St. Lawrence College Adopts Indigenous Learning Outcomes to Help Programs Incorporate Indigenous Knowledge and Understanding

St. Lawrence College (SLC) is pleased and grateful to announce that it has adopted the Indigenous Learning Outcomes (ILOs) from Confederation College, based on the Indigenous Education Protocol which commits to making Indigenous education a priority.

The adoption of the ILOs, which were gifted to the Confederation College community by Negahneewin Council in 2011, help ensure all students can develop an understanding of Indigenous knowledge that promotes community prosperity, social justice, and relationships of reconciliation.

The Negahneewin Vision is that every student - Indigenous and non-Indigenous - will graduate with the knowledge and understanding of these seven learning outcomes:

1. Relate principles of Indigenous knowledge to career field
2. Analyze the impact of colonialism on Indigenous communities
3. Explain the relationship between land and identity within Indigenous societies
4. Compare Indigenous and Canadian perceptions of inclusion and diversity
5. Analyze racism in relation to Indigenous peoples
6. Generate strategies for reconciling Indigenous and Canadian relations
7. Formulate approaches for engaging Indigenous community partners 

When Shannon Hall, Education Developer at SLC, learned that a protocol for the ILOs use existed, she engaged in conversation with Confederation College to bring the adoption of these practices to SLC. “While the College has been using these guidelines informally, the formal adoption of these protocols means that we can move forward in embedding Indigenous Ways of Knowing and Being into more program curricula, and it will empower faculty to build them into the classroom,” Hall said.

“I am extremely proud and grateful for the leaders at our College who have helped us formally adopt these protocols to further advance Indigenous Ways of Knowing and Being at SLC,” said Glenn Vollebregt, SLC President and CEO. “We have a long way to go, and a lot of work yet to do, however this formal step is an important act of reconciliation, and it has been warmly received by the SLC community.”

In recognition of the adoption of the ILOs, SLC sent small sweetgrass baskets filled with sage and a sweetgrass bookmark to the members of the Neegahneewin Council to show gratitude and in reciprocity for their gift of the ILOs for use by SLC. The actual ILO agreement will follow the traditional practice of sharing wampum strings for both SLC and Confederation College and was formally accepted at a ceremony included as part of a meeting of the Colleges’ Indigenous Education Council on March 29.

“The wampum strings are made from all things natural from the earth, thereby making this agreement a living agreement,” Hall explained. “Should a president leave their role at the institution, their role is to share this agreement with the next person, and she/he shall mark the stick to indicate her/his acceptance and so on and so forth.” 
 
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