The following four-part professional development series will support ECEs develop a critical understanding of how Indigenous-specific racism, colonialism, and whiteness impact the early learning environment. Each session will support Indigenous anti-racism knowledge, skills, and competencies through engaging with critical theory, dialogue, and ongoing self-reflection. This series will be co-facilitated by Dr. Linda Diffey and Dr. Laurie Harding, in partnership with the University of British Columbia’s Early Childhood Education program and the BRAID Network. All sessions will be online via Zoom.

About the Facilitators

Dr. Linda Diffey, a proud member of the Peepeekisis Cree Nation in Treaty 4, serves as the Director of Ongomiizwin Research at the University of Manitoba's Indigenous Institute of Health and Healing. Her scholarship in the Department of Community Health Sciences is marked by her leadership in Indigenous Health curriculum development at the Max Rady College of Medicine. As a co-editor of the national undergraduate medicine curricular framework for Indigenous health, she has significantly contributed to the field in collaboration with the Indigenous Physicians Association of Canada. In 2022, she launched the BRAID Network, enhancing faculty development in anti-racism and Indigenous health. Her research delves into the implementation of anti-colonial pedagogy by physician instructors and investigates systemic colonial oppression in health institutions. She is dedicated to promoting Indigenous resurgence within research methodologies, reflecting her commitment to transformative change in medical education and health sciences.

Dr. Laurie Harding identifies as a White settler of English and Scottish colonial decent, occupying Quw’utsun homelands, also known as Shawnigan Lake, BC. She is a life long learner and works closely with and credits Indigenous mentors for her ongoing Indigenous anti-racism knowledge, awareness and skill development. She is a published co- author with Dr. Barry Lavallee and adjunct professor at UVIC with extensive experience in facilitation and education in the area of Indigenous Cultural Safety and Indigenous anti-racism. Her workshops are tailored to support and mentor health care educators, providers, leaders, teams, ministries, health authorities or corporations, or anyone who would like to improve their Indigenous Cultural Safety & Anti-Racism Response knowledge, self-awareness, and skills. Her doctoral thesis examines Indigenous specific racism in health services.

Ashleigh Janis is a white settler originally from Treaty 1 Territory (Winnipeg, Manitoba) and now occupying traditional, ancestral, and stolen xʷməθkʷəy̓əm land (UBC campus, Vancouver). She is the Student Project Coordinator for the BRAID Network and is currently completing her Master's research at the University of British Columbia. Her research is focused on identifying unique strategies for anti-racist and decolonizing early childhood education, with a specific focus on supporting settlers with and through the arts. The current training series is part of her M.A. research on arts-based anti-racism education for early childhood educators. 

Part 1: Hide and Seek is Over: Uncovering Colonial and Racial Legacies

Date: June 19, 2024, 5:00pm - 6:30pm PDT

Description: The first session will introduce early childhood educators to Indigenous-specific anti-racism terminology and the colonial context of early childhood education in Canada. This session will introduce how western theories of child development, multiculturalism, race-evasion, and whiteness can unintentionally uphold Indigenous-specific racism in early childhood education. Participants will be better equipped to recognize the racial harms that impact young learners and families who identify as Indigenous, Black, and/or a Person of Colour, as well as harms to white children and families who have been socialized to uphold white supremacy in thought and action.

Part 2: Naming the Colonial Elephant in the Room: Settler Identity Development

Date: June 26, 2024, 5:00pm - 6:30pm PDT

Description: The second session will include an examination of racial and settler identity and its impact on lives and life chances. Settlers are called upon to respond to Indigenous-specific racism through a decentering of colonial power. This session will prompt participants to reflect upon on how they are positioned in this work by engaging with topics such as dominance, oppression, and power, and their connections to the colonial project in Canada.

Part 3: Growing Through Growing Pains: Navigating Resistance and Whiteness in Indigenous Anti-Racism Learning

Date: July 3, 2024, 5:00pm - 6:30pm PDT

Description: The third session will support participants as they identify, respond to, and effectively manage emotions that can arise with Indigenous anti-racism learning. Participants will be prompted to reflect on how whiteness / white supremacy permeates throughout Canadian early childhood education centres. The importance of authentic and collaborative relationships with like-minded others in this work will be underscored. It is hoped that participants will build upon earlier learning and begin to see their active role in disrupting Indigenous-specific racism in early childhood education.

Part 4: Simon Says Go! Applying Indigenous Anti-Racist Principles

Date: July 10, 2024, 5:00pm - 6:30pm PDT

Description: In the final session of this series, participants will be introduced to practical strategies for supporting an Indigenous-specific anti-racist early learning environment. Participants will be invited to address gaps in Indigenous anti-racism response, and will be supported to develop a personal anti-racism development learning plan. This session will also introduce potential strategies for appropriately integrating Indigenous Knowledge Systems within the early learning environment.

Please contact braid@umanitoba.ca with any questions.