Mino-Pimaatisiwin: Instructors' experiences in privileging Indigenous arts integration in post-secondary curriculum
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From residential schools to the present day, the federal government has controlled Indigenous education in Canada. The provincial government has determined the curriculum for on-reserve band-run schools, with little to no consultation or involvement of Indigenous peoples, as part of federal funding policy. The trend toward curricular integration that has taken place in mainstream education through STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) and then STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) programming is also beginning to occur in Indigenous education. This disciplinary integration could include Indigenous education as part of this move to a more wholistic curricular approach. Through interviews with 12 instructors who have incorporated STEM, STEAM, Arts and/or Indigenous arts Integration, I discovered complexifying strategies they used to deliver these integrations. An analysis of these integration strategies permitted me to identify required components of a solid wholistic approach. Using this wholistic integrative approach, I created a template design for an Indigenous-focused Bachelor of Education program stream. The resultant curriculum developed for such a stream features an integrated curriculum that incorporates all of these elements into the program.