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Report on CAUT Conference, Transforming the Academy: Forum for Aboriginal Academic Staff

13-15 November 2009, Saskatoon, SK

By Rose Steele, Professor, School of Nursing

7 Dec 09 - The conference began for me at 7am on the Friday morning when I was privileged to join other attendees at a Pipe Ceremony. This traditional ceremony was organized to welcome everyone to the conference and to bring blessings on the 3 days of discussion. Two wise and respected Elders (husband and wife) led the ceremony and also participated in many of the discussions over the next few days. The importance of spirituality and a relational way of being was evident at the ceremony and was reinforced throughout the conference. To many academics or scientists, such a profound message may seem out of place in academia, yet I would encourage us to realize that there are many lessons non-Aboriginal faculty like me can learn from the wisdom of our Aboriginal colleagues. Further, I believe that a lack of awareness about indigenous knowledge and ways of being is no excuse for failure to accept and welcome what is important to our Aboriginal colleagues in their and our workplaces.

After the Pipe Ceremony, Penni Stewart and James Turk, President and Executive Director respectively of CAUT, welcomed everyone to the conference and introduced the speakers for the morning plenary session. The plenary was followed by discussion circles, 1 for each of the 5 plenary topics and the circles were repeated in the afternoon. Thus, each attendee could participate in 2 topics. We all had the opportunity to hear from the circle facilitators in the plenary session and then, at the end of the day, each facilitator summarized the discussion for his / her circles. A similar process was followed on the Saturday, though there were only 3 topics that day. Sunday morning involved small table discussion to determine what the next steps should be and each small group reported back to the whole. A Pipe Ceremony and prayer concluded the conference and sent us all on our way in safety and with much to think about. 

The 8 topics for discussion were:

  1. establishing indigenous knowledge within the academy,

  2. the role of Elders in colleges and universities,

  3. negotiating the multicultural classroom,

  4. making alliances for research and creating research / knowledge mobilization opportunities through program models,

  5. working conditions for Aboriginal academic staff,

  6. career development - including practical advice on how to get published, how to get tenure, and how to get grants,

  7. managing work / life balance, and

  8. supporting Aboriginal graduate students make the leap from students to faculty member.

I attended discussion circles 4, 5, 6, and 7, but I gained information about the other topics via the plenary and reporting sessions. Too many points were made for me to report on them all, so I will do my best to summarize some of the key issues identified by Aboriginal academics. I will also say that I was struck by a) how some issues would hold true across most if not all faculty members at York University (e.g., general workload), b) how others were similar to the issues raised by colleagues in our own Race Equity Caucus (e.g., expectations around role modeling and mentoring), and c) how some are ones that I and my colleagues in the School of Nursing also face, but I hadn’t realized that others were similarly affected (e.g., the time and effort required for relational practice and teaching / learning). A trans-systemic change in academia was advocated by the conference attendees to facilitate a move from the current stressful and sometimes toxic environments where discourse can be alienating, to environments that are less adversarial and competitive, more positive, enhance faculty members’ abilities to be productive, and value the diversity of knowledge that can better humankind.

  • Recruitment and retention: Universities are hiring Aboriginal faculty and starting Aboriginal programs, yet attention has not been paid to the impact on faculty of being one of few within an organization, or perhaps being the only Aboriginal faculty member. The demands on Aboriginal faculty are multiple and complex. The newer faculty are sometimes being hired before their PhDs are finished and they are expected to complete their doctorates all while developing new courses; supervising Aboriginal graduate students (as well as being asked by Aboriginal students in the University to be on their supervisory committees); mentoring Aboriginal undergraduate students and being role models to them; taking on administrative positions because of their Aboriginal status; being asked to be members on every committee at the University that now has a designated position for an Aboriginal faculty member; and being approached to lend their names to research proposals that are about Aboriginal issues. And of course the usual work of academia must also continue: they must teach, write proposals, conduct research, publish articles or books, and make presentations at conferences, as well as meet the service requirements for their units. It’s exhausting and unsustainable. Mentorship of new faculty, e.g., learning about protocols in academia or how to write proposals that will be competitive for major grants, are needed.

  • Community involvement: Aboriginal faculty members are expected by their community to be heavily involved in the community. The time and effort needed is not well recognized at universities, yet it is an integral part of an Aboriginal academic’s way of being in the world. Relationships are cultivated, partnerships are formed, stories and knowledge are shared, and new knowledge is developed though not always in the traditional format of empirical research. Community involvement and its importance to Aboriginal faculty and programs needs to be valued. Credit, such as service to the University, needs to be acknowledged in tenure and promotion files. 

  • Indigenous knowledge is complex: It comprises ideas and practices that are based on indigenous views of the universe. Development of knowledge pays attention to many ways of knowing, not just the empirical method, yet these ways of knowing are not necessarily valued as they should be in academia. Further, learning about indigenous knowledge is not the same as learning indigenous knowledge and the teachers of indigenous knowledge should be Elders. Indigenous pedagogy and tools of learning that are based in the culture are important. The place of Elders at universities is crucial to the development of strong Aboriginal programs. Ongoing appointments, i.e., tenure-stream and tenured, are required. New ways of encompassing Elders into academia and valuing their knowledge need to be pursued. 

  • Importance of spirituality and relational practice. Principles of ethical knowledge and a deep spirituality underpin indigenous knowledge. Prayer is an integral part of being. Practice that is relational and spiritual is not only important to Aboriginal faculty and students, but is transformative in a way that contributes to the betterment of humankind. Yet, this way of being is not always appreciated in the academic setting. The academy focuses on the intellect, but Aboriginal faculty have many strengths that include intellect, but also include peer and community support, emotions, and spirit that should be acknowledged and valued. Universities are actively recruiting Aboriginal faculty. However once hired, faculty often find that they are not treated in ways that respect who they are, i.e., they are brought to universities for the purpose of building Aboriginal programs and yet the environments compromise faculty members’ heart, spirit, mind, and body.

  • Sense of isolation: Many faculty members feel alone within their settings and isolated from other Aboriginal faculty. Further, they often need to move from their own home territory in order to begin a university appointment and so they lose the support of that community. They then need to build relationships in the new territory which takes time and effort at the same time as they are building their academic careers. There is a need to build structures to support Aboriginal people in academia, not only for faculty, but also students who may be facing some of the same challenges.

  • I know that I have not discussed all of the many issues that were raised at the conference and I apologize if I have missed something that my Aboriginal colleagues might deem important. The last point I will make is about the importance of working together and learning from one another. Different ways of being should not be viewed as a threat. Rather, they provide an opportunity for change and growth that in my opinion would be good for the academy, for those of us who work in what can be a challenging environment, and for our students.

Thank you to the YUFA Executive for the opportunity to attend this exciting forum in Saskatoon. I learned a lot that will be useful in my role as a YUFA Equity Officer, as well as to me as a faculty member.