Deadline: September 1, 2023

Call for Interest: National Indigenous Education Symposium 2023

Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan), in collaboration with the Indigenous Institutes Consortium (IIC) invites proposals for presentations for the National Indigenous Education Symposium 2023.

Be part of a stimulating and interactive event where leaders from Indigenous institutes, from postsecondary institutions, colleges and institutes, as well as from stakeholder organizations, industry and government, will come together to share knowledge and exemplary practices in serving Indigenous peoples and communities and contributing to their sustainability and prosperity.

The symposium, which has as its theme Operationalizing Reconciliation, will bring together more than 200 college and institute leaders from across Canada serving Indigenous peoples.

Submit Presention

Symposium Objectives

  • Place Indigenous learners at the centre of the solution to the labour market, environmental, and healthcare crisis.
  • Provide a unique opportunity for participants to reflect and share experiences and best practices on Indigenous education related issues.
  • Reflect on the role of Canadian postsecondary institutions (Indigenous institutes, colleges, institutes, cégeps, universities and polytechnics) in responding to the learning needs of Indigenous peoples and communities, including the promotion of Indigenous languages.
  • Provide opportunities for participants to network and share experiences, approaches, and best practices in supporting reconciliation.
  • Build community support for reconciliation and Indigenous-led post-secondary education across Canada.
  • Provide innovative and leading-edge insights to support government engagement activities for the sector.
  • Recognizing and learning from the uniqueness of Indigenous-lead institutions.
  • Amplify the voices of learners, educators, and leaders of Canada’s Indigenous institutes, colleges and institutes.

Symposium Sub-themes

CICan and the IIC are seeking presentations related to the following sub-themes to facilitate the exchange of exemplary practices through concurrent sessions:

1. Accessibility: Recruitment, Retention, and Success of Indigenous Learners

  • Bridging Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion with Indigenous approaches
  • Wellness and Belonging
  • Student experiences

2. Braiding Indigenous Knowledge to Attain Climate Resilience

  • Indigenous approaches to climate change and sustainability
  • Indigenous approaches to land-based learning

3. Empowering the Next Seven Generations

  • Indigenous Institutes: a solution to the labour market crisis
  • Futureproofing through Indigenous knowledge

4. Strengthening Governance and Leadership

  • Indigenizing governance and leadership structures
  • Sharing leadership team’s best practices
  • Engaging faculty, staff, and students

5. Indigenous Languages and Indigenous Teacher Training

  • Indigenous language revitalization
  • Language and technology
  • Growing Indigenous teacher education

6. Applied Research

  • Indigenous-lead applied research
  • Experiences within the community/alongside industry

Submission Guidelines

Presentation Format

The format can be submitted as individual presentation (15 minutes) or panel format with a maximum of three panelists (15 minutes each). We encourage collaboration between institutes, colleges and institutions for the presentations to allow more presenters to share their expertise, experience and unique successes. Sessions are 45 minutes long, including Q&A.

Submission Information

Your submission must:

  • identify the subtheme under which the proposal falls under
  • include the title of the presentation
  • include a short abstract (750-1000 character)
  • include the name(s) of the presenters, title(s) and institution(s)/organization(s)

Submission Deadline

Submissions must be received by September 1st, 2023. Notifications of acceptance will be provided two weeks following the submission deadline.

Contact

For questions regarding this call for interest, please contact:

Note: Speakers must register for the conference and are responsible for their own travel and associated costs.

Submission Form