About the collaborative process

This teaching and learning resource was collaboratively developed by the Grand Erie District School Board and The Critical Thinking Consortium with feedback from our advisory committee and community members representing:

• Six Nations of the Grand River’s Education Committee
• Mississaugas of the New Credit
• Woodland Cultural Center
• Ontario Institute for Studies in Education

• Brenda Blancher, Director of Education, Grand Erie District School Board
• Lorrie Gallant, Education Coordinator, Woodland Cultural Centre
• Stacy Hill, Six Nations Native Advisor, Grand Erie District School Board
• Audrey Powless-Bomberry, Chairperson, Six Nations of the Grand River’s Education Committee
• Amanda Sault, Director of Education, Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation
• Karen Sandy, Board Trustee, Grand Erie District School Board
• Sabrina Sawyer, Indigenous Lead-Teacher Consultant, Grand Erie District School Board
• Sandra Styres, Professor, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
• Usha James, James Miles, Susan Teed, Maria Vamvalis, Warren Woytuck, and Kara Zutz, team members from The Critical Thinking Consortium

It has been a real privilege for The Critical Thinking Consortium to be involved in this project. As an organization, we have been thinking about what we can contribute to meaningful reconciliation. Through our resource development processes, facilitation of professional development, and partnership building, we are aware that we are in a position to be inadvertently perpetuating colonial attitudes and systems. We are thinking about not just what we create but how we create. We know that we have much thinking and learning to do as we step forward into a process of reflection and action. Learning with and from our partners from the Six Nations of the Grand River and the Mississauga of the New Credit has been such an important experience for us. We were committed to co-constructing the resource from the ground up and learned to listen carefully and with an open mind and heart. We are very grateful for the opportunity and will continue on our own journey toward meaningful reconciliation.

-Usha James
Executive Director, The Critical Thinking Consortium

Developing a resource for your community

Funded by the Grand Erie District School Board, this resource was originally created in collaboration with Elders, Indigenous community members, and educators of their community to explore the relationships between Canada, Canadians, and First Nations, Six Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples. We can work with all stakeholders to tailor this resource, re-imagine this resource, or build a similar resource around a local issue or context.

The Critical Thinking Consortium aims to support teaching and learning for reconciliation as respectful, collaborative co-learners, not as experts. We seek to engage in deep and meaningful listening, collaborative conversations, and the careful consideration of perspectives and approaches in our efforts to make contributions to meaningful reconciliation.

Diverse school districts are committed to the profound responsibility of engaging in truth and reconciliation for all the learners they serve. Many non-Indigenous educators hope to participate in this work in a respectful and meaningful way, but they are aware that good intentions are not enough or can even be harmful. We are able to support district teams, in consultation with key stakeholders, to develop or adapt approaches and resources that are responsive to local histories, contexts, and needs that will engage students in authentic critical inquiries. Our overarching objective is to nurture thoughtful, empathic, and critically-minded dispositions, and contribute to genuine and impactful actions that help to transform challenging local histories into a reimagined present and future.

-Maria Vamvalis
The Critical Thinking Consortium