As Indigenous students step into pedagogical spaces shaped by Western worldviews, the experience can often feel violent. Parts of self, identity and ways of coming to know the world have been misunderstood, taken, or asked to be left at the door. However, as Indigenous students have adapted in order to navigate and survive a system that often does not feel set up for who they are, we are also living at a time where greater effort is being made to understand what the burden of having to adapt has felt (and feels) like, and to understand the incredible losses—both personal and communal—woven within it. The shift toward greater understanding is happening because Indigenous educational leaders are laying down and lighting pathways to make it so.

This series will offer a glimpse into the contemporary challenges and successes of decolonial change within places of learning—from elementary to post-secondary—and the Indigenous leaders ushering in this change.