The Decolonization, Indigenization and Reconciliation (DIR) Community of Practice (CoP) welcomes Faculty, Staff, Sessional Instructors, and Graduate Teaching Assistants. The CoP provides resources and guidance, and most importantly, space and time for participants to discuss their ideas, uncertainties, questions and best practices around bringing DIR into their teaching and learning environments. Cara Loft and Dianne Ashbourne will co-facilitate the DIR CoP with Two-Eyed Seeing lens. Cara Loft, as the Educational Developer for Indigenous Knowledges and Pedagogies, will guide the conversation and will provide DIR resources to help enhance participants’ teaching/learning practice. Dianne Ashbourne will bring her Educational Developer lens and experience working towards allyship with Indigenous peoples in education to support the discussions with a Two-Eyed Seeing Perspective. We will also welcome Rachael Lewitzky as a special guest facilitator to share her lens on Educational Technology/Development to share how this can support decolonized learning. 

The participants will collectively decide on areas topics of focus in an emergent learning outcomes model. This is meant to be responsive to the collective needs and learning of the CoP. Overall, the DIR CoP will continue to build off the meaningful DIR work that is already happening at the University of Guelph, University of Guelph-Humber, and Ridgetown. It will also provide space for learners at all different levels to engage in ideas, concepts and activities around DIR.

The DIR CoP will alternate between in person and online meetings (see schedule below).

At the end of the DIR CoP, participants will: 

• understand how decolonization, Indigenization and reconciliation can add value to their work and/or current teaching practice.
• discover what areas in their work that can integrate decolonization/Indigenization/Reconciliation in a meaningful and culturally appropriate way. 
• be connected to a group of committed allies who can then support one-another outside of the CoP and continue to further DIR work collectively at the University of Guelph, Guelph-Humber, and Ridgetown.

Meeting Schedule 

Note: For online sessions, the Teams meeting links will be sent out to registrants before the session.