Indigenous Education Blueprint will lead to action on TRC recommendations
Every post-secondary institute in Manitoba, as well as the Manitoba School Boards Association, met in Migizii Agamik – Bald Eagle Lodge on Dec. 18 to sign the Indigenous Education Blueprint
UWinnipeg is proud to have signed on to this transformational framework, the result of an unprecedented partnership between Manitoba’s public school boards and the post-secondary education sector, now united in their efforts to advance Indigenous education and reconciliation, and to make Manitoba a global centre of excellence for Indigenous education, research, languages, and cultures.
This Blueprint takes action on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s recommendations. It will translate into success for Indigenous students and their families, enriching the lives of all Manitobans.
Next steps include action items such as establishing a steering committee with all signatories, creating a collaborative website and social media platform, and hosting an Indigenous education conference.
This new collaborative endeavor will continue to grow as more stakeholders and community groups are asked to join in the education partnership.
The educational partners who signed the historic Blueprint in Migizii Agamik – Bald Eagle Lodge, at the University of Manitoba, include: University of Winnipeg, Brandon University, Université de Saint-Boniface, Canadian Mennonite University, University College of the North, Red River College, Manitoba Institute of Trades and Technology, Assiniboine Community College, Manitoba School Boards Association, and the University of Manitoba.
By signing the Indigenous Education Blueprint– formally the “Manitoba Collaborative Indigenous Education Blueprint For Universities, Colleges and Public School Boards: Making Excellence in Indigenous Education a Priority” – the signatories commit to:
1. Engaging with Indigenous peoples in respectful and reciprocal relationships and to realize the right to self-determination, and to advance reconciliation, language and culture through education, research and skill development;
2. Bringing Indigenous knowledge, languages and intellectual traditions, models and approaches into curriculum and pedagogy;
3. Promoting research and learning that reflects the history and contemporary context of the lives of Indigenous peoples;
4. Increasing access to services, programs, and supports to Indigenous students, to ensure a learning environment is established that fosters learner success;
5. Collaborating to increase student mobility to better serve the needs of Indigenous students;
6. Building school and campus communities that are free of racism, value diversity and foster cultural safety;
7. Increasing and measuring Indigenous school and post-secondary participation and success rates;
8. Showcasing successes of Indigenous students and educators;
9. Reflecting the diversity of First Nations, Inuit and Métis cultures in Manitoba through institutional governance and staffing policies and practices; and
10. Engaging governments and the private and public sectors to increase labour market opportunities for Indigenous graduates.
MEDIA CONTACT
Megan Benedictson, University of Winnipeg
P: 204-988-7129 E: me.benedictson@uwinnipeg.ca
