Making Place: Indigenous Education in the City

“My interest in Indigenous Pedagogy is motivated by deep commitments to improving Indigenous students’ experiences in school. Theories of place (Coultard, 2014; Goeman, 2008) resurgence (Simpson, 2017) and story (Archibald, 2008; Heath Justice,2018) complicate and illuminate my understanding of Indigenous Education. Drawing on my experiences teaching and learning in urban contexts, in this talk I identify and describe the significance of knowledge, community, cultural practice, and physical presence to creating an urban Indigenous teaching and learning place.” – Professor Susan Dion

Professor Susan Dion is the inaugural Associate Vice-President Indigenous Initiatives. She is a Lenape and Potawatomi scholar with mixed Irish and French ancestry. She was the first Indigenous tenure-track faculty member to be hired in York’s Faculty of Education. She has led the development of the Wuleelham: Indigenous Education Initiatives including the Urban Indigenous Education MEd Cohort, an Indigenous PhD Cohort and the Waaban Indigenous Teacher Education Program. Her scholarly works and interests focus on urban Indigenous education, decolonizing systems of education, and education sovereignty. Prof. Dion has also supported the establishment of the Aboriginal Student Services and the Centre for Indigenous Students at York. Recently, she has been awarded the prestigious F.E.L. Priestly Prize for the co-authored article “Narratives of Place and Relationship: Bev Sellar’s Memoir They Called Me Number One”. The award was presented by the Association of Canadian College and University Teachers of English (ACCUTE).