Photo by Veri Ivanova on Unsplash

1. Message from CTLT Indigenous Initiatives
2. CTLT Online Teaching Program (OTP): Resources from Indigenous Initiatives
3. CTLT Indigenous Initiatives Fall 20' Programming 
4. CTLT Indigenous Initiatives Staff Updates: Welcome Bronte Burnette
5. What I Learned in Class Today Reboot: The “I” in Relation by Keirra Webb
6. Across Our Desks: news and articles related to Indigenous engagement in teaching and learning

Greetings everyone, 

We hope you and your loved ones are staying well and safe as we continue to live in these unprecedented and challenging times.

Though this academic year was not a situation we expected, we are nonetheless looking forward to starting off a new academic year remotely. Since we moved to remote work, we created a few resources to support you and hope that it will provide some good grounding to the start of a new term. In this newsletter, you will also find what we have planned for the term, staff updates, and news related to classroom climate and Indigenous engagement in teaching and learning.

CTLT Indigenous Initiatives has developed video resources to aid educators and facilitators in the process of acknowledging Indigenous territory in an online space.

What can we do to support students and instructors as they learn online? When we consider student learning in online environments, it is not enough to be learner-centred. In this recorded session we explored how instructors can create space for themselves and their students to lead less stressful lives, while acknowledging that learning and living at this time are very closely intertwined. Click the "learn more" button to view the session recording. 

In this session the UBC teaching and learning community learned how to host conversations around decolonizing and Indigenous-centred practices in the online environment. CTLT Indigenous Initiatives resources were shared and a discussion on how to use these resources in the classroom. Click the "learn more" button to view the session recording. 

Our Indigenous Initiatives Virtual Coffee Drop-ins will be continuing into the fall semester, and we’d love you to join us for an upcoming session. They tend to be small gatherings, usually around 4-6 attendees and 2 facilitators, so everyone gets a chance to bring their question or discussion topic to the group. 

We’ve had staff and faculty attend from across all UBC campuses, including faculty, staff and administration from multiple libraries, the First Nations House of Learning, Human Resources, Enrolment Services, CTLT, and faculties such as, Applied Sciences and Arts. 

We regularly discuss topics around Indigenizing and decolonizing course content and department processes; how to engage respectfully with Indigenous staff, students, faculty, and community members; offering meaningful land acknowledgements; and exploring useful resources for course work and professional development.

Resources shared from the II virtual coffee drop-ins range from academic articles on topics related to decolonizing practices, Indigenous pedagogy, to best practices on offering land acknowledgements, and online educational resources that include stories and teachings from local elders and Indigenous community leaders.

Please register for any of the drop-ins below. Looking forward to seeing you! 

a. Tuesday, September 22nd from 11am-12pm - REGISTER 
b. Wednesday, October 7th from 10-11am - REGISTER 
c. Thursday, October 22nd from 11am-12pm - REGISTER 
d. Thursday, November 5th from 10-11am - REGISTER 
e. Wednesday, November 25th from 10-11am - REGISTER 
f. Thursday, December 10th from 11am-12pm - REGISTER 

CTLT Indigenous Initiatives will be offering sessions for the Anti-Racist Teaching Series in partnership with the Equity Inclusion Office (EIO). The workshop series are for the UBC teaching and learning community who wish to cultivate a teaching or facilitation practice that serves as a form of solidarity, and is based upon research and popular education pedagogy in the areas of anti-racism, equity, and inclusion. 

Earlier this month, we said goodbye to our colleague Chloe Erlendson. During her time as Educational Consultant for Indigenous Initiatives, Chloe supported the IN/relation project, workshops for the Remote Teaching Institute, OTP, and Indigenous-focused TA Training. A notable project that Chloe took the lead on completing was: 
- Open case study on navigating complex classroom dynamics and the use of guidelines that will also be featured in the IN/relation facilitator guide

Thank you, Chloe! We wish you well and look forward to future opportunities to collaborate.

The Indigenous Initiatives team is proud to present the first of a six-part article series that uses interviews from the What I Learned in Class Today reboot project to expand upon topics of Indigenous engagement and classroom climate at the University of British Columbia. We believe that the stories shared with us from participating students, staff, and faculty will continue to inform and motivate the University in implementing the recently released 2020 Indigenous Strategic Plan. The articles dive into key themes from our faculty cut film that will be screened to the UBC community throughout the fall term. We welcome you to begin with our introductory article, “The “I” in Relation: Positionality Work in Educational Environments,” and to stay tuned for a new release each month. Lastly, to hear more about the article series lead and our Work/Learn student, Keirra Webb. 

Learn about Indigenous knowledges in open education in this thought-provoking interview with Dr. Daniel Heath Justice, a professor in the Department of First Nations and Indigenous Studies and Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Literature and Expressive Culture, where he speaks about technology, appropriation, representation and more.

In this article, UBC iSchool faculty member, Lisa Nathan, discusses using information to address long-term societal challenges, including climate change.

View Resource.

Stay well and safe, 
CTLT Indigenous Initiatives