Can students engage in meaningful reconcili-action from within a settler-colonial university system

Bibliographic Data

ID21324331
AuthorsTegan Keyes (Western Washington University), Liz McLane (Western Washington University), Nick Stanger (0009-0002-3731-1868, Western Washington University, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume89
Issue4
Pages1081-1102
Publication date2025-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHigher Education (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0018-1560 • E-ISSN: 1573-174X
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s10734-024-01262-6
OpenAlexW4401465368
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited27

Increasingly, universities have been seen as sites for practicing decolonization work. Examples include the introduction of Land-based curricula, tribal relationship building, and the offering of critical Indigenous studies courses. However, universities remain spaces with deep colonial foundations. This paper offers a description of the challenges and insights gained through attempted decolonial reconcili-action work within this imperfect environment. We critically examine the conception, implementation and lasting impact of a course offered at Western Washington University (WWU), located in Washington State on the ancestral territory of the Lummi and Nooksack peoples. The “Socio-ecology and Reconcili-action in the Northern Salish Sea” course wove together Land-based learning and relationship-building to engage students in reconciliation. We worked specifically with the ɬaʔəmen (Tla’amin) Nation, located in British Columbia, and included classroom and virtual work in Bellingham and a field trip to the Nation’s traditional territory near qathet Regional District (so called Powell River). Two settler students and a settler instructor reflect on the course through a series of reflexive vignettes culminating in a list of learning commitments: to learn from a diversity of peoples, especially Indigenous community members; to learn with gratitude, respect, and reciprocity, and without fear of making mistakes; and to actively apply our knowledge to further reconciliation and decolonization. These commitments are offered as a starting point for other members of the higher education community who recognize their responsibility to advance reconciliation and decolonization

Action (physics) · Action research · Archaeology · Colonialism · Higher education · Mathematics education · Pedagogy · Political science · Sociology · Evaluation of Teaching Practices · History · Indigenous Health, Education, and Rights · Psychology · Service-Learning and Community Engagement

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