Thoughts on decolonizing education.

My name is Caylee. I’m Métis and a first-year nursing student at Medicine Hat College. I’d like to start a discussion here about how my own and other programs can help bring about decolonization. In my program, I would much prefer hands-on learning rather than the standard of rushing through lectures and memorizing texts. I think making this change would help decolonize the university learning structure. I know it’s hard for me and others to learn this way; not everyone has grown up learning from books. Many have learned from stories or by doing things themselves.

What do you want to see? What do you think is needed?

I agree with the statement that hands-on learning is a far better way to grasp concepts, especially when it comes to Indigenous history/education/information. I'm currently a university student and personally I'd love to see more Indigenous students in my program, the topics and cricumstance of my program highlights the struggles Indigenous people face with in the specific career my program is geared towards. I'd love to see some more Indigenous student rep in my program and perhaps maybe encouraging a larger diversity so we can have those multi-cultural perspectives.

Although i go to a different university, i fully agree with the hands-on experience. At my school, i find we don't have any indigenous teaching (unless taking the classes explicitly). I'd love to learn more but have little way to do so. There should be more hands-on (even storytelling) that has to do with indigenous teachings in university.

I agree that there needs to be a change in the way of education. The way we currently are taught was standardised during the Industrial Revolution. (Ending nearly two centuries ago) Education as a concept should place more value in passing down the experience of one party to the next, not forcing retoric down the throats of the world's youth as soon as society deems possible. We do need to bring students of all ages outside and teach them through hands on learning, stories, and practical explinations the world around them, and how the people before them made their way in it. I think this would be conducive to a learning environment where the Indigenous ways can be taught in a manner that all people can understand. Learning racism, dates, and numbers by rote is archaic and conservative. We need to embrace better ways to educate the world's youth than forcing them to sit still and learn stale concepts that force them to be mindless, dependant people who don't understand anything about the world around them.