The Journey to Courageous Inquiry

Dr. Maria Vamvalis, Director, The Critical Thinking Consortium

May 29, 2026

The Critical Thinking Consortium (TC²) is not an Indigenous-led organization, and the majority of those who developed this resource do not identify as Indigenous. We name this as a responsibility. Organizations that produce resources about decolonization must be held to the same standards they ask of educators: genuine accountability to Indigenous leadership, transparency about positionality, and a willingness to be changed by the process. Courageous Inquiry: Educator Stories of Unlearning, Relearning, and Reconciliation was shaped at every stage by Indigenous guidance, and it is offered with awareness of the limits and obligations that come with our position. We remain accountable to the Indigenous scholars, Elders, Knowledge Keepers, and community members whose work and wisdom have guided us, and to those whose voices are not yet fully reflected here.

Abiding by the principle “Nothing about us without us,” we are deeply honoured to be in relationship with Mi’kmaw scholar Dr. Marie Battiste, whose intellectual leadership and generosity have shaped this resource in foundational ways. Dr. Battiste’s contributions orient this work. Her scholarship grounds this resource in Indigenous epistemology and positions decolonization as an ethical, not only a pedagogical, imperative. Her guidance invites educators to understand not only what actions are being called for in truth and reconciliation, but how to take them up with epistemic humility toward a more ethical and sustained practice.

What strikes me, having walked the full arc of this resource from its conceptual beginning through the voices gathered here, is how deeply the process of creating it mirrored what it is attempting to teach. The process itself was a form of courageous inquiry. The TC² team did not design this resource from a position of expertise and then develop it. We moved through genuine uncertainty, took direction from Indigenous scholars and community members at every stage, surveyed educators to understand what was actually needed, and allowed the shape of the resource to be changed by what we encountered. That posture of being willing to be changed by the process is precisely what the educator stories in these pages describe as the turning point between transactional and transformative engagement.

This resource reflects TC²’s commitment to taking up its responsibilities in the work of truth and reconciliation by embedding courageous inquiry within our pedagogical and leadership practice. Courageous Inquiry invites educators to walk that path with us, through an inspired vision and a willingness to be changed so we transform our classrooms, schools, communities, and systems into places of sustained collective flourishing.

We believe it is helpful to outline the process we undertook, as the journey itself highlights that the work of thoughtfully engaging in truth and reconciliation is inherently relational and comprises diverse stories. To engage in this effort, we undertook a multiphase process to

• take substantive direction from Indigenous thinkers and community members
• ensure that we were meaningfully considering multiple and differing perspectives
• best develop a resource that would be supportive of educator needs at this time
• build on the existing work of wise others

Through this multiphase process we engaged with an advisory committee of Indigenous and non-Indigenous educators and community members, explored the existing resources available to K–12 educators, conducted a survey of educators, and then engaged in detailed interviews with 34 educators to delve deeper into some of the concerns and questions that emerged through the survey. These stories became the heart of Courageous Inquiry, supported with helpful frameworks and tools to move through implementation challenges (at both inner and outer levels), and Indigenous guidance on what is needed to continue on this pathway with love and integrity.

The publication of Courageous Inquiry is not the end of our accountability as an organization. We are committed to receiving feedback from Indigenous scholars, educators, and communities as this resource is used, and to acting on what we learn. We know that the demographic limitations of this resource represent an ongoing responsibility, and our commitment is to ensure that future work moves closer to the structural equity this moment requires. We remain in relationship with the Indigenous scholars, Elders, Knowledge Keepers, and community members who have guided this work. We will make mistakes and we expect to be held to account for them, welcoming that accountability as consistent with everything this resource asks of educators. We invite those who use this resource, and those who critique it, to be in conversation with us to keep building toward what is needed.

The processes, key learnings, and action steps that we involved in each phase of this journey towards Courageous Inquiry are described in more detail in the Project Background.

Learn more about Courageous Inquiry