An educational leader's journey to cultivate reconciliation

Abstract

The ability of an educational leader to look beyond what one views as normal is the first step to beginning a reconciliatory journey. The second step is to see the potential in cultivating a school culture that encompasses Indigenous knowledge and perspectives. Mamàhtawisiwin: The Wonder We Are Born With—An Indigenous Education Policy Framework, developed in collaboration with Manitoba Education and Early Childhood Learning (2022) includes four action-based strategies outlining the foundations of an Indigenous-inclusive education system. The curiosity of how educational leaders are currently cultivating a culture of reconciliation through the acquisition of Indigenous knowledge and perspectives directly relates to the documents vision. The purpose of this research was to explore how educational leaders have adapted their practice by utilizing the four action-based strategies. With use of the four action-based strategies outlined in the Mamàhtawisiwin as the theoretical framework, the overall aim of the research was to develop a set of wisdoms that would assist and support an educational leader’s journey to cultivate reconciliation. A descriptive research study was the methodology utilized by conducting virtual interviews with non-Indigenous and Indigenous educational leaders. This descriptive research study design required listening to the stories, acquiring knowledge, acknowledging perspectives, and analyzing the dynamic relationships to identify attributes and strategies that could be utilized by other educational leaders to improve school cultures for the benefit of reconciliation. The objective of the descriptive research study was to explore how educational leaders nurtured school cultures by employing Indigenous knowledge and perspectives.