Growing Together: Cultivating a First Nations Education Hub

Presented by Jennifer Maracle

Many First Nations schools are working tirelessly to support students while navigating increasing educational complexities amid limited resources amid professional isolation. This session introduces the concept of a First Nations Education Hub, an Indigenous, community-based approach that strengthens relationships and builds local capacity to support student success throughout their education journey

Grounded in the Haudenosaunee teaching of the Tyonhnhéhkwen (Three Sisters), this session demonstrates how our teachings can inform and transform educational systems. Participants will be encouraged to reflect on how this concept can be adapted within their own communities using their nation’s teachings.

Through storytelling and guided discussion, participants will explore the Tyonhéhkwen teaching on reciprocal relationships and shared responsibility and its implications for transformative education. Together, we will consider questions such as: Who provides the stability and structure within our educational communities? Who protects and creates the conditions for learning? What creates the opportunity for us to work together? What must we cultivate in the soil for relationships to take root? Rather than proposing another program or governance model, this session invites participants to reclaim Indigenous approaches to educational by shifting from a Western model to one grounded in relationships, reciprocity, collective responsibility, and the strengths of their our Nation’s worldviews and teachings. https://queensu.scholaris.ca/items/4f442eed-4395-4439-92b8-fc110902e946