Reflection on To Shine A Light On It Event 

On the November 10 Pro-D day teachers came together from across the seniority, subject, level, and type of school for a beautiful day at the UBC Indian Residential Center for Dialogue and Museum of Anthropology (MOA). It was inspiring to hear from different teachers their pedagogy around the genocidal truths of Residential School. We learned of the amazing resource this center can be with its archives, youth podcasts and more to engage the wider community. 

A moment that sticks with me was the introduction to non-hierarchical, Indigenous nodal way of research. Many of us were enthralled by the interactive displays that allowed for impactful research across a wide breadth of topics through use of timeliness, land-based, and nodal-based records. 

The visit to MOA was self-directed but I could see how the morning of learning at the IRSDC added additional lenses to how folx explored MOA. I encourage folx to go on Pro-D with different teachers, whether we are Adult Ed, Learning Center or Mainstream, Secondary or Elementary, Early or Late Career. The intergenerational, cross curricular, intersectional learning is truly how we ‘shine a light on’ on the complex issues we teach, allowing for Truth, Justice, Reconciliation and Decolonization to be woven into everything we teach.