How Weaving Indigenous Knowledges into the Classroom Combats Racism

Across Canada, educators are weaving Indigenous knowledges into their classrooms in ways that nurture pathways of reconciliation. These efforts are steps towards decolonizing education by recognizing Indigenous knowledges, experiences and ways of knowing (Battiste, 2019). Still, teachers are unsure about how to position themselves in this work with 24% reporting a fear making a mistake, 24% afraid of offending someone and 19% anxious about accidently engaging in appropriation (Danyluk, 2024).

The Study

We asked teachers across Alberta to share their successes and challenges and how weaving Indigenous knowledges into their classroom acts as a tool to combat racism.  Between 2021 and 2025, we heard from 247 Alberta teachers across 13 school districts. Teachers from all grade levels and subject areas participated in a survey and interviews. In the survey, teachers were asked to share about a time when they felt they has successfully woven Indigenous knowledges into their teaching. Those who responded were then asked if they would be willing to share their ideas to co-create a lesson plan. Our research team expanded on the ideas to create lesson plans with slides, activities, videos, assessments and discussion prompts. Nine of the lesson plans have an accompanying podcast where the teacher explains how they deliver the lesson and why weaving Indigenous knowledges into their teaching helps to combat racism towards Indigenous peoples. The lesson plans, podcasts, resulting publications and two new models are featured on the website.

Since drawing upon Indigenous knowledges means beginning by teaching about the Indigenous Peoples on whose land you reside, these lessons draw upon teachings from Treaty 6, 7 & 8 as well as Métis knowledges, but can be adapted to draw from Indigenous knowledges from other parts in Canada. We worked with an Indigenous Lead teacher from Alberta to ensure the lessons were respectful and accurate. Teachers can apply the lesson plans in whole or in part.

What is working for teachers

More than half of the teachers that responded reported they believed they had a foundational knowledge of Indigenous peoples. The term foundational knowledge is found in the Alberta Teaching Quality Standard that requires teachers to develop and apply a foundational knowledge about Indigenous peoples (TQS, 2018). When we asked teachers what a foundational knowledge meant to them many responses indicated it involved understanding the history of Indigenous Peoples and the impacts of colonization. One teacher described it succinctly as, “having an understanding about who the Indigenous Peoples of Canada are, their ways of knowing, ways of life, language, traditions etc. both historically and contemporarily. It is understanding who the Indigenous People(s) where I live are, and the impact of colonialism on their way of life.” Yet, another teacher pointed to the difficulties of using a term like foundational knowledge by sharing, that foundational knowledge is,

Complex. The various foundations of different groups are not clustered within silos. The deeper you explore a foundational way of knowing the more intricate it becomes. What type of knowledge are we establishing? Pre or post contact? From which group? Are we talking Blackfoot or another plains group? Are we tapping into groups found on the east coast, great lakes or Rocky Mountains? What is the purpose and intent behind this foundational knowledge. Who or what is the authority from which we are investigating? Foundational knowledge is a shifting perspective depending on the context—one that should be handled with respect and care.

Teachers reported acquiring their foundational knowledge by attending workshops and courses, with Elders, by engaging in self-directed learning and school district professional development. Most teachers reported that their school had established relationships with local Indigenous communities, “Our division is constantly making connections and building relationships with elders to use on a regular basis. More and more schools are getting community members in to share knowledge with students.”

What is challenging teachers

Along with the fears making a mistake, offending someone and engaging in appropriation, teachers struggled with self -doubt about their role in teaching Indigenous knowledges and knowing which resources to choose. Over the last few years there has been a proliferation of Indigenous education resources made available and not knowing how to evaluate these resources often acted as a barrier to using them.  As one teacher shared, “Just because an outcome is written into the program of studies, doesn’t mean there is quality resources available for teachers and students.” When evaluating Indigenous resources for classroom use, consider whether the resource is recognized by an Indigenous community, culturally authentic, historically accurate, balanced, uses respectful language and is it based on information from recognized sources (Alberta Government, 2017).

Three connections that support teachers

1. Indigenous Team Leaders

Teachers reported that having an Indigenous lead teacher acted as a powerful resource from whom to draw upon for ideas and resources, “We have an Indigenous Learning Leader that leads the work and there are always ways to integrate Indigenous perspectives into the classroom – we are learning about these ways all the time.” Indigenous lead teachers are well-grounded in Indigenous ways of knowing and doing, although they are not necessarily Indigenous themselves. These expert teachers go by a variety of titles including liaison workers, cultural team leaders and FNMI leads and provide guidance by assisting teachers in planning lessons, assessments and accessing appropriate activities and establishing community connections. Indigenous team lead teachers are often assigned to a group of schools as a resource. In other provinces, these teachers may be referred to as an Indigenous Education Coordinator or Indigenous Inclusion Coordinator.

2. Connections to Land-Based Learning

Fifty-five percent of teachers reported land-based learning was part of their teaching practice. Drawing upon land-based teaching means acknowledging Indigenous perspectives, knowledges, practices about the land (Bowra et al., 2021). One teacher described engaging in “Weekly time on the land, discussions about land as partner and as teacher, connections to animal and plants as teachers, circle sharing on the land, learning Indigenous and scientific names of places and plants and games that draw on Indigenous traditions.” While another shared that after each land-based experience they asked students, “What did you learn today that didn’t come from the teacher?”

3. Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers in the Classroom

While teachers reported schools have worked towards establishing relationships with Indigenous communities, they also shared that they struggled to find Elders to come into the classroom. One teacher commented, “I would be wonderful to have an Elder, however in our area it is difficult to find them” and another stated, “We have a really difficult time finding Elders or Knowledge Keepers.” Associated costs and lack of connections often acted as barriers to having an Elder of Knowledge Keeper in the classroom.

When teachers had access to Elders and Knowledge Keepers, the experiences were meaningful. One teacher shared “My students and I worked with Elders, Knowledge Keepers and community members to make family trees and sculptures of Stoney Nakoda Heroes.” Having access to Indigenous Elders, Knowledge Keepers and Indigenous Team Leads allowed teachers to try new ideas without the fear of making a mistake. As one teacher shared, “If I have a fear or am uncertain about anything, I can contact our district’s Elders or our FNMI coordinator.” Connecting with Elders and Knowledge Keepers also helped teachers to understand the role of allies in Indigenous education.

I was told by an Elder to not worry about making a mistake or having little previous experience as we need ALL educators to include Indigenous knowledges into their teaching practices. I asked once “does it matter if I am not Indigenous myself” and the Elder answered, “absolutely not…we need you to walk this journey alongside of us.”

How weaving Indigenous knowledges into the classroom combats racism

We asked teachers what needs to happen in the classroom to combat racism towards Indigenous peoples. From their responses, we developed this model of Components of Combatting Racism Against Indigenous Peoples as Identified by Teachers based on teacher feedback.

Components of Combatting Racism Against Indigenous Peoples as Identified by Teachers (Danyluk et al., 2024)

When teachers weave Indigenous knowledges into lessons they help to combat racism towards Indigenous peoples. The Honorable Murray Sinclair (2016), the former Commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation believed that Canadians’ lack basic information about Indigenous peoples, and this contributes to racism. By teaching about Indigenous peoples in the classroom, teachers not only impact their students, but they also learn alongside them. Students share what they have learned with their parents and overtime these efforts will lessen racism towards Indigenous peoples. In one of the podcasts a teacher shared how weaving Indigenous knowledges into the classroom works as a tool to combat racism by

“Changing the narratives that students have about Indigenous students. Maybe their narratives are coming from their parents or from media but we have and continue to talk about Indigenous peoples from a script of trauma and marginalization but I think we need to flip that script for students so that they can regard Indigenous people in terms of their resilience and their strength and their knowledge and I think normalizing these conversations allows students to move on in their life and have this different narrative in their life and I think that is a key starting point to this work in anti-Indigenous racism.”

While another teacher summed it up this way, “I feel that the more Indigenous perspectives are present in all classrooms, racism towards Indigenous people will lessen over time. Education is the key.”

Teachers offered the following advice for the colleagues wanting to begin to weave Indigenous knowledges into their teaching.

• Just start…start somewhere
• If you heart is in the right place, then you are entering into this in a good way
• Start to do some research, go to a conference, read a book, do some professional development
• Find a community of people who are doing this and work together.

For most of us, learning about Indigenous peoples is a shared responsibility and a form of lifelong learning that requires a combination of pre-service teacher training, land-based experiences, time in Indigenous communities, learning from guest speakers such as Elders and Knowledge Keepers, self -directed learning and in-service professional development (Danyluk et al., in-press). Begin by taking small steps and find a community to support you in this learning journey.

If you would like to learn more about this research, see our article in the Journal of Contemporary Issues in Education.

*This research received funding from a SSHRC Insight Grant.

References

Alberta Government (2017). Our words, our ways: Teaching First Nations, Métis and Inuit learners. https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/1db7d737-1486-441b-a49a-d62506a4bf39/resource/78a7d033-9c08-4e84-b617-ea10f78343c4/download/our-words-our-ways.pdf

Battiste, M. (2019). Decolonizing education: Nourishing the learning spirit. UBC Press.

Bowra, A., Mashford-Pringle, A., & Poland, B. (2021). Indigenous learning on Turtle Island: A review of the literature on land-based learning. The Canadian Geographer / Le Géographe canadien, 65(2), 132–140. https://doi.org/10.1111/cag.12659

Danyluk, Procinsky, B., & Flower, C. (in press). The Disconnect Between Learning about Indigenous Peoples and Application in the Classroom: Pre-Service Teacher’s Self-Reported Efficacy. Brock Education Journal 34(3).

Danyluk, P., Burns, A., Poitras Pratt, Y., Wessel, S., James Thomas, S., Trout, L., Lorenz, D., Kendrick, K., Kapoyannis, T., Crawford, K., Lemaire, E., Hill, J., Bright, R., Burleigh, D., Weir, C., Hill, L., Boschman, L. (2024). Weaving Indigenous knowledges into the classroom as a tool to combat racism. Journal of Contemporary Issues in Education 19(1), 28-58. https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/jcie/index.php/JCIE/article/view/29628

Ho, S. (2019, September 19). Interview: Sen. Murray Sinclair speaks with Lisa LaFlamme about racism in Canada. CTV News. file:///Ho, S. (2019, September 19). Interview/ Sen. Murray Sinclair speaks with Lisa LaFlamme about racism in Canada. CTV News.

Meet the Expert(s)

Dr. Patricia Danyluk

Associate Professor

Patricia Danyluk (PhD) is the Director of Professional Graduate Programs at the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary. Patricia is a settler of Scottish ancestry. She grew up in northern Manitoba and spent the early part of her career working in remote First Nations and Métis communities. Patricia has over twenty years of experience working in pre-service teacher education. In 2021, she was the co-recipient of the Alan Blizzard Award (2021) along with her colleague Dr. Yvonne Poitras Pratt for their work on Modelling Reconciliation: Educators Building Bridges and Connections. Patricia’s research areas include the practicum, critical service learning and reconciliation.

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Saria James-Thomas

Research Assistant

Saria James-Thomas is a graduate student in the MSc. School & Applied Child Psychology program at the University of Calgary. Grounded in academic training in both education and psychology, and informed by diverse experiences across education and mental health settings, Saria’s research interests reflect a strong commitment to youth mental health, equity, and culturally responsive practice. Through her work, Saria aims to contribute to more inclusive, affirming, and effective mental health and academic systems that support young people in their ability to thrive.

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Samara Wessel

PhD Student Researcher

I am a doctoral student in counselling psychology at the University of Calgary. My work focuses on Indigenous governance, child and family well-being, trauma-informed and relational approaches to care, and the implementation of Indigenous self-determination in policy and practice, including Bill C-92. My scholarship is grounded in relational accountability, reflexivity, and a commitment to ethically engaged, community-informed research that supports wellness and self-determination.

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Lisa Trout

Research Assistant

Lisa Trout is an Alberta-based educator and researcher with over 20 years of experience teaching across Kindergarten to university settings. She holds a Master of Education from the University of Calgary, with a focus on experiential learning, mental health, and relational approaches to education. Her work explores how food, land, and relationship-centred pedagogies can support wellbeing, cultural understanding, and respectful engagement with Indigenous knowledges in schools. Lisa’s research and practice are grounded in social justice, community connection, and supporting educators to create inclusive, reflective learning environments.

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