News
Indigenous Education Doctorate Program Commences
Sep 27, 2024
Posted in: EdDoc, GDC, GDI, Master of Education, Métis, Partnership, Regina
On July 8, 2024, the first cohort of the Indigenous Education Doctorate gathered at the Gabriel Dumont Institute (GDI) Prince Albert campus for the first day of classes. Faculty from the University of Regina (U of R) and GDI welcomed the 17 doctoral students. The three-year program emphasizes Métis local knowledge, history, spirituality, and culture. It also includes how the locality interacts and is positioned within the broader national and international educational context.
GDI has delivered Bachelor of Education programs for 44 years and has offered the Indigenous Community-Based Master of Education program in partnership with the U of R for the past 12 years. The EdDoc represents the latest development in the relationship between GDI and the U of R, and the next step forward for Métis educators on their academic journey. The U of R Faculty of Education have been keen collaborators and supporters of GDI and Indigenous scholarship in the province.
Métis Knowledge Keeper Mike Relland said, “not that long ago, this program, and GDI’s participation in it, was only a dream. It’s becoming a reality and reflects the good work of all the people within the Institute that have strived for years to prove to mainstream partners that GDI is an exemplary, trustworthy partner that possess a unique knowledge and perspective that can enrich mainstream education.” Relland is one of the faculty members for the program and was the catalyst for the program during his tenure with GDI as the Director of University Programming.
The EdDoc program began with two, four-day weeks of in-person sessions in and around Prince Albert. Students began to form a tight-knit community and began interrogating the existing knowledge base. Each student introduced themselves, and shared what the program means to them, and what their goals are. The students come from diverse backgrounds within academia, including school principals, directors, administrators, and one superintendent. Every student will create a new body of knowledge and expand the existing scholarship in new ways while practicing what they have learned in their educational careers.
Dr. Morris Cook, EdDoc Faculty and Northen Saskatchewan Indigenous Treacher Education Program Head, describes the program as life-changing, “The program is going to get you to something that you didn’t know was possible to achieve on your own because you’re a part of this educational community and supported by champions of the program at both GDI and the U of R.” The program is designed to be versatile and tailored to the needs of the doctoral students and the communities in which they work, whether through writing and research, land-based learning, in classrooms or in leadership roles in academia.
The 2024 EdDoc cohort is the first of many to come. The program is rigorous and intensive to train world-class Indigenous scholars who can shape the future of education and access positions of power that require advanced degrees and scholarship. This cohort holds hope for the future and is an important step toward reconciliation in education.
