Aboriginal Education for Non-Aboriginal Learners: Engaging Teacher Candidates in an Immersive Cultural Experience
type: CreativeWork
description: It is the expectation of this thesis that Aboriginal Education ought to be considered education for all learners, that is initiated, developed, facilitated and evaluated by Aboriginal people. In order to demonstrate this, this dissertation describes a weekend-long land-based Immersive Cultural Experience facilitated by two Anishinaabe Elders, involving six non-Aboriginal Teacher Candidates from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education's Bachelor of Education program. The research was proposed and carried out respecting Indigenous Knowledge and the standards set out in the Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres' Utility, Self-Voicing, Access, Inter-Relationality Research Framework. Experience was the principal method through which an expanded approach to Aboriginal Education was validated, however the main form of data collection for the Immersive Cultural Experience was twelve participant interviews. The analytical approach was interpretive and inductive, asking questions that related to experience, focusing on the improvement of professional teaching practice and ultimately how the participants perceived their experiences. The data outlined in this dissertation reflects the comments and reflections of the Teacher Candidates, drawn from a pre-experience interview, sharing circle that closed the Immersive Cultural Experience, debrief session in Toronto, post-experience interview, as well as correspondence. The interviews were structured to gather a range of information from reflection on Canadian identity, personal responsibility, spirituality, new styles of teaching and learning, and the utility of cultural immersion and experiential education. This dissertation contributes to theory development for Allyship and provides a best practices framework for intercultural engagement and experiential learning, outlining: a) knowing one's history; b) seeking local Knowledge Holders; c) understanding Aboriginal ethics protocols; d) collaborative planning; e…
abstract: It is the expectation of this thesis that Aboriginal Education ought to be considered education for all learners, that is initiated, developed, facilitated and evaluated by Aboriginal people. In order to demonstrate this, this dissertation describes a weekend-long land-based Immersive Cultural Experience facilitated by two Anishinaabe Elders, involving six non-Aboriginal Teacher Candidates from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education's Bachelor of Education program. The research was proposed and carried out respecting Indigenous Knowledge and the standards set out in the Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres' Utility, Self-Voicing, Access, Inter-Relationality Research Framework. Experience was the principal method through which an expanded approach to Aboriginal Education was validated, however the main form of data collection for the Immersive Cultural Experience was twelve participant interviews. The analytical approach was interpretive and inductive, asking questions that related to experience, focusing on the improvement of professional teaching practice and ultimately how the participants perceived their experiences. The data outlined in this dissertation reflects the comments and reflections of the Teacher Candidates, drawn from a pre-experience interview, sharing circle that closed the Immersive Cultural Experience, debrief session in Toronto, post-experience interview, as well as correspondence. The interviews were structured to gather a range of information from reflection on Canadian identity, personal responsibility, spirituality, new styles of teaching and learning, and the utility of cultural immersion and experiential education. This dissertation contributes to theory development for Allyship and provides a best practices framework for intercultural engagement and experiential learning, outlining: a) knowing one's history; b) seeking local Knowledge Holders; c) understanding Aboriginal ethics protocols; d) collaborative planning; e…
author: Snowball, Andrew
keywords: Aboriginal education, Canadian identity, cultural immersion, experiential, Indigenous Knowledge, land-based
date published: 2014-11
date modified: 2026-07-27T21:27:58Z
provider: University of Toronto
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Toronto

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/1807/68306