Finding the moccasin fit

Abstract

Preparing preservice teachers for the teaching of Indigenous students is a challenge for Canadian teacher educators. As a teacher of preservice classes, I meet the task through reflective talk illustrated with moccasins representing four decades of educational contact with Indigenous people. They also represent change in Canadian federal government policy toward Indigenous education from segregation, to integration, to devolution of control to band controlled schools.

Below, I describe my experiences, reflect (in italics), place myself in the context of changing government policy, suggest educational implications, and provide elements for effective Indigenous education derived from my Maori bi-cultural school findings.