The annual UVic Author Celebration is coming up as part of Ideafest. Join us as we celebrate books written by UVic authors, including an engaging panel discussion on issues facing First Nations communities.
When: March 8, 2018
Where: University Bookstore
Time: 3:00-4:30pm
The author panel includes: John Borrows (Law), Michele Tanaka (Education), Paul Whitinui (Education), and Wanosts’a7 Lorna Williams (Education). Rebecca Johnson (Indigenous Law Research Unit) will moderate.
This week, we will highlight the books written by members of the author panel.
Learning and Teaching Together: Weaving Indigenous Ways of Knowing into Education by Michele Tanaka was released by UBC Press in 2016.
About the Book
Far more than a how-to book, Learning and Teaching Together introduces teachers of all levels to an indigenist approach to education. Tanaka recounts how pre-service teachers enrolled in a cross-cultural course in British Columbia immersed themselves in indigenous ways of learning and teaching by working alongside indigenous wisdom keepers. Together, they transformed cedar bark, buckskin, and wool into a mural that tells stories about the land upon which the course took place. In the process, they discovered new ways of learning that support not only intellectual but also tactile, emotional, and spiritual forms of knowledge. The teachers-in-training then carried their new-found knowledge into their practicums, where they faced challenges and opportunities as they worked to apply the indigenist values they had learned within a system structured around Western values, beliefs, and attitudes.
About the Author
Michele T.D. Tanaka is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Victoria. Her research and teaching interests have been shaped by 20 years in the classroom, in a variety of educational settings including early childhood, kindergarten, Grade 5 reading, and adult education.
Dr. Tanaka teaches courses in Transformative Inquiry, Community & Culture, EL TELNIWT & Aboriginal Education, and Elementary Field Experiences. She currently serves on the Indigenous Education Advisory Board, the Diversity, Belonging & Equity Committee, and the Faculty of Education Social Committee.
Praise for the Book
“Teachers in British Columbia and throughout Canada who struggle with how to enact curriculum changes that incorporate Indigenous knowledge, history, and identity will find this book illuminating … in spite of the seemingly overwhelming challenges in making a space for Indigenous thought and experience, it can and must be done. The transformation has been happening and is continuing.” –
“Too often, in educational contexts, we get caught up in theorizing and intellectualizing rather than expressing other ways of knowing and understanding. As Michele Tanaka shows, there is much powerful holistic learning that can emerge when we make and do things together in accordance with the guidance of sacred ecology wisdom. This provocative and engaging book provides excellent examples of holistic engagement processes and inspires us to reimagine the purposes and processes of public education today. Learning and Teaching Together provides valuable guidance to educators, teacher-educators, and policy makers.” – Dwayne Donald, associate professor, Faculty of Education, University of Alberta
