University of New Brunswick education students are preparing to become teachers who can promote reconciliation and decolonization with a course called Indigenous Education. The course includes a sweetgrass smudging ceremony, instruction on how to be a good treaty partner, and information about the issues facing Indigenous people in Canada. Students in the course participate in on-the-land learning with Wabanaki Elders, where they acquire the knowledge and insight they will need to promote reconciliation and decolonization in their future workplaces. Students will combine their learning with hands-on learning opportunities where they will serve Indigenous communities through activities such as planting trees and sweetgrass or working on the Wabanaki longhouse at UNB’s Fredericton campus. The course aims to help them develop the skills needed to design curriculum and consult with Indigenous communities and Elders. “Our goal is to prepare them to be the changemakers of the curriculum in their schools and involve Indigenous communities,” said UNB associate professor Juan Rodriguez.
