Journeys: Transforming Indigenous Education

Ryan Neepin

The Journeys: Transforming Indigenous Education podcast is co-developed by the International Indigenous Consortium of Teacher Educators, a group of teachers, principals, professors, community leaders, and researchers working in Canada, New Zealand, and Hawai’i. Hosted by Dr. Ryan Neepin, guests on the podcast include members of the consortium as well as colleagues working in the field of Indigenous education in Canada and globally. Guests share their individual and collective journeys within educational contexts and beyond as we work towards Indigenous resurgence, educational sovereignty, and self-determination for all Indigenous Peoples. Miigwech - Hai hai - Nia:wen - Thank you for listening! -- Co-produced by graduate students Alyson McMullen and Lois Boody. Edited by Mary Chan of Organized Sound Productions. With thanks to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council for funding, Jackman Humanities Institute for recording studio access, and the Education Commons team at Ontario Institute for Studies in Education for web hosting support. Music for this podcast is “Curiosity” composed by Justin Delorme/Bryden Gwiss Kiwenzie and licensed through nagamo.ca, a platform dedicated to Indigenous artists and composers. -- To find out more about each episode and speaker, check out our main podcast page at https://www.oise.utoronto.ca/journeyspodcast.

Episodes

  1. Ixchel Bennett Pt. 2: Continuing the Journey

    6d ago

    Ixchel Bennett Pt. 2: Continuing the Journey

    In Part 2, Ixchel Bennett reflects on her ongoing doctoral work, educational leadership journey, and experiences moving from an urban to a rural community. She discusses the importance of relationships with Elders and community members in guiding her work and shares insights into transforming Indigenous education from within.

    51 min
  2. Ixchel Bennett's Journey - Part 1: Living the Land Acknowledgment

    Jun 8

    Ixchel Bennett's Journey - Part 1: Living the Land Acknowledgment

    In this episode—part 1 of a 2-part conversation—Journeys host Ryan Neepin is joined by Ixchel Bennett to discuss her journey with and through Indigenous education. In this first part, Ixchel shares her early journey: her student experience, the beginnings of her career, and the relationships and teachings that shaped her pathway and purpose. Listen along to learn what Ixchel describes as "living the land acknowledgment." ABOUT IXCHEL Guided by kinship, land, and responsibility, Ixchel is a Nahua/Zapoteca, Indigenous educator, tía, esposa, hermana, hija, amiga, sobrina from Turtle Island, born in Tenochtitlán (Mexico City). With over twenty years of experience as a teacher, seconded faculty member, and educational administrator, she has worked primarily within First Nations, Métis and Inuit educational contexts across rural and urban communities and school boards. She is a PhD candidate focusing on the experiences of Indigenous teacher candidates in the Waaban Indigenous Teacher Education Program. Her methodology is the tlayōlli (maize) cycle as a pedagogical approach to listening, understanding, and making meaning of shared stories. Informed by her roles within family and community, her work centers Indigenous wisdoms of care, accountability, transparency and resurgence in education, affirming Indigenous knowledge as living knowledge rooted in community, land, and responsibility.

    46 min
  3. Dance Your Style in Teacher Education: An International Panel

    Jun 1

    Dance Your Style in Teacher Education: An International Panel

    In this episode, we learn from global perspectives on teacher education, the possibilities and challenges of bridging local contexts with global citizenship within Indigenous and intercultural education, and the power of transnational collaboration. Guest host Zayd Waghid (South Africa) invites sharing across continents from colleagues Angelina Weenie (Cree - Canada), Esther Kiaritha (Kenya), Patricia Houde (Mexico), Alexis Oviedo (Ecuador), and Karine Hindrix (Belgium). ----- GUEST HOST: Zayd Waghid, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) in South Africa. He is the South African National Research Foundation Chair (SARChI): Transformative Education, Social Justice and Innovation at CPUT. He is a South African National Research Foundation C-rated researcher, a recipient of the CHE-Heltasa National Teaching Excellence Award (Commendation) in 2019 and was a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at Cornell University in 2024. SPEAKERS: Alexis Oviedo is a professor at Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar (UASB) He coordinates the Public Policies for Education and the Mastery in Innovation of Social Sciences and Humanities teaching at the Department of Education. Oviedo researches and works in social pedagogy, curricular diversification, intercultural education, organizational behaviour, cultural studies and cultural management, educational policy and research methodologies in various Latin American countries. Angelina Weenie is Cree (nehiyaw) from Sweetgrass First Nation, Saskatchewan, and is the dean of the Faculty of Indigenous Knowledge, Education, Research, and Applied Studies at the University of Prince Edward Island. Her research and teaching interests lie in Indigenous epistemology, culturally responsive pedagogy, approaches to Indigenous language reclamation, land-based pedagogy and research methods with Indigenous peoples. She has recently co-authored a book, Dance Your Style: Cree Pedagogy (2024). Karine Hindrix is a lecturer in Teacher Education at UC Leuven-Limburg in Belgium and a researcher within the UCLL Center of Expertise Education and Development. Patricia Marie Anne Houde is an associate professor at the Language Department of the University of Guanajuato, Mexico. She works in teacher education programs and has taught in French Immersion programs in Canada and English as a foreign language in Mexico. In 2018, she completed a PhD in Educational Studies in Language Acquisition at McGill University in Montreal. Her main research interest is in the area of reflective practice via collective accompaniment with EFL language teachers. Dr. Esther N. Kiaritha is a Senior Lecturer in Educational Psychology and Deputy Director of the Centre for Strategic Leadership Development at Moi University. She is an educator, leadership trainer, researcher, and academic mentor with over 22 years of experience in higher education. She has also contributed significantly to university governance, TVET leadership, school management and community-based development initiatives. To learn more, extended bios and resources are available at oise.utoronto.ca/journeyspodcast. --- Follow us at @journeys.pod on Instagram to receive updates!

    43 min

  4. May 25

    Frank Deer's Journey

    From growing up in Kahnawake, to moving to Manitoba for sport, to teaching and entering academia, in this episode, Frank Deer joins host Ryan Neepin for a conversation on his journey and insights into transforming Indigenous education. -- Dr. Frank Deer is a professor in the Faculty of Education of the University of Manitoba. Frank is Kanienkeha’ka from Kahnawake, a community that lies just south of Tiotia’ke in the eastern region of the Rotinonshón:ni Confederacy. Frank earned a PhD in Educational Administration from the University of Saskatchewan. Frank studies Indigenous language education and Indigenous religious and spiritual orientations in schools. Frank has previously served as a classroom teacher in Northern Manitoba and in the Inner City of Winnipeg. Learn more about his work at www.frankdeer.net.

    46 min
  5. Introducing Journeys: Transforming Indigenous Education - A Podcast

    Season 1 Trailer

    Introducing Journeys: Transforming Indigenous Education - A Podcast

    Welcome to Journeys: Transforming Indigenous Education! In this episode, your host Ryan Neepin shares what you can expect in this first season. Miigwech - Hai hai - Nia:wen - Thank you for listening!

    3 min

Trailer

About

The Journeys: Transforming Indigenous Education podcast is co-developed by the International Indigenous Consortium of Teacher Educators, a group of teachers, principals, professors, community leaders, and researchers working in Canada, New Zealand, and Hawai’i. Hosted by Dr. Ryan Neepin, guests on the podcast include members of the consortium as well as colleagues working in the field of Indigenous education in Canada and globally. Guests share their individual and collective journeys within educational contexts and beyond as we work towards Indigenous resurgence, educational sovereignty, and self-determination for all Indigenous Peoples. Miigwech - Hai hai - Nia:wen - Thank you for listening! -- Co-produced by graduate students Alyson McMullen and Lois Boody. Edited by Mary Chan of Organized Sound Productions. With thanks to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council for funding, Jackman Humanities Institute for recording studio access, and the Education Commons team at Ontario Institute for Studies in Education for web hosting support. Music for this podcast is “Curiosity” composed by Justin Delorme/Bryden Gwiss Kiwenzie and licensed through nagamo.ca, a platform dedicated to Indigenous artists and composers. -- To find out more about each episode and speaker, check out our main podcast page at https://www.oise.utoronto.ca/journeyspodcast.

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