Truth and Reconciliation: Our Responsibilities in Education

A message from Dr. Maria Vamvalis, TC² Director

September 30, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, is a day to honour the children impacted by residential schools, the Survivors, those who never came home, and their families and communities. Residential schools were designed to sever Indigenous children from their languages, Lands, and ways of knowing. In education, we are being asked to face this history honestly and to support learning processes that are shaped by Indigenous nations for Indigenous learners.

Educational sovereignty is the inherent right of Indigenous peoples to determine how their children learn, what knowledge is honoured, and how connections to language, Lands, and communities are restored. For an organization like ours, which is not Indigenous-led, our responsibility is to follow Indigenous leadership, offer our skills where they are invited, and remain accountable for the ways we show up.

We’ve been privileged to support this work in meaningful ways through our partnerships with Matawa First Nations and Red Rock Indian Band, among others. Collaboratively developing resources and learning experiences grounded in Indigenous pedagogy and supported by our framework for quality thinking has been deeply enriching.

We know that Indigenous knowledges are living, rigorous ways of understanding the world that enable all learners to benefit. Relationality, responsibility to the Land and to one another, learning through experience and story while attending to the learner as a whole person are the conditions that support the flourishing of every child.

Our new resource Courageous Inquiry, guided by Dr. Marie Battiste, asks educators to grapple with the deeper questions related to who they are in relation to this work.

On September 30^th and throughout the year, we invite you to commit to the one deep, sustained change in your practice that enables you to walk this path with greater courage and accountability.