Wilfrid Laurier University recently published an article highlighting the university’s new Centre for Indigegogy: https://www.wlu.
The centre, launched through the university’s Faculty of Social Work, provides educators and practitioners with Indigenous-centred holistic training and development through two certificates:
The first certificate — the Indigenous Educators’ Certificate in Indigegogy — offers Indigenous educators an experiential and skill-based learning opportunity intended to build knowledge, confidence and capacity to teach from their Indigenous selves.
The second certificate — the Decolonizing Education Certificate — provides all educators, including non-Indigenous faculty and educators, an understanding of Indigenous perspectives in the history of colonization. Modules in this certificate explore topics including land, policy, governance, social control policy, solidarity, resistance movements and healing movements.
“There are few places in Canada where Indigenous educators can engage in training and development that is rooted in Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing,” says Kathy Absolon-King, inaugural director of the Centre for Indigegogy. “While mainstream training still tends to omit the context and history of colonization, our program addresses it and provides more than just intellectual training — it’s emotional, relational and spiritual.”
The centre’s offerings are part of an ongoing effort by the university to weave Indigenous learning and understanding into the experience of all Laurier students, faculty and staff. As highlighted in Laurier’s 2015-2020 Strategic Academic Plan, supporting Indigenous communities through education is a priority for the university.
“Indigenous learners are the single-most under-represented group in Canadian higher education,” says Laurier President and Vice-Chancellor Deborah MacLatchy. “As a university, we have both an obligation and an opportunity to acknowledge and support the unique needs of Indigenous communities and to create a climate where learning about and understanding indigeneity is part of the Laurier experience for students, faculty and staff.”
You can learn more about the centre here: https://www.wlu.ca/academics/faculties/faculty-of-social-work/centre-for-indigegogy/index.html
Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you’d like to speak with the centre’s director Kathy Absolon-King or to speak with someone about the university’s Indigenous learning and support.
Kevin Dias
Communications and Public Affairs Officer
Communications, Public Affairs & Marketing (CPAM)
Wilfrid Laurier University
519.884.0710 ext. 3341
