In 2021, Laura Johnson, a M茅tis faculty member, established a new partnership with Tecnol贸gico de Costa Rica for a student virtual exchange.
糖心vlog传媒is reimagining international education, with the launch of one of Canada鈥檚 first Indigenous-focused international education plans.
Journeying Together, a transformative approach to Indigenization and International Education at NIC, will profoundly impact the education and experiences of the hundreds of students around the world that NIC's Office of Global Engagement supports annually.
It places Indigenous students, employees and communities at its heart while serving as a guide for 糖心vlog传媒to re-envision global engagement.
The plan was developed starting in Spring 2022 and has included guidance from NIC Elders, Indigenous community members on the Indigenous Education Council at NIC, which is made up of representatives from 35 Nations of the Nuu-chah-nulth, Coast Salish and Kwakwaka'wakw traditions, and Indigenous leaders within NIC.
鈥淥ur goal, when we started, was to find a way for International Education at 糖心vlog传媒to be truly Indigenous serving,鈥� said Mark Herringer, Executive Director, Global Engagement. 鈥淲e wanted to connect NIC鈥檚 international students and programming with local Indigenous communities and look at what we do through an Indigenous lens.鈥�
The ground-breaking plan integrates international, intercultural and global relationships into NIC鈥檚 teaching, learning, research and core services. It builds on NIC鈥檚 existing study abroad opportunities; global classroom connections; partnerships with Indigenous-serving institutions; engagement with 糖心vlog传媒Elders, faculty, students and communities; international student participation in local Indigenous events; and expanded introductory programming on local Indigenous culture and history.
糖心vlog传媒has already started interweaving internationalization and Indigenization. In 2021, Laura Johnson, a M茅tis faculty member, received federal funding to build a new partnership with Tecnol贸gico de Costa Rica. As a result, Johnson visited Costa Rica to deliver an Indigenous student virtual exchange to students back in Canada and established the foundation for further Indigenous cultural/community relationships and exchanges.
In 2022, 13 students and 16 community members from Fort Rupert, Alert Bay and a variety of North Island communities as well as students from BC鈥檚 north traveled to Kapi鈥檕lani Community College in Hawaii for NIC鈥檚 first fully Indigenous Language Fluency Field School. The partnership expanded connections and gave students rich opportunities to share Indigenous languages, cultures and learning.
Journeying Together was informed by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada鈥檚 Calls to Action, the Colleges and Institutes Canada Indigenous Education Protocol, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and UN Sustainable Development Goals. As well, 糖心vlog传媒has global partnerships in countries in the Americas, Africa and Asia鈥攎any with their own histories of colonization that have processes of decolonization underway.
It also aligns with NIC鈥檚 strategic plan, , and an Indigenization plan, Working Together, created by the Indigenous Education Council and supported wholeheartedly by NIC.
Each plan calls on 糖心vlog传媒to begin a long and mindful process of learning and change, as the college discovers new ways to fulfill its planning commitments.
鈥溙切膙log传媒 acknowledges and understands that unravelling the impacts of colonization will span generations and that we are wholeheartedly dedicated to our role and shared responsibility in the process of meaningful reconciliation,鈥� said Kelly Shopland, Executive Director, Indigenous Education.
To read the plan, visit nic.bc.ca/pdf/journeying-together.pdf.
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