Centering Indigenous knowledge and leadership

“Supporting Indigenous teacher education means much more than training teachers — it’s about nurturing Indigenous knowledge, language, and cultural continuity,” says Rachel Mishenene, RHF Director of the Indigenous Teacher Education Initiative and an Indigenous educator herself. “These projects are led by Indigenous communities who know best how to positively impact the next generation of educators to teach in ways that are deeply connected to identity, and honour distinct worldviews and practices.”

Building on past experience and addressing community needs

Associate Dean of Indigenous Education at the Faculty of Education, Marti Ford, and Frontier School Division Chief Superintendent, Tyson MacGillivray, collaborated on the proposal and played pivotal roles in securing funding for this programming.

Ford’s own experience motivated her to find a solution for teacher shortages in remote communities, “When I was working at Frontier School Division we were unable to hire enough qualified teachers to fill all teaching positions. The people teaching the students required a lot of mentoring and support, and I felt that we needed to provide training to enable them to build their skills. Offering a B.Ed. program to local people would not only fill a need but also provide a long-term solution to the problem.”

This initiative builds on recent successes, including the graduation of the Anisininew Post-Baccalaureate cohort from St. Theresa Point last fall. With a similar strategy, Ford’s hope is to train local people to be teachers in the community so they do not have to leave their families and children in order to get a degree in education.

19 Indigenous teachers from St. Theresa Point comprise the Ansininew Cohort in Inclusion and Reconciliation (Faculty of Education)

Commitment to reconciliation and educational equity

Dean Jan Stewart has championed many Indigenous programming initiatives at the Faculty of Education and is continuously working to forge educational partnerships with Indigenous communities. “We are deeply grateful to the Rideau Hall Foundation and the Mastercard Foundation for their generous support of the Manitoba Indigenous Teacher Education Partnership. This funding represents a transformative opportunity to empower Indigenous communities through education. By supporting local teacher training in northern Manitoba, we are not only addressing critical staffing needs but also honouring Indigenous knowledge, languages, and cultures. This partnership reflects our commitment to Reconciliation and educational equity, and we are proud to walk alongside Frontier School Division in this important work.”

Today, MP Terry Duguid – alongside President Michael Benarroch and principal investigator Dr. Katherine Starzyk – announced $206,029 will be awarded to the Reconciliation Barometer under the Canada History Fund Program to help develop an advisory group for the project that includes Elders, Traditional Knowledge Keepers, Survivors, and youth and to develop learning materials in the form of infographics, info sheets, and tool kits for educators. The ceremony was opened by Grandmother-in-Residence Elder Karen Courchene who brought greetings and a blessing to those in attendance.  

Dr. Starzyk and team. Credit: J. Ogbonnaya

“Our government’s support for the Canadian Reconciliation Barometer Project reflects our unwavering dedication to advancing the vital process of reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. This new funding will strengthen initiatives aimed at enhancing our understanding of this important journey,” said MP Duguid.   

“What Reconciliation and decolonization means to people can be difficult to measure, but it is essential that we track progress—and hold ourselves accountable—which is why today’s funding announcement is so very welcome: The Reconciliation Barometer is a key tool for us all,” said UM President Michael Benarroch. “I am grateful to be a part of many positive events celebrating our ongoing commitment to advancing Reconciliation.”

“We have focused on understanding what truth and reconciliation means to Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Canada on an ongoing and evolving basis and respectfully tracking progress using the best practices,” said principal investigator and Professor of Psychology in the Faculty of Arts Dr. Kathrine Starzyk. “To the Government of Canada and especially Canadian Heritage, for this support, we say thank you, merci, miigwetch, maarsi, háw’aa! Because of this funding, we can continue to shed light on where we are in the long and winding path toward reconciliation and foster mutually respectful relationships at both personal and systemic levels so that Indigenous peoples and others in Canada can enjoy the good life.” 

More than half of the research team is Indigenous (Anishinaabe, Cree, Haida, and Métis). They also have many non-Indigenous identities. Collectively, through each of their lived experiences, the team seeks to understand what reconciliation means to Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada, on an ongoing and evolving basis.  

Read the latest annual report and learn more about the Canadian Reconciliation Barometer. 

“We’re thrilled to see both the province and the federal governments have stepped up to meet the child-care needs of our students and faculty on our Bannatyne and Fort Garry campuses. We’ve never had a child-care centre on the Bannatyne campus,” says UM associate vice-president (administration), Raman Dhaliwal.

The proposed new centre at UM’s Bannatyne campus will have 90 spots and an additional 76 spaces will be created at UM’s Campus Children’s Centre Inc. on the Fort Garry campus.

“Residents will now have access to care for their children close to where they are completing their education and training and that is a huge win for students with families. The centre will also offer extended hours to accommodate the clinical schedule of students, which is longer than a typical workday for most people, especially when they are on call,” added Dhaliwal.

UM associate vice-president (administration) Raman Dhaliwal with federal minister Families, Children and Social Development, Karina Gould, and Manitoba Education and Early Childhood Learning Minister, Wayne Ewasko at July 20, 2023 announcement.

UM submitted an expression of interest for new spaces earlier this year, but efforts to fund and build a centre at UM’s Bannatyne campus have been underway for years.

Dhaliwal says the plan is also to provide access to weekend child-care services to allow time for studying or to help graduate students in the health professions enter the workforce and provide care for Manitobans.

Funding is from the Canada-Manitoba Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, which will provide  $180 million in funding over the next three years to expand child-care spaces in public schools and post-secondary institutions across the province.

“I am proud that we are partnering with the University of Manitoba to add child-care spaces at two of their sites in Winnipeg,” says Manitoba Education and Early Childhood Learning Minister Wayne Ewasko. “These additional spaces will make a real difference for students, staff and their families and ensure they are able to access high-quality, affordable child care, making it easier to learn and work.”

Projects were chosen based on the feasibility of each institution’s plan, availability of space/land and the need for child care within the area.

“We know that child care is a necessity for Canadian families. That is why Canada and Manitoba are making sure that families in Manitoba have better access to early learning and child care, no matter where they live,” added federal Families, Children and Social Development Minister, Karina Gould, in a joint press release. 

Over the coming months, provincial officials will work with UM to finalize project details and exact timing for new space openings and timelines for when the Bannatyne centre will open.

You can find more information on this story and other child-care initiatives in this press release.