Susan Dion

Susan Dion is a Potawatomi-Lenapé scholar who has been working in the field of education for more than thirty years.  She is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education at York University and Director of the Master of Education Urban Indigenous Cohort.  Her research focuses on Indigenizing, decolonizing and Realizing Indigenous education, urban Indigenous education, and methods of developing respectful relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.

nishnabek de'bwe win//telling our truths: Aboriginal people and allies using technology, telling stories, and making change

SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES RESEARCH COUNCIL OF CANADA (SSHRC) INSIGHT GRANT

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: DR. SUSAN DION; CO-INVESTIGATOR: DR. CARLA RICE

Although much is written about Aboriginal students' experiences in schools ( Dion, 2010; Schissel & Wotherspoon, 2003) little research has been produced that provides Aboriginal students and teachers in urban environments opportunities to tell their own stories. What do Aboriginal people themselves have to say about their experiences of schooling in an urban context? In what ways might access to these stories provide stakeholders with the capacity to better respond to Aboriginal students' needs and Aboriginal student achievement? To understand these perspectives, nishnabek de’bwe win invites Aboriginal teachers and students who teach and learn in urban schools to create digital stories about their experiences during 3-day digital storytelling workshops. Ultimately, our objective is to understand how to create school communities that support positive Aboriginal student achievement. Students and teachers will be invited to participate in the project as researchers and as educators through making self-reflexive videos about their experiences of schooling and by then sharing those films in professional development sessions.

For more information about nishnabek de'bwe win//telling our truths, please visit this website: http://edu.yorku.ca/research-project/telling-our-truths/