The Indigenization and Decolonization of a TESOL Course: A New Tool

Résumé

This paper examines the harm colonialism and colonial education have inflicted on the Indigenous Peoples of Canada and the need for reconciliatory efforts and changes in the current education system as outlined by Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (2015a, 2015b). It reviews several different indigenizing and decolonizing methodologies available to educators before applying one suggested by Kirkness and Barnhardt (2001), the 4 R’s (respect, relevance, reciprocity, responsibility), to create an evaluative framework for a Pedagogical Grammar course in a Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) program at a western Canadian university. The framework was created in partnership with local and other western Indigenous experts and applied to the content and pedagogy of the course in question. The results of the application of this new evaluative tool are discussed before detailed suggestions for greater inclusion of Indigenous knowledge and pedagogy are made based on this framework.