At the Beginning of the Curve: Social Work Education and Indigenous Content

ABSTRACT

Canada, like other nations with colonizing histories and ongoing colonial practices marginalizing Indigenous peoples, is searching for pathways leading to reconciliation. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission called on the social work profession to engage in the decolonization of social work structures and processes, including how it educates entrants in the profession. This article reports on a project that used focus groups with social work faculty in two Canadian universities to explore perceptions about the ways change might be accomplished. From faculty viewpoints, four main themes are identified: coming to know about colonization, assimilation, and genocide; struggling with whose story it is to tell; questioning individual and collective responsibilities in decolonizing social work; and accepting truth first and trauma stories for reconciliation.

Additional information

Funding

This project was funded by a grant from PolicyWise for Children and Families.

Notes on contributors

Peter W. Choate

Peter W. Choate is professor at Mount Royal University. Natalie St-Denis is a PhD candidate at the University of Calgary. Bruce MacLaurin is assistant professor at Mount Royal University.