In this article I discuss the ways in which writing poetry and reflecting on its meanings may be a valuable tool for promoting an educator's reflexivity surrounding issues of reconciliation. As Canada embarks on the work of healing the difficulties its colonial past has caused its original inhabitants (i.e. Indigenous peoples), educators must…

In 2015, Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) described Canada's residential school policy, established in the 1880's and active through most of the 20th century, as 'cultural genocide'. Earlier that same year, Maclean's magazine described Winnipeg as Canada's most racist Winnipeg. Winnipeg, situated on Treaty One…

This piece showcases three schoolwide art projects that promoted social justice, belonging, and diversity. A yarn bombing in a Missouri elementary school gave students an opportunity to learn cross-curriculum lessons and promote the idea of unity among all cultures and backgrounds. A glass bead mosaic in a First Nations school in British Columbia…

The Department of Urban and Inner-City Studies (UICS) is a department in the faculty of Arts at the University of Winnipeg in Manitoba, Canada. The Department is located outside of the main campus in one of Canada's poorest neighbourhoods. UICS is intentionally located here to offer access to postsecondary education to people who might not…

This piece showcases three schoolwide art projects that promoted social justice, belonging, and diversity. A yarn bombing in a Missouri elementary school gave students an opportunity to learn cross-curriculum lessons and promote the idea of unity among all cultures and backgrounds. A glass bead mosaic in a First Nations school in British Columbia…

This piece showcases three schoolwide art projects that promoted social justice, belonging, and diversity. A yarn bombing in a Missouri elementary school gave students an opportunity to learn cross-curriculum lessons and promote the idea of unity among all cultures and backgrounds. A glass bead mosaic in a First Nations school in British Columbia…

Drawing from multiple courses, the authors explore the intersections and connections concerning the various ways students in mainstream programmes experience and express counter-resistances to decolonizing and anti-oppressive pedagogies. The authors focus on how aspects of curriculum can at once minimize, trigger and/or provoke various aspects of…

Indigenous representation in various genres has always been questionable in regards to who has a voice, and content that is culturally sensitive and appropriate. This paper critically examines the controversial theatrical play "Pig Girl" (Murphy, 2013) through the lens of Robin Bernstein's (2011) "scriptive things" theory.…

How can creating a simple stick figure comic help us tell -- and deeply listen to -- true stories of social injustice and practice anti-oppression strategies? More specifically, how can creating a series of stick-figure comics help learners enhance their understanding of the Indigenous Peoples' testimonies in the Truth and Reconciliation Report…

In this article, I contextualize and outline my use of testimonial literature, including orature, by residential school survivors in a preservice course focused on building practices of witness-­as-study (Simon & Eppert, 2005). My theorization of the course curriculum and pedagogy draws on key texts by Roger Simon as a means of proposing…

The Indigenous people of Canada have endured great hardships and injustices in the past that have greatly affected them as a people and as individuals. For about a century, the young and innocent were taken from their homes and communities and placed in residential schools. The formal educational system of the past failed many students, harmed…

If changes that make a difference to Aboriginal learners are to be effected in public schools, then transformational change is required (Menzies, Archibald, & Smith, 2004). How is transformational change best achieved? In this article, I argue, based on a recently completed study (McGregor, 2013) that teacher learning--particularly among…

The study of geo-political and policy relationships between First Nations and Canada enables one to consider how Canada has used education as a process of colonizing First Nations, and to consider decolonization and self-determination as processes in education that can derail oppression in First Nation communities. From the position of an…

Members of a large, cross-Canada research project on using Canadian social justice literature in the classroom share strategies that teachers are using to teach some of these texts. Strategies range from multi-media projects to song adaptations. Texts and strategies suitable for different grade-levels are represented, and cover a range of…

The purpose of this paper to present two approaches intended to support the social lives of those typically on the borders of school life. Circles of friends (CoFs) was designed to assist students labelled with disabilities, while Gay-straight alliances (GSAs) addresses needs of supporting students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual,…