When I began learning, conversing, looking, reflecting, and listening to and about Indigenous lives outside of the school context, I was able to connect the historical and contemporary facts with raw trauma and growth and healing. These are the moments that connect factual information with real people and real lives… I have learned through Project of Heart, I can be an agent for reconciliation by standing with Indigenous people.
Through listening, learning, growing, and opening my mind and sharing my experience and knowledge with my peers, I continually move towards a greater understanding of the truth, and towards reconciling relationships based on this truth and recognition. These are learnings that extend far beyond the four walls of the classroom.
So says concurrent education student Emily Hoch in her reflections about a new initiative at Brock University, embedded into Professor Bobby (Stanley) Henry’s “Pedagogies of Indigenous Arts” teacher ed course.
Professor Henry incorporates Project of Heart to help concurrent education students bridge the gap between taking on new understandings and actually becoming “agents of reconciliation” in their own classrooms. With Professor Henry’s permission, the course description and learning expectations are the latest addition to POH’s Teaching Resource section and are ready to be adapted into teacher ed courses across a range of disciplines.
Professor Henry is no stranger to the discussion around the legacy of Indian Residential Schools; here he is in an interview with CP24 News, talking about the devastating discovery of mass graves this past summer.