Aurora College and Aurora Research Institute hosted an on-the-land gathering recently.
Indigenous Elders, along with research partners from the University of Alberta, University of New Brunswick, University of Saskatchewan, University of Toronto, and Toronto District School Board, came together at Kettle Point, Wood Buffalo National Park, near Fort Smith for their research project, ‘Stories of Hope: Decolonizing Learning in Canada‘.
‘Stories of Hope‘ is a two-year project, led by Aurora College. It’s funded through a $240,000 Partnership Development Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).
Elders and academics gathered August 29-31 to share progress on their studies and activities documenting how decolonizing education is happening across the country.
Jane Arychuk, President of Aurora College, says the project is an excellent fit with Aurora College. “This project addresses current needs for educators in the NWT and across Canada to support educational opportunities for Indigenous learners,” says Arychuk. “It will develop and strengthen decolonizing efforts within our instructional staff and create new knowledge that will support pre-service teachers. Not only will it guide our instruction as a whole as we further move towards decolonizing our programs, but these findings will enhance educational experiences for students from coast to coast to coast.”
The Partnership Development Grant which Aurora College received is given, in part, to design and test new collaborative approaches to research that may result in models that can be adapted by others, or that have the potential to be scaled up to a regional, national or international level.
Aurora College is the only institution in the NWT eligible to apply for and receive SSHRC funding.
