Truth in Education: From Eurocentrism to Decolonization

Proceedings of The 3rd International Conference on New Trends in Social Sciences

Year: 2022

DOI:

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Truth in Education: From Eurocentrism to Decolonization

Emily Bagshaw, Lorenzo Cherubini, & Jennifer Dockstader

ABSTRACT: 

As a settler colonial country, social institutions in Canada such as the judicial and educational systems are inevitably founded on and grounded in settler colonial logics (Tsosie, 2017). As such, Canada’s provincial publicly funded education system is inherently Eurocentric and often operates in direct opposition to Indigenous cosmologies. As the second of two presentations that stem from a more comprehensive investigation conceptualized from Indigenous research methodologies that examined Indigenous-centred and led education in the context of decolonization and reconciliation in Canada, this presentation will focus on the emergence of a significant theme grounded in the data described as Truth in Education. Moreover, we will provide context of a culturally appropriate interview grounded in Indigenous epistemologies that facilitated a conversation between an Indigenous graduate student and mainstream scholar, and an Indigenous community member participating in culturally safe community programs at a Native Friendship Centre in Ontario, Canada. This presentation will discuss the critical role of

Indigenous led education based in truth and Indigenous cosmologies as one avenue toward Indigenous futurities in Canada (Simpson, 2017). Among the significant outcomes of the more comprehensive study that will be discussed is that for non-Indigenous people, recognizing and understanding the harms that mainstream Eurocentric education inflicts on Indigenous peoples in Canada is a first step in decolonizing education.

keywords: eurocentrism; Indigenous cosmologies; Indigenous futurities; reconciliation; settler colonialism.