Specific Course Offerings - Aboriginal Education

Courses offered at UVIC:

EDCI/IS 371 – History of Aboriginal Education

Units: 1.5

This course is meant to provide a broad picture of Aboriginal education in Canada. Together we will learn about traditional forms of knowledge and pedagogy: the historical overview of the developments of western education as it relates to Aboriginal people and the current situation in both public schools and band schools in British Columbia.  Topics of the course are divided into four categories, beginning with traditional forms of Aboriginal knowledge and pedagogy before European contact, to a historical view of colonization and government legislation and policy pertaining to education, to First Nations resistance and educational initiatives, and lastly a general overview of current issues facing First Nations Education today.

EDCI/IS 372 – Epistemologies of Aboriginal People

Aboriginal Ways of Knowing
Units: 1.5

This course is meant to provide students with an understanding of Aboriginal/First Nations knowings and practices as experienced by First Nations people, rather than as mediated through non-Aboriginal people's interpretations. It is meant to celebrate the traditional and other evolved knowings and practices of First Peoples and to problematize the assimilative pressures which the larger society has imposed onto Aboriginal peoples since contact. This course looks at how First Peoples think, feel and act as the people of this land, rather than as Euro-American constructs and objectifications; different kinds of Aboriginal scholarship as expressed orally, spiritually and in written form, in Aboriginal and imported languages; how First Peoples validate and construct their scholarship, their epistemological frameworks, their methodologies and protocols; and the ethics and values of Aboriginal peoples in terms of research and relationship.

EDCI 591 – Aboriginal Ways of Knowing

Units: 1.5 or 3

This is a variable content course.

This course is meant to make available an understanding of Aboriginal ways of knowing and practices as they are conveyed through language, stories, ceremony, and community. This course looks at how Aboriginal people think, feel, and act as people of the land. These understandings will lead to an examination of how Aboriginal peoples validate and construct their scholarship, pedagogy, epistemological frameworks, and research methodologies and protocols. Collaborative and inquiry based approaches will be used to meet the learning objectives in the class.

EDCI 487/591 – Thunderbird/Whale Protection and Welcoming Pole; Learning and Teaching in an Indigenous World

Units: 1.5 or 3

Topics of current interest or concern to groups of students.

The outcome of this course will be a carved welcoming pole which will stand in the MacLaurin Building, a video documentary, a website, and print education materials. This course is a unique and timely educational experience to participate in the construction and installation of a Protection and Welcoming Pole. You will learn first hand how teaching and learning occur in an Indigenous world. Undergraduate and graduate students will work alongside and artist-in-residence and a mentor carver/educator to witness, experience, carve, learn, and position the pole in the MacLaurin Building. The learning community will engage in hearing the traditional stories and songs associated with the pole and the artists. The course will integrate hands-on practical activities with theoretical and academic goals. Students will experience the principles of traditional Indigenous ways of teaching and learning such as mentorship and apprenticeship learning; learning by doing; learning by deeply observing; learning through listening and telling stories and singing songs; learning in a community; and learning by sharing and providing service to the community. Graduate students will assume the leadership role in each project area.