples to seek out a world in which Aboriginal ways of life are allowed to thrive.”
Our shared responsibility now is to create educational environments in which Indigenous students, communities, and knowledge systems can thrive, and where learning actively resists the reproduction of harm.
Allyship: A practice of accountability
Allyship is not a label but an ongoing practice rooted in humility, responsibility, and relationship. Effective allyship involves:
- continuous learning about Indigenous histories and contemporary realities
- unlearning internalized colonial narratives and biases
- listening deeply to Indigenous voices
- supporting Indigenous-led priorities and governance
- taking responsibility when harm occurs
As Smith, Pucket, and Simon (2016) write, “allyship is a means to an end: the reconciliation of historical and contemporary wrongdoings and the rectification of inequitable colonial systems.”
Continuing your learning
Reconciliation is not a checklist. It is an ongoing practice that unfolds through relationships, curiosity, humility, and sustained engagement. Here are some ways to meaningfully begin learning with intention and in good relation:
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Start with Braiding Past, Present and Future to understand the university’s values, responsibilities, and commitments to Indigenous sovereignty, relationality, and decolonization. Reflect on how these values—such as All My Relations, Indigenous sovereignty, and relationality—connect to your role as an instructor.
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Reflect on your role and responsibilities: Consider whose knowledge is centred in your courses, how colonialism shapes your discipline, and what responsibilities you hold as instructors and educational leaders on these lands.
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Begin taking action in your teaching: Include Indigenous scholarship, support First Nations, Inuit and Métis knowledge systems, build relational accountability, and revise assignments and activities with decolonizing principles in mind.
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Learn from the land and local nations: Build place-based understanding by learning about Treaty 6 Territory, the Papaschase Cree Nation, and the Métis Nation of Alberta (District 4). Consider how land-based knowledge can inform your teaching.
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Connect with elders, knowledge keepers, and community partners: Seek guidance respectfully. Relationship-based and protocol-informed learning is essential to Indigenizing teaching practices. Learn more by reviewing Elder Protocol and Guidelines.
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Participate in Indigenous-led learning opportunities: Attend talks, workshops, cultural events, and sessions facilitated by Indigenous scholars, artists, and community members.
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Engage in learning opportunities: Explore Indigenous-focused continuing education, curriculum workshops, and courses on Indigenous histories, worldviews, and laws to build foundational knowledge for teaching.
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Learn from Indigenous thinkers and creators: Read, watch, and listen to Indigenous scholars, authors, filmmakers, and artists. Their work offers insight into Indigenous knowledge systems, lived experience, and relational ways of knowing.
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Commit to ongoing learning: Reconciliation is long-term work. Ongoing curiosity, reflection, and engagement support meaningful and respectful change over time.
Getting started: Foundation learning
These curated resources support instructors beginning (or continuing) their learning about reconciliation, Indigenization, and decolonizing course design by starting with essential readings and guides to build a shared understanding.
- Canadian Commission for UNESCO. (2024). Toward a better world for all: Decoding, deconstructing and decolonizing higher education in Canada and beyond.
- Faculty of Native Studies, University of Alberta. (n.d.). Indigenous Canada [MOOC].
Explores how post-secondary institutions should meaningfully integrate Indigenous perspectives and challenge knowledge systems.
- Taylor Institute, University of Calgary. (n.d.). Indigenous ways of knowing.
Strategies for integrating Indigenous pedagogies, relationships, and ways of knowing into university teaching.
- Centre for Teaching and Learning, University of Alberta. (n.d.). Learning about the land: Land acknowledgements that teach us.
Supports instructors in developing meaningful, relational land acknowledgements grounded in place.
- University of Manitoba. (2026). National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.
- University of Alberta. (2023, September). TRC report to the community.
- National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation. (2015). Truth and reconciliation commission of Canada: Calls to action. Key recommendations that inform teaching, curriculum design, and institutional responsibilities.
- United Nations. (2007). United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
- Vowel, C. (2016). Indigenous writes: a guide to First Nations, Métis, and Inuit issues in Canada. HighWater Press.
A guide that helps instructors understand terminology, misconceptions, and Indigenous–settler relations.
- Vowel, C. (2021). Écrits autochtones : comprendre les enjeux des Premières Nations, des Métis et des Inuit au Canada (M. Lavigne, Trad.). Varia.
Un guide conçu pour faciliter la compréhension de la terminologie, des idées fausses et des relations entre les peuples autochtones et colonisateurs.
Next steps: Applying insights to teaching and course design
Building on foundational knowledge, these resources offer practical strategies to help you meaningfully weave Indigenous pedagogies and decolonizing principles into your course design and classroom practice.
- Battiste, M. A. (2017). Decolonizing education : Nourishing the learning spirit. Purich Publishing Limited.
Foundational scholarship on transforming colonial structures in education.
- Brunette Debassige, C., Wakeham, P., Smithers-Graeme, C., Haque, A., & Chitty, S. M. (2022). Mapping approaches to decolonizing and indigenizing the curriculum at Canadian universities: Critical reflections on current practices, challenges, and possibilities. International Indigenous Policy Journal, 13(3), 1–24.
- Gaudry, A., & Lorenz, D. (2018). Indigenization as inclusion, reconciliation, and decolonization: Navigating the different visions for indigenizing the Canadian academy. AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples, 14(3), 218-227.
- Poitras Pratt, Y. & Bodnaresko, S. (2023). Reconciliation through education: A model of ethical spaces and relationality. Journal of Teaching and Learning, 17(1).
- Pete, S. (2016). 100 ways: Indigenizing & decolonizing academic programs. Aboriginal Policy Studies, 6(1).
A practical guide offering 100 actionable strategies for indigenizing and decolonizing academic programs, drawn from Indigenous perspectives and institutional practice.
Go deeper: Strengthening context, theory and place-based understanding
Resources that explore more complex histories, philosophies, and approaches.
- Kimmerer, R. (2013). Braiding sweetgrass: Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge and the teachings of plants (1st ed.). Milkweed Editions.
A deeply engaging exploration of Indigenous knowledge, ecology, and relationality.
- Kimmerer, R. W. (2024). The serviceberry: Abundance and reciprocity in the natural world (J. Burgoyne, Illus.). Scribner.
A deep reflection on reciprocity and relational responsibility through Indigenous ecological teachings.
- Regan, P. (2010). Unsettling the settler within : Indian residential schools, truth telling, and reconciliation in Canada. UBC Press.
Reflects on settler responsibility and the personal work required in decolonization.