KPU Indigenous Dialogue Series
ə́y̓ swéyəl ʔəm̓i ce:p kʷətxʷiləm
(Good day, and welcome)
Hear pronunciation
The Indigenous Dialogue Series at Kwantlen Polytechnic University brings together members of the KPU community—students, employees, affiliates, and the general public; settler and Indigenous—to listen, learn, and engage with Indigenous scholars, activists, and thought leaders on local, regional, national and global issues impacting Indigenous Peoples.
Indigenous Dialogue Series
What does it mean to Decolonize and Indigenize Curriculum and Pedagogy in Academia? Practical Strategies for Faculty and Senior Leadership to Consider.
Guest Speaker: Kahérakwas Donna Goodleaf, Ed.D.
The aim of this workshop is to unpack and examine what decolonizing and Indigenizing curriculum and pedagogy means within the context of university programs. Concrete examples of what decolonized and Indigenized course syllabi look like will be explored. As well, participants will hear from a Concordia university Associate Dean in the Fine Arts and faculty member in Communications department in relation to their experiences, successes, challenges and opportunities in moving forward Concordia University's commitment to decolonizing and Indigenizing curriculum and pedagogy university-wide.
Speaker Bio
Kahérakwas Donna Goodleaf, Ed.D.
Donna Kahérakwas Goodleaf is Turtle Clan and is a citizen from the Kanien’kehaka (Mohawk) Nation, Kahnawake Territory, which is part of the Rotinonhsión:ni Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy. She is a Kanien’kehá:ka educator and scholar who joined Concordia University in January of 2018 and is the Director of Decolonizing Curriculum and Pedagogy.
Her primary role is to develop university-wide training with Concordia faculty on Indigenous decolonizing and re-conceptualize curriculum and programs of study in ways that re-center the advancement and integration of Indigenous peoples’ diverse intellectual, scientific and cultural knowledge systems, worldviews, epistemologies, histories, research and pedagogies across all academic units. She currently serves on the Indigenous Directions Leadership Council, Concordia University, and the National Indigenous University Senior Leadership Association.
She also received a grant from the Chamandy Foundation to develop a micropgram in Indigenous Land-Based Education in partnership with Concordia University, a local Kanien’kehá:ka community called Kahnawake non-profit business entity called Iontionhhéhkwen Wilderness Skills and the Chamandy Foundation for undergraduate Indigenous and the wider Concordia students in general.
Dr. Goodleaf also launched in the fall of 2023, a Five Year Plan on Decolonizing and Indigenizing Curriculum and Pedagogy for Concordia University. Dr. Goodleaf has extensive years and experiences teaching in universities across Canada and the United States and has vast experiences working in Indigenous communities on a local, national, and international level in the areas of Indigenous-centered education, language and cultural revitalization programs. Her current research interests are in decolonization, Indigenous land-based education, protection and promotion of Indigenous language and cultural rights, Indigenous land rights and rights to self-determination and Human Rights.