In the last week of May, I attended the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences hosted by the University of Regina in Saskatchewan. This conference is the annual gathering of all the societies and groups, which form the Canadian Society for the Study of Education (La Société canadienne pour l’étude de l’éducation – CSSE/SCÉÉ).  The event was transformative for me, as a former fish biologist and current science teacher, and I am still reflecting and processing. Within this blog I will share a few of my experiences from CSSE/SCÉÉ 2018.

Many readers will ally with this statement; my flights were the worst part of the experience… I started early Friday morning from Deer Lake and, after three connections and 14 hours, I arrived in Regina feeling haggard. I tried to sleep but at 5:30 am the next morning (now Saturday morning), the sunrise streaming through my window roused me. Since sleep is futile when the sun is up, I decided to take a walk on campus in an attempt to “shake out the cob webs.” Less than 1 km into my prairie trek, I came upon an amazing vista; a circle of bright white tipis shining under the rising sun. Gobsmacked, I stood in silent contemplation and stared. This was an unexpected and poignant start to my day. I grew up next to the Gold River Reservation in Nova Scotia, I have Mi’kmaq friends in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, but I had never seen such a striking and beautiful display of indigenous culture. It was impressive. This was the first of many indigenous cultural experiences I would encounter during the Congress.

Looking East at tipis on the grounds of the First Nations University of Canada. Tipi structure and design has significant cultural meanings – for more details visit this post by Melvin War Eagle

Later the same day (still Saturday), I attended the opening presentations of the Congress and was happy the organizers made all attendees, especially newbies like myself, aware the University of Regina is located in the territories of the nêhiyawak, Anihšināpēk, and Dakota, Lakota, and Nakoda, and the homeland of the Métis. My morning experience made me happy to be a guest on Treaty-4 lands. I also discovered the nêhiyawak called this area “oskana kā-asastēki” meaning “the place where bones are piled up” resulting in the city of Regina’s moniker, “Pile O’Bones.”

The Royal Saskatchewan Museum is also “oskana kā-asastēki” or “the place where bones are piled up.”

For the rest of the first day of the Congress I soaked up experiences. I saw my first drumming lesson, witnessed the pride of young indigenous dancers, and heard a story of colonial cultural oppression. Imagine a presentation on “Decolonizing and Indigenizing the Academy: Achieving Cognitive Justice.” The presentation was gripping and it brought me back in time to a paper I wrote about residential schools (as a Dalhousie undergrad). With little support, indigenous culture survived these oppressive institutions – I was joyful, embarrassed, and inspired all in the same moment. What an amazing day. I had a lot to sleep on.

The next day, I attended to the main purpose of travelling to the conference: presenting two papers, one as primary author and the other as third author, for the Science Education Research Group (SERG). These presentations were a first for me at a national conference and I was entering new social science territory.

During breakfast that Sunday morning I was a little nervous. Shortly after entering the room for the SERG meetings my trepidation disappeared. My first conversations and introductions with SERG group members occurred while we moved chairs to prepare the room for the meetings. I was struck by their collegiality as they chatted and caught with each other while moving furniture. My supervisor had informed me that the SERG group was tight knit and during the presentations that followed our set up, I admit finding people friendly, supportive, and genuinely engaged with each other’s research; nothing like my biology conferences of the past where things could be caustic and competitive. The atmosphere was refreshing!

An image from my presentation demonstrating how I changed my teaching over time – please note that I am still a science person who loves graphs!

Later in the afternoon I presented my genetics teaching autoethnography and I felt the same positive regard for my work that was shown for previous presenters. This feeling was reinforced post-presentation with positive comments and questions from the SERG group members. For the next three days I hung out with this group of researchers for interesting science education presentations, engaging round table discussions, and a group dinner at a swanky Regina eatery. I had many educational and entertaining one-on-one conversations while forming new collegial relationships. The experience was well worth the suffering travel and, in spite of the extremely long flight, I look forward catching up with my new colleagues in British Columbia in 2019.

The SERG meetings also had presentations on indigenizing education and demonstrating indigenous ways of knowing. These sessions connected well with others I attended in the main Congress (see below).

  • Visioning Environmental Sustainability Education in Teacher Education
  • Developing Cross Cultural Understandings for Teaching
  • Decolonizing and Indigenizing the Academy: Achieving Cognitive Justice
  • Visioning Environmental & Sustainability Education in Teacher Education: Town Hall Session

This display at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum demonstrates is from a thought provoking student art project on “Restoring and Sustaining Balance.” Sustainability is a personal goal for me; my CSSE 2018 experiences certainly fanned the flames of this fire.My CSSE 2018 experiences consolidated my belief that in order to move forward as educators, we must reconcile our differences to find ways to make the world better for all living things. I am fishing guide along with being an educator and my “nature experiences” have helped me forge deep connections with the earth. I comprehend connections to living things and understand my impact on the planet. However, I see trouble with our future; many people are unaware of their impact on earth.

As a science teacher I feel the obligation to provide eye-opening experiences for students, such as those I witnessed in at CSSE in Regina, so they may discover we are all connected and need each other. I have interpreted this as an indigenous way of knowing. I want to help students see that in relation to nature, greed and selfish ways will lead to suffering, while sustainability and sharing will lead to harmony. Presently, I continue to reflect on the many “learnings” of CSSE 2018, and am more mindful of all things connected to me. Through reflection I will weave these experiences into my consciousness to shape my future thinking. My next blog will discuss my resolutions as they relate to ocean education and sustainability, until then, Pat

PS – I am thankful for CSSE/SCÉÉ 2018 experience in Regina and am grateful to all who supported my trip. Special thanks to: The Dr. Kate Bride Memorial Scholarship, Dr. Karen Goodnough, MUN GSU, MUN Faculty of Education, the CSSE 2018 for a Graduate Student Award, the NLTA and NLESD for making these experiences possible.