Reconciliation in English Courses(Cégep & University)

Christopher Coquard

Université Laval and Cégep Garneau

Zoom : 891 213 93777

‘One of our failings is to take into account the need for us to engage with the non-indigenous community about their sense of what they need to do, their sense of commitment, and we have to broaden the conversation out.’  - Justice Murray Sinclair^[1]

Reconciliation in the classroom is included in the Calls to Action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)^[2] and the Calls to Justice from the Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls ^[3] report.  English teachers in Québec do not have easy access to materials that can help promote healing and reconciliation in their classrooms. This presentation thus seeks to address Justice Sinclair’s point by showcasing pedagogical materials created in cooperation with Indigenous communities to bring their plights to the forefront in the form of 11 independent modules (one for each nation located in ‘Québec’) addressing reading, listening, speaking, and writing skills. A glimpse of the first module being developed will be presented. 

References

^[1]Murray Sinclair on Moving Reconciliation Forward in Canada. CBC News: The National, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42yzZ1WuxFo. 

^[2] Rep. Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action. Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 2012. https://ehprnh2mwo3.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Calls_to_Action_English2.pdf. (#62i, ii & #63i-iv). 

^[3] Rep. Calls for Justice. National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, 2019. https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Calls-Web-Version-EN.docx. (#11.1 & 11.2).