The Gabriel Dumont Institute (GDI) and the University of Regina (U of R) have renewed their affiliation agreement on September 26, 2024, and used that opportunity to proudly announce the education doctorate program that is now available.
The U of R and GDI have worked together for many years and have a long history of working together to provide high-quality education.
“It’s a cohort and community-based program, so it has an emphasis on Metis local knowledge, history, spirituality, and culture,” said Lisa Bird-Wilson, CEO of GDI.
Bird-Wilson states that it is a northern-based program, and so it examines how the northern Saskatchewan context interacts with and is positioned within the national and international context.
All of the students taking the program are all working professionals.
“Each individual teacher modifies their classroom to try and incorporate that Indigenous content to the best of their ability and that the slow changes that are taking place in school,” explained Joanne Tremblay, current doctorate student and teacher at Carlton Comprehensive School in Prince Albert. “Our curriculum is set up by the government; we have a curriculum to follow, and that’s why the point is to try either Indigenize the curriculum and/or decolonize it.”
The collaboration to develop the education doctorate program with the U of R was requested by students, and GDI worked over three years to design an education doctorate program.
“It’s all about building the capacity to enact positive change in the community,” said Michael Relland, GDI. “Working towards decolonization; working towards Indigenization and it’s been an honour to be associated with this initiative.”
To here the full interviews with Lisa, Joanne, and Michael, listen to the interviews below.